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Shopping handmade for the holidays has gotten really easy thanks to Etsy -- so up the ante and get handmade gifts that are also crafted by women from upcycled materials! While you may not be a fan of your grandma's holiday sweaters, green girls with style are handmaking gifts that are as beautiful as they are unique and eco-friendly. A few to consider:
For the anti-plastic-bag crusader: “This Bag is Garbage” accessories from Original Good. Made by fusing discarded one-use plastic bags, these cute clutches and purses are made under fair trade practices by women in New Delhi.
For the music-loving writer: Papergeist journals. For the greenest writerly gift, opt for Papergeist, which covers its goods with vintage record sleeves and fills its pages with pre-used paper, folded so you can use just the clean side!
Post use, every part of the journal can be recycled in whatever bin takes paper in your town -- aside from the black spirally coil, which you can send back to papergeist — 501 W. 124th Ave., Tampa, FL 33612 — for $5 off a new notebook!
Papergeist offers journals and planners at $22 a pop, but you can get 20% off your purchase by using the code "SFF20" minus the quotes.
For the wine drinking fashionista: Smart Glass Jewelry. The brainchild of dumpster-diving eco-artist Kathleen Plate, Smart Glass Jewelry's made from emptied glass bottles.
The chic pieces, meticulously cut and polished into eye-catching, translucent accessories, certainly don't look like they were inspired by bottles in the dumpster. Prices range from $38 for a glass bangle to $248 for a large charm necklace.
Those three don't fit your gifting needs? Here are other upcycled gifts green bloggers are recommending:
>> Jasmin Malik Chua at Ecouterre recommends Sonic Fabric Fedoras made from recycled cassette tape! "Their old-school fedoras, inspired by German artist Joseph Beuys’ trademark topper, are anything but fusty: They’re tightly woven from recorded cassette tape that becomes audible when you run a tape head across the fabric surface."
>> Stephanie Rogers at Earth First recommends First World Trash bags, made from U.S. junkyard detritus. Writes Stephanie:
I’ve got the signature airplane tote, and it totally rocks. This is a seriously heavy-duty bag that will definitely hold up to a lot of use and heavy loads. I’ve already used it to haul groceries, holiday gifts and a big heavy bag of cat litter and it’s folded up in the trunk of my car waiting for its next job. I love that it’s water-resistant, so if I spill something in it, it will be easy to clean up.
>> Pretty by Nature recommends Peeko Apparel's customized tunics -- girly frilly pieces made from men’s dress shirts. "The tops are customized – you pick the color and material combination for your shirt and it’s sized to your specifications. Each tunic takes 3 weeks to make, so if you are planning to make it a gift, keep that in mind."
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BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs at greenLAgirl.com.
