The Best Eco-Friendly Gifts for Home Cooks (That Still Feel Chic)
Tomas Kauer - News Moderator 
There’s a whole lot of landfill fodder (Labubus) being churned out these days, and holiday shopping can sometimes feel nerve-racking when you don’t want to contribute to, well, the influx of junk. But when I mention eco-friendly holiday gifts, visions of dancing Deadhead bears and hacky-sack-tossing Phish Phans (nothing but big love for both of these camps, by the way) might dance in your head. Sustainable gift ideas don’t have to be cringe and crunchy, though; in the post-Goop digital shopping landscape [puffs chamomile pre-roll], eco-friendly gifts run the gamut of tried-and-true, old school planet-friendly kitchen hacks (beeswax wraps forever) and a new wave of chic (these Pierre Cardin-looking, BPA-free kitchen containers) and high-tech (the Mill food recycler) finds. (Oh, and for all of you grilled-cheese-loving headlights on a northbound train, the Grateful Dead apron line from Hedley & Bennett is made out of sustainable, long-lasting natural cotton canvas.)
It helps to remember that what while an eco-friendly kitchen gift can be a recycled cutting board or nontoxic cleaner, it can also be a reusable item that makes for a more sustainable lifestyle, such as the use of a bedside carafe (in lieu of plastic bottles) or reusable, stretchy lids (instead of Saran Wrap or tin foil).
As a longtime shopping writer with a love of countertop-worthy designs that last, the following is my gifting cheat sheet for more planet-friendly presents for every kind of home cook.
This bedside carafe makes drinking more water easy
Design-forward glass and non-BPA plastic food storage containers
Everything Kitchen Cliik 3-Piece Medium Food Storage Set
Where to Buy:
Cool beeswax candles are always a must
Martha Stewart once decreed unscented beeswax candles as the only true dinner party candle, because they burn cleaner and last longer than paraffin candles, and I took that to heart. Not only are the following cool-shaped candles not made out of crude oil (boo) but they can pay homage to your giftee’s love of entertaining, corn, tomatoes — you name it.
This nontoxic, linen-scented surface cleaner
Using a little table brush for crumbs? Very chic
Stop reaching for paper towels, and start reaching for this chic table brush set.
Because blue sponges are gross
Deliver your giftee from the Sysiphean battle of constantly replacing that dingy blue sponge and give them this charming trio of 100 percent biodegradable brushes, which are made out of bamboo, beechwood, sisal, and coconut fiber.
This recycled cutting board
I use these stretch lids to easily store leftovers
These stretchy lids from Stasher give me so much peace, because they can be used on a variety of bowl shapes and sizes, and whether you’re storing leftovers in the fridge or taking a big salad to the park in the spring, the brand says that it “replaces 10 rolls of plastic wrap every year” in (what I assume) they calculate to be the use for an average household.
Sustainably harvested olive oil
Flamingo Estate’s organic, non-GMO olive oil is one of the brand’s marquee products, and it’s made in collaboration with a fourth-generation olive farmer, Philip Asquith, who the site describes as “the guardian of thousands of gnarled, centuries-old trees—each one lovingly tended, season after season.”
This high-tech compost bin
Mill’s self-described “food recycler” is a composting aid that the high-tech bin says can break down most foods without any lingering odors (as in, crushing bones in silence overnight), all while looking like a sexy Kubrickian monolith. At this price tag, it’s obviously a big purchase, but if you have the means to smash that order button, perhaps bringing it into your loved ones’ and your home, it’s the kind of appliance that will give you a lifetime of more planet-friendly living practices.
