Make Good Places
In the last fifty years, the holidays have transformed into a time of massive consumption and proportionally massive waste. Our consumption patterns, already dangerously misaligned with planetary boundaries, spike at the end of every year. Yet gift-giving is a meaningful way of expressing love for the people in our lives, and it's part of the way we celebrate and practice our traditions.
Here is the Make Good Places guide to sustainable gifts for everyone. It is comprised of eco-friendly gifts that generate social good, support small businesses, and consider how they can foster joy and well-being among gift recipients.
Unlike *many* gift guides, the Make Good Places gift guide does not contain affiliate links. No one is paying for these products to make it onto this list. Like all recommendations on this platform, the eco-friendly and sustainable gift ideas included here are based on human health and environmental standards and considerations.
Sustainable Gifts For Foodies and People Who Love To Cook (Or Eat)
This book makes plant-forward recipes fun, easy, and delicious while providing resources and information about the impact of our diets on the environment. It focuses on the intersection of food and climate, and hones in on how to prioritize when it comes to eating with the planet in mind.
I'm still a sucker for an actual cookbook but this is the only cooking app I ever use. For anyone who loves getting creative in the kitchen (or anyone who needs a little help in the kitchen), this app is seamless to use and has tons of recipes for all kinds of diets. I like to buy my books from Bookshop.org, thrift books, and Tertulia. Wherever you want to buy your books, I always encourage people to avoid purchasing on Amazon.
This tea shop is based in New York and offers a variety of organic teas that support health and well-being. From a healthy design perspective, drinking hot tea at home can be a tactile, soothing activity that can become part of nourishing rituals.
Tierra Farm is a mission-driven organization based in upstate New York. They operate in a solar-powered facility, use almost entirely compostable packaging, and offer products that are USDA organic, fair trade certified, and gluten and peanut-free. Their foods are nourishing for people and kind to the planet.
Maple syrup is my go-to oatmeal topper, sugar alternative in my coffee, and an easy dessert ingredient. It's the pantry staple you didn't know you needed so badly–and it's a quintessential Northeast food with the capacity to connect you to local food systems (a very biophilic quality!). Maple Craft Foods is located in my area of Connecticut, and they offer a variety of specialty maple syrups. Many of their syrups are certified organic and come in a variety of seasonal flavors. Maple Craft Foods is mission-driven and has an active social justice component to its business model. They actively partner and volunteer with organizations working towards ending systemic racism, and they donate portions of sales to gun violence prevention and food insecurity initiatives.
This book is equal parts memoir and an exploration of food and fishing in the context of climate change. Smith's narration is dry and entertaining but comes with a pinpoint precision that provides an honest look at how we can evolve our diets and fishing practices in the face of the climate crisis. I like to buy my books from Bookshop.org, Thrift Books, and Tertulia. Wherever you want to buy your books, I always encourage people to avoid purchasing on Amazon.
Best Gifts For People Who WFH
The right desk setup makes work more manageable and the time you spend working more enjoyable. For anyone who works from home, Formr's desk organizers and laptop stands can elevate a WFH workspace. Formr addresses both recidivism and construction waste by providing work opportunities to formerly incarcerated individuals. All of their pieces are made in San Francisco, California, from materials that would otherwise go to landfills.
Photos via theformr.com
The plastic protective gear that supports our technology– from our phones to our iPads and computers—has become some of the most ubiquitous, ever-lasting materials in our environment. Pela solves part of the problem. They create plant-based compostable phone cases, phone holders, and card holders.
Photo via Pela Case
I know, I know. I'm telling you to purchase another subscription. But digital subscriptions can be thoughtful, low-impact, and sustainable gifts. They don't require material extraction, manufacturing, or shipping. Better yet, meditation offers enormous health benefits, including alleviating stress and anxiety, fostering resilience, and strengthening the mind-body connection. Both Headspace and Calm have a myriad of resources to help your friends and family embrace wellness and self-care from home.
Many yoga mats are essentially plastic, which contains all kinds of toxic chemicals, plasticizers, PVC, and additives. Manduka eKO yoga mats are made of non-Amazon harvested tree rubber and contain no toxic glues or foaming agents. Yoga fosters better health, well-being, and longevity—you can't go wrong.
Best Gifts For Gardeners and Plant Lovers
Greenery is undeniably one of the most impactful components of biophilic design. The Sill's houseplants are a great way to help those in your life feel embrace biophilic design and feel good at home.
Photos via The Sill
Mushrooms, microgreens, cherry tomatoes, lavender, chili peppers — and they're all organic. These are perfect for apartment growers and beginners.
Photos via Back to the Roots
The Rise Gardens are a great way for those of us in colder climates to grow fresh food all year round. They also connect us to nature's cycles of growth and decay, which strengthens the human-nature connection and improves our health. I also love Lettuce Grow's Farmstands, but they're more expensive, so it's a bigger investment.
These planters are handmade in Brooklyn and offer equal parts form and function. They come in a variety of colors and sizes, and they're perfect for anyone with a green thumb who grows their own little jungle at home.
Photos via Wilcoxson Brooklyn Ceramics
Dances With Stone is a family-owned and operated business in New Hampshire that carves bird baths out of stone. The bird baths are great for balconies, patios, and yards — and all of them provide conditions for birds to survive. This is key in helping North American bird populations recover.
Photos via Dances With Stone
EarthEasy is a U.S.-based retailer focused on offering products that foster sustainable living and a stronger human-nature connection. Find a variety of indoor and outdoor gardening seeds, grow kits, and tools, including a Christmas Tree Grow Kit, the Pollinator's Delight Flower Seed Grow Kit, a Growing Gourmet Botanical Gift Set, and Hummingbird and Butterfly Scatter Garden kits. Eartheasy is one of my go-tos whenever I have an outdoor project I'm working on, and it's a great alternative to massive home improvement retailers like Home Depot or Lowes.
Photos via Eartheasy
Sustainable Gifts For Homebodies
Heedful Home's vintage home decor includes vintage books, art, kitchenware, candleholders, and ceramics. You can shop their collection online, and nationwide shipping is available. Vintage goods are always eco-friendly gift options.
Photos via Heedful Home
While inspired by nature, Earth + Element is a woman-owned company that creates products with wide-ranging aesthetics. All are handmade in Los Angeles. If you're on the East Coast (like me!) and looking to shop more locally, Farmhouse Pottery is another wonderful ceramics studio based in Vermont.
Photos from Earth + Element
Photos via Farmhouse Pottery
The Cirrus is made out of GOTS-certified organic cotton and adds a layer of tactility and coziness to a space while minimizing environmental impact. Coyuchi also practices circularity by offering a fantastic selection of pre-loved goods through its Renew program.
Based in L.A., Suay makes all of its products in-house with an emphasis on ethical production, low-impact dyes, and low-waste practices. Linen napkins help reduce dependence on single-use paper towels and elevate everyday dining. Plus, there are SO. MANY. COLORS.
Photos via suayla.com
Everyone loves a good candle—and for good reason. From a healthy design perspective, candles offer the benefits of biophilic design because they mimic fire, which promised safety, warmth, and community throughout evolution. Fontana Candles do not contain synthetic fragrances, so they have a milder scent but are better for our homes and health than traditional candles. Their products are made in the U.S. with fully disclosed ingredients.
- Custom T-Shirt Quilt by Project Repat
Project Repat T-Shirt Quilts are made by Opportunity Threads, a worker-owned company in Morganton, North Carolina. These quilts keep old clothes out of landfills and preserve happy memories. Here's how it works: you send in old T-shirts and their workshop cuts and sews them into a quilt in whatever size you specify.
Canvas & Cargo is located in Red Hill, PA, but ships nationwide. Their vintage collection includes European breadboards, copper pans, French glassware, and 20th-century wicker baskets.
Photos via Canvas & Cargo
Best Gifts For Pet Parents
Pets enrich our lives, and I'm a firm believer that designing for the animals we loves increases the pleasure and joy we get from our homes. These bowls are made in Philly with a playful, contemporary aesthetic and sit in a concrete base for durability.
Photo via Felt & Fat
Honest Pet takes traditional pet toys and makes them better for our pets and the environment. Dog and cat toys have historically been made from synthetic fabrics such as polyester and nylon, which contain microplastics that harm us and the natural world. Honest Pet uses biodegradable materials and makes all of its hemp products in Wisconsin, where the business is based.
Photos via Honest Pet
Awoo creates durable and sustainable toys, leashes and harnesses, bowls, slow feeders, and accessories for dogs and cats. The company prioritizes circularity through its takeback program, rePAWpose, and sells restored goods through its FURever program.
Photos via Awoo Pets
Hoadin creates dog leashes, collars, harnesses, bandanas, and toys from low-impact materials like hemp, cotton, canvas, and cork. They manufacture their products in the U.S., and they offer repair services for all of their goods (free for items with a manufacturing issue and a small $15 fee for pups that are hard on their gear). Repair services keep goods out of landfills and materials in use.
Images via Hoadin
The Kind Pet carries ethical, sustainable food, toys, and accessories for cats and dogs. You can find sustainable treats made from single-origin, high-protein invasive fish species, hemp and organic cotton toys, chew bones that are made from wood and sugarcane (instead of nylon), durable canvas duvets that you can stuff with old towels, sheets, and clothes you no longer need, and much more.
Photos via The Kind Pet
Best Gifts For People Who Love Art & Design
RenewFinds is a NYC-based vintage shop with furniture, art, lighting, and rugs. Their collection of vintage prints offers unique, sustainable gifts for any art and design aficionado.
Photos view Renew Finds
- Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives by Sarah Williams Goldhagen
This book is a must-read for any design nerd. It changed my life and fundamentally shifted how I moved through the world. Goldhagen uses neuroscience to illuminate the mind-body-environment paradigm that combines to create the human experience. I like to buy my books from Bookshop.org, Thrift Books, and Tertulia. Wherever you want to buy your books, I always encourage people to avoid purchasing on Amazon.
Wind chimes have a positive biophilic effect because they make us aware of ever-changing winds and weather conditions. Pigeon Toe, a woman-owned ceramics studio based in Oregon, created a DIY wind chime kit.
Cute Camera Co. is a woman-led, minority-owned shop in Texas committed to restoring vintage cameras, empowering female photographers, and preserving film photography.
Karst products are made of recycled stone instead of paper, which means that they don't require trees, water, chlorine, or acid. From a user's perspective, the "paper" in these journals and notebooks is smoother than traditional paper and waterproof, making it both durable and delightful to use. Bonus: Karst is a certified B Corp.
Photo via Karst
- Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
This book makes a case for the arts as essential to our individual and collective well-being by exploring the field of neuroaesthetics. It is equal parts moving, scientific, and practical. For anyone who has ever loved the arts, this book articulates what many of us have always known: art can tangibly improve our lives, and it is yet another tool we have at our disposal to heal ourselves, our communities, and the planet. I like to buy my books from Bookshop.org, Thrift Books, and Tertulia. Wherever you want to buy your books, I always encourage people to avoid purchasing on Amazon.
Much like restored film cameras, vintage vinyl collection preserves a dying art. If you have an audiophile in your life, vintage vinyl keeps materials out of landfills while providing a different music experience. If you're buying for a newly minted audiophile, you could also consider a start record player like Victriola's Re-Spin Sustainable Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player or Marley's Revolution Bluetooth Turntable. And remember that you can always shop at local independent record stores, too!
Photos via Music Direct
The team at Sustainable Deco brings old-school technology back to life by restoring vintage radios and speakers. It's a gift for anyone who misses "the good old days" and wishes the world would slow down. They also stock some cool vintage toys, home decor, vinyl records, and art.
Photos via Sustainable Deco
Best Gifts For The Beauty Enthusiast
Attitude's plastic-free makeup line is all EWG verified, which means it meets some of the most stringent standards for clean, nontoxic ingredients. Better yet, they use FSC-certified cardboard packaging in place of plastic. I love the cream highlighter stick, eyeshadow, and mascara. The mascara even doubles as a lash serum.
Images via Attitude Living
Just the Goods makes vegan body butter, vegan lip scrub, and vegan facial scrub in a variety of soothing, EWG-verified scents. They package many of their products in glass jars, which are great to upcycle and reuse around the house and in the kitchen.
Photos via Just the Goods
I'm a fan of their nontoxic candle options, and these bath salts are no different. The ingredients are EWG-verified, offer a safe, soothing way to unwind, and are made in the USA. This a great idea for anyone on your list who loves a little self-care.
Make Good Places operates at the intersection of consumption, home design, and climate change action. It is a resource for the growing community of DIYers and professional interior designers creating happier homes that are healthier for people and planet. The Library makes vintage shopping, repair and resell services, and ethical consumption easier, while The Guidelines help people implement actionable, healthy design strategies. Join the community and start healing the planet, starting at home.