You’re probably burned out on gift guides, so this is an anti-gift guide. Why? Because people are sick of your lackluster, no-thought-behind-it half-assed gifts.
Was that mean? I just spent 60+ minutes on hold with the Healthcare Marketplace people only to get kicked off. Twice. So I’m feeling a little Grinchy. What was I saying? Right, anti-gift guide.
I try to shop local when I can, but I’m coming down to the wire with gifts this year, so it has to be online shopping. But I still want to make sure that I’m supporting artists and being as responsible as I can. And I don’t want to give someone yet another corkscrew-and-bottle-of-wine set. Enter: UncommonGoods.
I’m sure you’ve seen them in just about every gift guide ever because even if you’re finding a gift for someone whose interests include “Hiding under a rock,” there’s something you can purchase.
What makes them awesome? Well, they have really unique items (wine-infused coffee, anyone?), but they also make sustainability their number one mission. And not just in a “green” way; they make sure their people are able to sustain themselves, too, so their employees are treated fairly and given living wages. They also feature products that are made with recyclable components, help their artists make their items in responsible ways, and they say no to feathers, leather, and furs – being kind to animals is way more important to me than being kind to people.
The coolest thing to me is when you’re shopping, you can narrow your search based on handmade, recycled, made in the USA, or exclusive to UncommonGoods. It’s like you’re kind of shopping local, but from artists that are in a different zip code.
Onto the anti-gift guide!
Men are possibly the hardest people to shop for. I’m lucky in that my dad is happy with a cookbook and a gift card to the Italian market down the street, but yours may not be so easy to please. Thankfully, there is an entire collection just for dads that you can browse through. I wish there were more jokes in this collection.
Throwback to your days when you’d give dad a poorly made, misshapen mug kinda thing with a (properly-shaped) mug that warms your donuts (#phrasing). And we all know your go-to every few years is a new belt. Get this one made from recycled tires instead. You’ll still have your fall-back, but it’s a responsible fall back.
What about other men? I have one friend who just gets alcohol from me (and I’m sure that isn’t a complaint, but I’ve known him for years and I still have no clue what to buy him aside from shirts and vodka). Stop buying boring alcohol, buy beer soap instead. Or what about magnetic strips you can add to your fridge to stick bottles to (more space for cheese in the fridge now!)
I can’t not include gifts for women, because it’s really fun to shop for your girls. Like for the drunk friend, a tote that dispenses wine. I mean, it’s basically every woman’s dream come true. Or for the chick who won’t get off her freakin’ phone when you’re at dinner, she probably is running low on batteries, so she can put her phone in her new charging bag and let it charge while she talks to you.
What are you giving everyone for Christmas? I’m nebby and I wanna know!
**This post, pretty obviously, is sponsored by UncommonGoods. I love their mission and I’m picking up a few gifts from them this year, so I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t believe that they’re doing something good!
