Our guide to gifting
Thanksgiving arrives each year as both a reminder of what we’re grateful for and, somehow, the unofficial start of “shopping season.” Can we talk green cognitive dissonance? We’re thankful for all we have, including you, our amazing GGGE community. But we also recognize that many of our neighbors are facing real challenges, and gift-giving may not be top of mind when putting food on the table is a struggle. Gratitude is central as we plan our own holiday traditions and look for ways to support neighbors in need.
Gift-giving does not have to come at the planet’s expense. This year’s guide shares a few principles for low-impact gift giving along with a curated list of the Go Green team’s favorite things to give (and get!). It’s long, but worth the scroll. A no guilt gift trip is in your future!
LEARN
First up, can we offer a few gift-giving precepts to help focus your list-making?
Buy Less (But Better)
Before you fill an online cart to fill a stocking, take a pause: Maybe this is a quality vs. a quantity year. Buying less saves resources and reduces the clutter we all end up dealing with in January. Buying higher quality means the gift can be enjoyed longer, and perhaps even passed on. But don’t scrimp on the candy canes!
Shop Local
Glen Ellyn is full of wonderful small businesses—boutiques, jewelers, gift stores, candy shops, florists, apothecaries, etc. Buying local cuts down on shipping emissions and keeps your dollars swirling around right here in the community.
Choose Sustainable… and Practical
What’s wrong with a practical gift? Think household items like a great dishtowel (see reco below!) refillable products (hello, à la main!), reusable alternatives to disposables, or gifts made from recycled or natural materials. Or heck, something warm like a hand-knit scarf. Practical can still be fun and beautiful. Consumables are also practical and can be very low waste -- the gift will be gone from the planet in no time!
Give Experiences, Instead of Stuff
Some of the best presents I have ever received were experiences. The best part is that an experience gift then goes on to create memories, maybe with you! You might consider a subscription to a local yoga class, tickets to a concert, restaurant gift cards, or create a ‘coupon’ for a trip downtown. Experiences create memories without adding more stuff to the world.
DIY it!
I hesitate to recommend this as I fear the Glen Ellyn Public Library makerspace will be inundated, but what about a gift that you make yourself? Homemade gifts can be meaningful and low-waste! At the library, you can make a custom coffee cup or ornament, or use embroidery to decorate a tea towel. You can also consider making items like baked treats, jams, sugar scrubs, beeswax food wraps, etc. DIY gifts have both a wow factor and a sustainability factor!
DO
And now without further ado, Our Favorite Things!
Stocking Stuffers
Kobee's Lip Balm is Jac’s absolute favorite lip balm and a winter must-have! They are made from beeswax and other simple ingredients and come in a cardboard tube. They last forever and come in wonderful flavors. This is a small business started by a young man from Chicago who cared about the environment!
Blueland Holiday Hand Soap (or anything Blueland!) These are uber-sustainable tablets that you use to fill your hand soap dispenser, a favorite in Angela’s home and a surprisingly practical stocking stuffer.
People come from far and wide to hit up two stores right next to each other on Pennsylvania, both of which hold a treasure-trove of unique stocking stuffers (and other great gifts!)
Gather and Collect, an eclectic mix of fun and practical gifts, with vintage options in nooks and crannies throughout!
Glen Ellyn Fair Trade (formerly Ten Thousand Villages) which features fair trade gifts made from mostly female artisans from around the world. The ultimate no guilt gift trip.
Quality and/or practical gifts
Pact makes a variety of women and men's clothing from organic and sustainably sourced materials. Jac cites the look and feel of the materials! They are Fair Trade certified, carry the Global Organic Textile Standard certification, offset emissions, and package in paper not plastic. So go ahead and get some winter cozies for those people on your list!
Renew is a one-of-a-kind shop right here in Glen Ellyn that really walks the talk. They use upcycled fabric to create their unique designs. The items are crafted by refugee women right in the shop! Karin’s tote from Renew still gets compliments three years post-purchase.
Geometry Towels are a favorite of Angela’s. They are made out of recycled bottles, but have a very luxe feel. They make a great hostess gift, and can often be found at local retailers. We have spotted them at a la main, the Arboretum gift shop, Marcels and Meredith Jaye.
Reusable Water Bottles. If you have a secret Santa or gift swap, who would not love a new Owala, a subtle reminder not to use plastic water bottles.
With a name like Who Gives a Crap, how could toilet paper NOT be a great holiday gift? If you really want to get practical and fun, why not gift a case of bamboo or recycled toilet paper or tissues? Each roll is wrapped like a gift that keeps on giving AND 50% of this BCorp company’s profits go to establish clean water and build toilets! Here is $20 off your first order. (you also might be able to find online coupons for first timers, but $15 is all I could find, so I included my referral link, in all transparency!)
And we cannot forget our friends at à la main, a market, apothecary and refillery shop that won the GE Green Business Award this year. They have been closed for a while while they created their new shopping experience at 532 Penn, near Stam (another fave!). They open on Nov 22 with expanded offerings, so be sure to check them out for your sustainable holiday gift-giving.
Experiences:
Angela recommends gifting tickets to the WNDR Museum Chicago, an immersive art experience that your family will be talking about for weeks!
Jac’s family had a blast visiting The Great Big Game Show in Oakbrook. It's like being on your own game show - you even have a live host! This is an experience that is good for all ages and group sizes. Even the teens had fun!
We all can recommend a membership at The Morton Arboretum, a no-brainer gift. Miles of trails, fun and education events, and an amazing Children’s Garden play area make this a memorable gift that lasts for four seasons! Plus a membership allows entry to gardens and arboretums nationwide through their reciprocal program.
Karin loves a good showtune, and has gifted subscription series to both Paramount and Drury Lane. The quality of the shows is outstanding, and saves the trip and expense of Broadway! Plus with 4 or 5 shows in the series, your gift giver will be thinking of you all year.
Why not help someone meet their New Year’s goals with a gift card from GE’s Drip Yoga, a fave of both Jac and Angela. They have teen classes too.
Donations to a nonprofit:
Our friends at EcoShip have finally acquired a permanent home! They are still in need of donations to cover their transition to their new space. Donations are being matched by an anonymous donor through the end of November, so now is the perfect time to support them. We will be partnering with them again to do collections in 2026.
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, based in Montana, is a small group of Davids going up against polluting Goliaths. They are doing impressive work and keep winning! You can learn more about their work and help support them here.
Magnificent Mutts is a no-kill shelter in Hillside that rescues and cares for dogs until they can find their forever homes.
Sierra Club does such great work nationally, plus they have a very active local group right in Glen Ellyn called the River Prairie Group.
If you want to make a difference right here in GE for two future experiences, consider giving to these new efforts:
McKee House preservation, to help restore the historic McKee house to become a usable cultural asset, tucked at the edge of the beautiful Churchill Woods.
Glen Ellyn Downtown Event Park. Once a bank, soon to be a great space for outdoor events as our hometown ‘front yard'. While the Park District and the Village have approved and funded its formation, there is a budget gap to get to the full vision. The Park District Foundation is seeking funding for this goal.
Of course, a wonderful choice for a holiday donation is the Glen House Food Pantry. They love to get donations of food and other items, but with cash donations they can leverage their purchasing power and are able fill in specific needs. Consider a holiday donation on Cyber Monday, or any day, to help feed our neighbors.
There is so much for us to be thankful for as we head into Thanksgiving and close out our 4th year as a non-profit. We are so grateful for you and your care for this planet, helping us work to fulfill Go Green’s mission.
From all of us at Go Green Glen Ellyn, a very happy Thanksgiving!