Earth Friendly Gifts for Kids

People are getting more and more environment conscious. Children and teenagers are getting into green living, too. What better way to teach and reinforce love for the environment than with earth friendly gifts. Here are some earth friendly gift ideas that are sure to be a hit with kids.

1. Homemade items

Nothing says you care more than a gift that you spent energy and time to make. Young people especially like having a totally unique item that simply cannot be purchased at a store. If you're crafty, then making gifts will be easy for you, but what if you're not? Look for a skill that you have that the giftee would otherwise have to pay for, such as giving lessons on driving or using a computer software.

2. Something You Already Own

Sometimes a great gift doesn't have to be made or bought at all. Sometimes, it's already sitting in your closet, unused and forgotten waiting to be loved by a new owner. Children and teenagers love cool stuff with history and adventure. Do you have a doll collection that's just collecting dust? An old but still usable camera that a budding photographer would be thrilled to have? Or how about old, romantic costume jewelry for the drama queen of the family? You'll be surprised how some things you take for granted can be valuable to somebody else.

3. E-book and Other Digital Products

E-books are easy, quick and cheap to produce. They're earth friendly because they're not printed on paper. You can easily find an E-book on any topic, so you can easily complete your gift shopping list this way. Teen-agers would love other digital products, too, such as music downloads, subscriptions to podcasts, and website memberships. The best part about digital products? No shipping involved!

4. Solar Chargers

Since teens are so wired nowadays, why not give them solar-powered chargers for their MP3 players and cellphones? These are so high-tech looking and unusual that they are sure to show these off to friends.

5. Earth Friendly Toys

Environment-conscious companies now manufacture earth friendly toys made of wood, fabric, wool, recycled products and other eco-friendly materials. Examples include a tea set made from recycled yogurt containers and race cars fashioned out of recycled wood. These toys are also guaranteed to have non-toxic paint and recyclable packaging as well. Amazon.com offers brand-name toys in "Frustration-Free Packages". These are easy-to-open recyclable boxes without excessive packaging materials, such as plastic clamshell cases, wire tires and plastic bindings. Parents will love this packaging!

6. Organic Clothing and Accessories

Young people love to get new clothes. Choose those made from organic fabric, such as cotton, hemp, linen, wool and other earth friendly materials. Accessories have gotten earth friendly, too. For instance, you can find bags made from recycled materials. Teens will enjoy showing off their unusual fashion accessories while displaying their earth-friendliness. For infants and small children, consider clothes, beddings and accessories made of organic fibers without synthetic dyes and chemicals.

7. Stainless Steel Water Bottles and Sippy Cups

Students commonly use bottled water. Help reduce this practice, and the resulting waste, by giving stainless steel water bottles. Now available in all colors and styles, you are sure to find the right ones for every child on your list. Stainless steel sippy cups are available as well, for babies and toddlers. These do not contain BPA, which is a common concern for parents nowadays.

Earth friendly gifts should be wrapped in eco-friendly ways as well. Try the Japanese method of wrapping gifts with fabric, known as furoshiki. Or use pages from a newspaper or magazine. Other options include fabric gift bags and glass, cardboard, enamel or even wood containers.

Giving earth friendly gifts to children and teens is a wonderful way of teaching the next generations to care for the environment. It doesn't mean going cheap - although earth friendly gifts can be less expensive - or giving irrelevant gifts. It means putting more thought into the gift with a focus on consuming less and producing less waste.

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