Turn the Tide Gift Baskets
A Creative, Eco-friendly, and Meaningful Gift Idea
Giving a Turn the Tide Gift Basket is a great way to Simplify the Holidays by giving gifts that are personalized and creative, while also practical and environmentally-friendly. It also is a great answer to a frequently asked question about the Center's Turn the Tide program - "How do I inspire my friends to take positive actions for the environment without coming across as preachy?"
Give a gift of generosity and thoughtfulness: the Turn the Tide Gift Basket of money-saving and planet-friendly items! We've even made it easy for you -- some of the materials below you can print directly, others are links to suppliers from which you can purchase the items online. (Okay, so you still have to do a little work, but that's part of personalizing a gift your friend or loved-one will definitely appreciate.)
Gifts that correlate with Turn the Tides' Nine Actions include:
An explanation sheet of the gift items and Turn the Tide's nine actions -pdf (76 kb)
1) To help skip a car trip: A train/subway/bus fare card (sorry, we can't provide you with this one!)
2) Vegetarian cooking resources and recipes - pdf (1 MB) (or include your favorites!) to replace a beef meal
3) A print out of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Card to make it easy to shift to environmentally-favorable seafood and shrimp choices
4) Printable "How to Rid Yourself of Junk Mail" instructions -pdf (90kb) half-sheet so your friend can declare independence from junk mail
5) An energy-efficient light bulb to begin the process of replacing 4 standard lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)
6) Organic cotton socks for warm toes when that thermostat is lowered 3°F
7) Tips for non-toxic pest management -pdf (52kb) to eliminate lawn & garden pesticides
8) Water-efficient shower heads or low-flow faucet aerators
9) Turn the Tide info cards -pdf: print two-sided and cut into 8 cards to help your gift basket recipient inspire 2 friends by showing them the pounds of carbon dioxide and gallons of water we can save when many of us together take the same 9 actions!
Print and copy your documents on 100% post-consumer waste/process-chlorine free paper.
(If you choose not to use recycled paper for your print-out materials, please remember to delete this claim from the bottom of the templates.)
Check out other ideas in the Center's Simplify the Holidays brochure, offering practical tips for having a holiday with more joy and less stuff or browse gift ideas and post your own!
Other just-for-fun items may include:
Fair trade cocoa and chocolate
Organic, shade-grown, fair trade coffee
When you give this great gift, remember to log onto your own workspace at www.turnthetide.org to report that you're sharing Turn the Tide with a friend!