Aaaaaand we’re back with another holiday gift guide, updated for 2020!
This year, we teamed up with SeaBlue (https://www.seablue.co) and the Pacific Northwest Consortium on Plastics (https://www.pnwmicroplastics.org) to bring you the most small-business friendly, zero-waste, ocean-minded gift guide possible. Keep reading to help spark your holiday gifting plans!
If you haven’t already heard from the too-early-holiday-sales ads (anyone else think that Christmas should have to wait ‘til after Thanksgiving?), finding gifts this year is going to look pretty different since shopping in person isn’t an option for many of us. One thing that will remain the same is the need to make the holidays more earth-conscious so that our *socially distanced* celebrations aren’t a downer for Mother Natch’. So this year is the perfect opportunity to dig into your creative side and upcycle some objects you already own! And, if you’re looking for a quarantine project, DIY holidays is the perfect excuse. Check out last year’s gift guide for all of our tips on upcycling and thrifting your gifts! If you don’t feel like making or thrifting gifts, giving your time to your loved ones or making charitable donations in their name are both wonderful options to spread the love, especially this year when so many are in need of some extra support. Check out last year’s gift guide for our complete tips on DIY, thrifting, ways to give you time, and conservation organizations we at Everblue support: https://www.oceaneverblue.org/post/everblue-s-sustainable-gift-guide
If you’re shopping for new items, this year it’s more important than ever to buy from local small businesses - these are already hurting from the shutdowns, and it’s important that we give our money to them to support our local economies and help keep small businesses running! Depending on COVID-19 restrictions in your area, it may not be possible to visit these small businesses in person; if that’s the case, check to see if businesses you want to support are conducting sales on a website or through their social media (Facebook and Instagram are both big for online sales). Let’s help each other get through these tough times!
Finally, we’ve updated our list of favorite brands here at Everblue. This year we wanted to highlight Black and Indigenous shops, since in many cases these communities have been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Plus, we wanted to give you a list of eco-friendly places to buy reusable masks. We also just had to shine a light on our new partner, SeaBlue! This amazing, women-run collective launched their online marketplace earlier this year as a platform for small, ocean-conscious vendors to sell their products with the goal to make ocean-friendly shopping convenient, transparent and inspiring for all of us. All of their vendors are listed below.
Bonus: If you want to check on the sustainability of other brands you’re considering buying from, Good On You has your back! Visit https://directory.goodonyou.eco/ and look up the brand name, they have thousands in their directory and it’s a great tool for sussing out greenwashing.
Note: Not all of the brands owned by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) we’ve highlighted below have explicit sustainability statements available on their websites; these have been indicated by **. We chose to still include them in this list because supporting small businesses owned by BIPOC is extra important this year. Even though their focus may not be on sustainability, these small shops are still a more ethical choice than big box stores or Amazon, especially since many of them make their products by hand in small batches from non-synthetic materials.
Ocean-Friendly Brands:
Personal Care
SurfDurt: reef safe sunscreen
Huppy: plastic free toothpaste
Coral Care: eco-friendly skincare for sensitive skin
Green Room Body Co.: ocean-friendly personal care
Betty Butter: multi-purpose moisturizer for hair and skin
Earth Rx: individual body wash pods in compostable packaging
Clothing & Swimwear
iaera surf: sustainably and ethically made rash guards
Vanilla Sand: eco-friendly swimwear
Hakuna Wear: durable and sustainable swimwear (with POCKETS!!)
Stacia: slow-fashion resort wear
Home
Peace of Wood: sustainably produced art pieces
Tribe of Daughters: children's books to increase ocean-awareness and empowerment in the next generation.
Soyful Aromas: all natural soy candles in reusable packaging
Black-Owned
Low-Waste Living:
See even more here!
Black-Owned:
Butter & Lye (personal care)
aya paper co. (stationary)
Haile Thomas (vegan cookbook author, @hailethomas)
Omi Woods (fair trade, ethically sourced jewelry)
The Greens Girl Co. (recreational cannabis smokeware)
LELIA + MAE (jewelry) **
Tafari Wraps (hair wraps & scrunchies)
Pura Luna Apothecary (wellness products) **
Indigenous & POC Owned:
Orenda Tribe: a collective hand making beautiful clothing, jewelry, and accessories from sustainable materials. Founded by a Navajo matriarch, Orenda Tribe is currently working to help the Navajo nation cope with COVID-19 as they have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.
B. YELLOWTAIL (clothing)**
Cambio & Co. (Filipino designed jewelry & accessories)
Mi Mundo Mexicano (clothing & accessories) **
Eighth Generation (art & lifestyle) **
Want to see even more BIPOC brands? Check out this list from our friends at the Pacific Northwest Consortium on Plastics of sellers that they love!
Reusable Masks:
Lotus & Luna: fairly employs women in Thailand
Tentree: made from repurposed fabrics
Christy Dawn: made from leftover fabric scraps that would otherwise go to landfill
SeaBlue: handmade in USA from fabric scraps
Orenda Tribe: handmade by members of the Navajo nation
Stacia: made from repurposed textiles
Everblue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to encouraging ocean-minded living by increasing scientific literacy. To support us this holiday season, visit oceaneverblue.org/donate!
Check out last year’s gift guide for even more tips and favorite ocean-friendly brands! https://www.oceaneverblue.org/post/everblue-s-sustainable-gift-guide