Finding the right gift for someone can be difficult. Whether that be a friend, a parent, a child or a coworker, when it’s time to choose a gift, many people struggle. It can be a little awkward asking what that person wants, so often people get a neutral gift that shows you care while giving them something not entirely useless. This time, get them something that is sustainable. This will not only be beneficial for the planet but also beneficial for the recipient. 
Our Top 10 Eco-Friendly Gifts
1. Reusable Shopping Bags
Reusable shopping bags can be a pain to deal with, but not these 100% nylon bags from BagPodz
Price: $34.50 The more and more you read about plastic and its ill effects in the oceans, the more you will see how bad plastic bags are for the environment. Not only can they strangle the sea life, but they also cause starvation. Sea birds and sea turtles can ingest these plastic bags which fill their stomachs as they are never digested. This makes the animals have a sensation of being full, so they do not seek out more food. This leads to them starving as they will not eat. This is where reusable shopping bags come into play. Giving someone the gift of a reusable shopping bag is not only a thoughtful gift but an environmentally friendly one. Everyone needs to buy groceries, so by gifting someone bags they can use every time they shop, you are making a task simpler for them. On top of this, the less that people use plastic bags, the less need there will be to manufacture them. This lesser demand will hopefully lead to plastic bags being eradicated from society overall which will only be a good thing for the environment. These bags are made of a reusable nylon that can hold up to 50 lbs and they can also be washed. One downside to reusable grocery bags is that by the time you’ve gotten to the grocery store, you’ve realized you’ve forgotten them at home. These bags come with a little pouch that can fit in a purse or glove compartment. BagPodz reusable shopping bags are a no brainer, especially for your more eco-friendly friends.2. GRAYL Bottle
3. Eco Friendly Pot
The Wally Eco Wall Planter from Soltech is a great pot to have for any plant
Price: $30.00 If you’re reading this blog, there’s a high chance you or someone you know is a plant lover. Cultivating plants is a great hobby that can help remove you from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Plant pots are a great gift, especially the Wally Eco Wall Planter, with its sleek design and drainage holes, it is a must have house for your plants. Considering that it is also made of 100% recycled milk jugs and is BPA free, you can rest well knowing that this planter is sustainable and eco-friendly. To find out more about eco-friendly plant pots, check out this blog from Soltech.4. Compost Bins
The Tumbling Composter from Amazon hold 37 pounds of organic waste
Price: $99.95 Plants love fertilizer, it’s how they obtain all the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. One downside can be that people often do not know when they are over or under fertilizing their plants. Either of these mistakes can lead to adverse effects on your plants so it is important to know how to fertilize properly. Check out this blog from Soltech on common fertilizer mistakes. But back to obtaining fertilizer, a good way to get it is to make it. Compost bins do exactly that, they take your organic waste and through natural processes break it down into nutrient rich fertilizer. This not only will produce great fertilizer for your plants, but also reduce food waste and trash. This compost bin from Amazon is a great bin to gift someone you know likes to cook. By utilizing this compost bin, they can recycle their food scraps to produce more in a garden! The possibilities are endless and on top of this, it is a sustainable gift and will help the planet out by reducing food waste and trash produced.5. Reusable straw
The FinalStraw is a stainless-steel straw that is easily portable
Price: $19.95 Plastic is very bad for the earth. People first started realizing this when they found plastic straws stuck in turtle noses and in the guts of fish. When animals ingest plastic, they feel full so they end up starving as they never have the inert desire to feed. Plastic has even been found in the guts of organisms that live in the Mariana Trench (the deepest part of the ocean) which shows that nowhere is safe from plastic. In recent times, there has been a concerted effort by governments and activists to transition to reusable straws to reduce the amount that end up in the ecosystem. This metal straw from FinalStraw is a great gift as the recipient will definitely get many uses out of it. From coffee to lemonade and everything in between, you will be able to use it nearly daily. It is portable due to it being collapsible and is very easy to clean. This is a sustainable gift that the recipient will thank you for a long time.6. Decomposition book
Compostable notebooks can help reduce paper waste by allowing it to be integrated back into nature
Price: $9.00 Everyone needs a notebook at one point or another in their life. Whether they are writing notes for a class, or writing out a shopping list, notebooks and paper get used almost daily. Compostable notebooks from Decomposition are made from 100% waste recycled paper. It is no different to a normal notebook quality wise, it is just able to be composted, which as mentioned a couple of times in this article is a good thing for a few reasons. This would be a great gift for a friend or coworker who you know loves to write or just likes something to doodle in.7. Audio book
8. Solar Portable Light/Charger
This solar powered charger/light is great for camping or in an emergency
Price: $39.95 The Luci Pro Series solar lamp from MPOWERD is a perfect gift for that friend who loves camping or even as a backup light in case of a power outage in an emergency. By being solar powered, this light requires no batteries which makes it eco-friendly. It is collapsible and very portable and has up to 50 hours of charge. Along with a cool white LED light, this will be a gift used frequently by the recipient.9. Pet Toys
EarthHero offers many eco-friendly products including pet toys
Price: $5.00 - $54.00 EarthHero is a company that was tired of seeing landfills fill up with everyday products. From plastic bags to toys, they knew that the resources are not sustainable and something needed to be done differently. It is an eco-friendly marketplace that has products produced in ways that are sustainable and eco-friendly. They offer great products such as dog toys and compostable doggie bags that would be very useful as a gift to a pet owner.10. TOMS
TOMS is a company centered around sustainability and giving back
TOMS is a classic and has really helped to set a standard for using commercialism for positive and consistent impact across the globe. From using sustainable cotton to reducing their carbon footprint TOMS is one of the better companies when it comes to being environmentally conscious. Check out their website where they talk about their sustainability. While you’re there, take a look at their shoes, clothes and sunglasses. They are all high quality and would be great as gifts to those you care about. With each purchase, TOMS will donate a pair to those who need it most.
