2021 Christmas gift guide: part one

Festive treats for a range of budgets

As the festive season approaches, we’ve selected some top gift picks from co-ops and ethical shops. 

We know budgets might be stretched more than usual this year, so we’ve compiled a list of gifts under £10 and £5 so you can still give ethically without breaking the bank.

Top gifts under £10:

Suffra-greats! top trumps style card game(£9.99, Ethical Shop)

William Morris colouring book (£9.99, News from Nowhere)

Scented Tea Lights in Jasmine, Rose or Orange (£8.99, Ethical Shop)

Kids’ conversation cards from Craft Coop CIC (£8.99, Craft Co-op Shop)

Bird cake kit made from recycled yoghurt pots (£9.95, Ethical Shop)

Top gifts under £5:

Barrett’s Ridge Beer Bread mix (£4.99, Ethical Shop)

Divine fairtrade milk chocolate giant coin (£2.20, Divine Chocolate)

Recycled newspaper pencils(£4.95, Paper High)

And here are some more ethical treats if you still want to splash out for your nearest and dearest, whether they are…

Foodies:

Spice Kitchen spice tins

Check out non-profit Zaytoun for Palestinian ingredients, giftboxes and cookbooks, as well as Spice Kitchen, a UK family run business, for cookware, cookbooks and silk sari-wrapped spice tin gift sets.  

Yogis:

The Collective Yoga Cooperative offers virtual yoga classes from their base in Illinois. You can purchase gift cards from the co-op which can be redeemed against their live classes and access to an on-demand library. 

Crafty ones:

Sewing kit from Crafty You Crafty Me

Derbyshire-based Crafty You Crafty Me sell eco-consciously created mosaic, needle felting and sewing kits, such as this Christmas garland kit

Stitch and Story, based in London, are on a mission to help more people create personalised, meaningful and ethical items through their crochet and knitting kits, such as this beginner-level slipper knitting kit

Cosy ones:

Blanket from The Wool Clip

And for those who’d rather leave the making to the pros, you can find a range of woolly hot water bottle covers, tea cosies, socks and jumpers from fair-trade knitwear company and ‘slow fashion’ proponents, Pachamama, as well as blankets, cushions, rugs and more from Cumbrian co-op The Wool Clip.