Thoughtful, Last-Minute Gifts for Greenies

Let me guess: It’s getting to be Christmas crunch time and you still don’t have presents for the enviros on your list? In your defense, greenies can be pretty hard to shop for, since they tend to eschew anything materialistic, or that doesn’t serve their next outdoor adventure. Still, you want to get them something that’ll make them smile. We here at Sierra can help. (Got other suggestions? Share them in the comments below.)

By Avital Andrews

December 15, 2015

Growing Gift Set

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We told you the story of young food entrepreneurs Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez back when BACK TO THE ROOTS was a startup peddling grow-your-own mushroom boxes and a mini aquaponics kit. Since then, the company has expanded its product line to include “Garden in a Can,” an easy way to harvest organic herbs from your windowsill. You can give someone the full suite of BttR’s micro-gardening products by going for the Growing Gift Set. When things start to sprout, your recipient can share a photo on Instagram or Facebook; in response, Arora and Velez will donate a similar product to an elementary school classroom. $100, including shipping.

Photo courtesy of Back to the Roots

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No outdoorsy type will say no to a NALGENE bottle. These containers, hardy and virtually indestructible, are favorites of hikers everywhere—you’ll see them dangling merrily from many a pack on the PCT, the AT, the CDT. The company’s designers recently got festive, cranking out seasonal whimsy like mittens on a clothesline and a train ascending a moonlit peak.  $11.

Photo courtesy of Nalgene

Wishbone Bike Recycled Edition

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What do you get the eco-parents who have everything? Something for their kid. This Recycled Edition (RE) bicycle by WISHBONE DESIGN STUDIO is made from 100 percent recycled carpet. It’s also adjustable, designed to convert easily with a child’s growth so that if a 2-year-old gets this as a gift, she can still be using it when she turns 6. Rich Latham and Jen McIver, the New Zealand-based husband-and-wife team who produce this sustainable contraption, won a Green Good Design Award for it. From $199.

Photo Courtesy of Wishbone Design

The Hope Necklace

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Wife got nothing to wear to the next environmental fundraising gala? Get her this conversation piece of a necklace, handmade by African artisans with HIV/AIDS. They string it with bronze bullet casings left over from the Eritrea-Ethiopia war, then plate it with silver, creating an upcycled accessory that’s beautiful, versatile, and also affordable. It’s available from TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES, a site that sells lovely lifestyle items to uplift artisans in developing nations. $59.

Photo courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages

Men's MicroTherm Stormdown Jacket

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Many brands have copied him, but EDDIE BAUER was the first to patent a quilted down jacket, back in 1940. Goodness knows your rugged mountain man isn’t going to go out and spend money on a new outer shell—he’d just as well keep on with the ratty old one. But treat him to the original thing and he’ll be grateful—the MicroTherm StormDown Field Jacket is eminently comfortable, guaranteed to keep him warm even when it’s -5°F out, and made from 50 percent recycled materials. (Psst, there’s also a women’s version.) Tack $1 onto your purchase, and the company will plant a tree in a U.S. forest. From $139.

Photo courtesy of Eddie Brauer

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OK, so we’re a bit biased, but even if we didn’t work here, we’d still think the SIERRA CLUB's Adopt a Wild Animal program is the perfect gift for someone who’s concerned with the fate of endangered species. Proceeds go toward the Club’s conservation efforts, and you get to choose a polar bear, a sea otter, a red fox, or one of 14 other threatened animals. In addition to the knowledge that you’re helping to protect the planet’s fragile wild places, you get a plush toy to represent your adoption, plus a booklet of facts about your chosen critter. From $39.

Photo courtesy of the Sierra Club