5 Eco Friendly Christmas Gifts That Are As Funky As They Are Good For The World

Christmas is fast approaching and if you’re not careful it’ll be Christmas Eve and you’ll be trying to make presents out of leaves and branches from the garden.

However if you’re a little bit organised you could be giving some eco-friendly Christmas gifts that are a little more eco-friendly, like these five diverse options which include a human powered espresso maker, organic sneakers and a paper cup which isn’t a paper cup (all will be explained later on..)

1. Presso Coffee Maker

Know someone who loves their fresh espressos but isn’t so keen on all the electricity they drain making it? With the award winning Presso Coffee Maker electricity doesn’t even come into it, because this espresso maker is entirely manual.

Totally technophobe friendly, all they need to do to operate it is apply the pressure via a simple pump action and they”ll have that gorgeous cup of coffee they can’t live without, with one of the smallest carbon footprints ever.

(Available for £79.99 at Nigel’s Eco Store)

2. Grobox

Looking for a gift for someone with the gardening bug, or is always on about giving it a go? Firebox have just the thing with their Grobox. Made from biodegradable cardboard, this set of garden plants needs you to do nothing more than pop the whole the thing in the garden (yes box and all), give it a good old water and it’ll look after itself.

Sounding like some kind of novelty gift, this is a product that’s actually been very well thought out, with the plants carefully selected by horticulturist Jayne Lawton and hand-spaced within the box to make sure they having enough room to grow, and the cardboard box acting to help protect and nourish them, thanks to it’s insulating qualities whilst in one piece, and the nutritional value to the plants and ground as it degrades.

Available in three different varieties – White Christmas, Winter Garden and Winter Vegetables – at just £5.99 this is not only cool, but a bargain gift.

(Available for £5.99 at Firebox)

3. 6 in 1 Robot Kit

If you thought all eco presents were about being practical then the 6 in 1 Solar Robot kit is going to come as a welcome surprise to you. Designed to be used by DIY beginners, this kit can be made up in six different ways to create a puppy, windmill, plane, boat, revolving plane, windmill and car, which will then spring into action via nothing more than a bit of light.

Guaranteed to impress and totally addictive, this kit is great for kids big and small and is available for £12.99 at I Want One Of Those.

4. I Am Not A Paper Cup

We all love out take out coffees but you have to admit they’re not very environmentally friendly with their plastic lids and paper cups, and that is where the I Am Not A Paper Cup comes in.

Made from a double walled porcelain with a flexible silicone lid, this cup is styled to look exactly like your normal paper cup but is a whole lot more eco friendly and stylish, and if you’re a clumsy type a whole lot harder to knock over than your normal paper coffee cup.

(Available for £12.95 at Firebox)

5. Ethletic Classic Organic Low Cut Sneaker

Totally fair trade, these 100% organic cotton canvas sneakers prove being eco friendly doesn’t mean you have to stop being stylish, and come with a tough rubber sole complete with the first ever FSC stamp engraved into the bottom.

(Available for £42.09 at Nigel’s Eco Store)