How to Give a Green Father's Day Gift

Picking out the right gift on Father’s Day is always a challenge. Ties and power tools get old, no matter how well dressed and handy Dad is. However, if the environment is one of Dad’s passions, there is almost no limit to gift possibilities. All it takes is a healthy respect for the earth and a little time.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Listen to Dad. Take mental notes during conversations: places he would like visit, music he enjoys, or hobbies he would like to get involved with. If he loves to travel, give him a list of hostels in an area he’s never visited.

2. Check the Internet. Search online retailers catering to the green crowd to find just the right Father’s Day gift to give. Keep an eye out for products made with recycled or recovered materials.

3. Identify and purchase traditional items with a green flair. Dad might actually want a tie if it’s made with organic cotton and vegetable dyes. He might be all over a trickle charger--if it’s solar powered.

4. Consider a bicycle (or replacement parts for an existing bicycle). Each time he chooses the bike over the car, he will reduce his carbon footprint and get health-sustaining exercise. Additionally, he will be setting an example for friends, family and neighbors.

5. Give him green investments. Purchase wind energy credits or shares of stock from environmentally responsible companies.

6. Purchase shares in a local CSA. He’ll be able to pick up fresh farm produce on a regular basis (usually weekly) for the whole growing season. Give this gift early so he doesn’t miss out on the first few weeks of pickup.

7. Wrap the gift without gift wrap. Give his presents in a reusable shopping tote or reused gift bag. If it must be wrapped, consider wrapping with newspaper comics.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a recycled gift card. Check the back of the card for the percentage of “post-consumer content” used in production. Health food grocers are a great place to find recycled cards. Grab a gift card for the store and add it into the gift.
• Don’t wait to the last minute to search for a green gift. Conventional gifts take time and effort. Eco-friendly gifts can take longer.

[giwise]

on 5/26/2009 Best eco green father's day gift is on my website. We went looking for the best value and the best bragging rights for the value, for YOUr Dad. For $29 shipping, buy your Dad a solar lamp that is vetted by our soldiers in Iraq, indestructible, in bright orange, with LED lights and have him saving money immediately. No more batteries to buy or to throw away, and 7-8 hours a night of the whitest light by which to read or get up in the middle of the night, and walk the dogs by! visit us at www.casaconceptdesign.com

[RaeWrites]

on 5/30/2008 That's actually a neat idea. By taking it a little further and adding a few sentences each year, it could be a nice, mini-scrapbook of their lives together.

[KitchenWitch]

on 5/29/2008 What wonderful ideas! Thank you so much. I did have to giggle about the cards because an elderly woman told me many years ago that her husband had purchased one birthday card for her and just re-signed his name to it every year. ~Donna