From kids and cats to outdoor types, fashion fans and foodies, find something sustainable, ethical and special for everyone. The Christmas gift guide offers a curated selection of affordable presents, all under £40, with many supporting small businesses and charities.
Eco-conscious options include a three-card wallet made from organic cork and recycled rubber (£16.50, loveliga.com), pencils made from recycled CD cases (79p each, protecttheplanet.co.uk), and a wash cloth from Hay, via Heals, made from durable cotton (£7, heals.com). For beauty lovers, there's a water-based, petroleum-free hair pomade with 'dragon's blood' resin (£19, triumphanddisasteruk.com) and a scented soap in a tin, with 100% of profits to Marie Curie (£7.99, shop.mariecurie.org.uk).
Food and drink ideas include Medjoul dates from ethical superstore Zaytoun, supporting Palestinian farmers (£5.90, zaytoun.uk), a chocolate clementine handmade in London using natural colours and sustainable cocoa (£15, Daylesford.com), and a sustainably packaged spicy chai tea from a company employing refugees (£5.95, nemiteas.com). For cocktail enthusiasts, a marg in a can also comes in festive cracker form (£5.80, whiteboxcocktails.com).
Gifts for children feature a cuddly dinosaur hatched out of a reusable egg from the Natural History Museum (£10, nhmshop.co.uk), a surfer friendship bracelet-making kit in a reusable keepsake box (£13.99, Pipkits.com), and Santa and tree hair clips from a cute kids' accessories brand (£8, mimiandlula.com). For adults, consider a tin Mega Music Quiz with 600 questions for all genres, with all profits to Macmillan (£14.50, shop.macmillan.org.uk), or a personalised book of gift tokens from a small, family-run company near Bath (£15, fromyoutome.com).
Home and stationery items include a sloth plant-decoration from a small, female-founded business (£6.50, another-studio.com), night notes printed in the UK on 100% recycled paper (£6.50, theeveryspace.com), and a bookmark made from recycled leather, produced to mark the V&A museum's Chanel exhibition (£4, vam.ac.uk/shop). Editors' picks include a one hundred percent cotton Buki-print scrunchie from a small British-Nigerian founded print business (£8, lollykiks.com) and playing cards with a modernist twist from a female-founded, Cornwall-based design studio (£15, blockdesign.co.uk).
