Sustainable gifts for Christmas: apps & websites
If you want to engage in a more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious lifestyle, you may want to consider some non-material or ethical presents this Christmas. Find out our selection!
Gift ideas for skill development
Often, we are so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget to take care of ourselves. If you want to help your friends and family to reconnect with their passions, a subscription or an online class may be exactly what you need!
SkillShare is an online learning platform that has a great diversity of classes, whether it is about art, lifestyle, or business. What is wonderful about it, is that the accent is on interaction, rather than lecturing. The SkillShare cost is €11.99/$8.25 a month for an annual subscription, which is €144/$99 billed annually.
Master Class
What is MasterClass? It is a platform similar to SkillShare. The two biggest differences are that this one has fewer classes and that the instructors are more known to the public - like Gordon Ramsey, RuPaul, or Neil Gaiman. Offering the possibility to learn from a role model can be a great source of inspiration for your loved ones. Masterclass is €16.67/$15 a month, billed annually (€200/$180). You can also buy individual classes.
Coursera
Unlike SkillShare and MasterClass, Coursera is an academic platform for online classes and it offers courses, certifications, and degrees from different universities. You can either buy a subscription or go for individual purchase - you have to be logged in to see the exact pricing.
SkillSoft
SkillSoft is a platform for online courses specific to developing leadership skills, business skills, and skills related to technology. Some of the classes are free, others have free trials, and some of them are paid - to see the exact pricing, you have to log in.
Specific classes
If nothing from the above selection suits you, do not forget that there are many illustrators, authors, musicians, fitness coaches (to name just a few) that offer independent online classes on their personal websites. More than making a perfect gift, this is a great way to directly support their hard work, without worrying about third parties and big enterprises getting a percentage of their incomes.
Gift ideas for sustainable fashion
Today there is not a single person that hasn't heard about the environmental and human disasters behind the fast fashion brands. Luckily, you do not have to take a part in that!
Good On You
Good On You is a website that offers you information about the ethical commitment of fashion brands. In order to do this, Good On You rates the brands on three criteria: Planet, People, and Animals. It also suggests ethical alternatives. There is also a free app for Android and for iPhone.
Thrifting apps
If ethical clothing brands are too pricey for you, we recommend that you consider online thrift stores. Thrifting is a great way to find unique items and clothes. Depending on where you live, there are some great apps:
- Depop - international shipping, available for Android and iPhone
- Poshmark - US and Canada only - with Poshmark app for Android and iPhone
- Vinted - well known in some European countries like France and Spain, it is supported on Android and iPhone. Vinted is also begging to expand to the USA, with the Vinted USA app available for Android and iPhone.
- Thredup - USA and Canada only - the Thredup app is available for Android and iPhone.
Small businesses
With big companies expanding more and more, life is getting harder for small businesses that are often more ethical. However, many creators have Etsy shops or you can find their online stores through their Instagram page. Society6 is great to discover and support local artists but keep in mind that the best way to do this is by visiting their personal websites.
Culture-related gift ideas
If cinema, books, and movies are what you are searching for, we have some ideas for you just below.
Cinema
Today almost everyone has access to big movie streaming platforms. But there are some smaller ones that are dedicated to specific genres. For example, if you need a gift for a horror fan, you will be happy to discover some horror movie streaming services such as Shudder ($5.99 a month/ $56.99 for an annual plan) or Shadowz if you live in France (€4.99 a month/ €49 for an annual plan). If you do not live in France but still want to access the service then you can use a VPN such as Cyberghost VPN.
Music
Listening to ad-free music is undoubtedly one of the best gifts to think of. A subscription to music streaming services like Deezer, Spotify, or Tidal should make every music addict happy! The subscription to each of those services is $9.99 a month.
Books
When we think of thrifting, we mostly think of clothes. However, you can also thrift books online: World of Books, as well as AbeBooks make sure to find thousands of books new homes.
We hope that you find our article helpful and that you have now the perfect gift idea!