Sustainable Gift Guide for Mother's Day

Who says that you can't show your mum you care, whilst also caring for the environment? We appreciate that getting a Mother's Day Gift this year is a little trickier than usual with the shops being shut (for now anyway), so we thought we’d try and help out with a curated list of sustainable gifts ideas, ideal for showing your mum just how special she is!

FLOWERS

As much as we all love them, cut-flowers unfortunately have a large CO2 footprint due to the energy required to produce them, maintain them and transport them. Beyond this they have a myriad of other negative impacts on the environment, namely associated with the use of pesticides and herbicides.

Thankfully, many flower companies are becoming increasingly conscious of the impact that they have on the planet and are taking action to do all that they can to reduce this negative impact. Take Bloom and Wild as an example - they now offset their carbon emissions by supporting projects that cut carbon. In addition, they have made their letterbox packaging 100% recyclable!

Here are some other brands that we feel deserve a mention, due to both their gorgeous bouquets and their more conscious and holistic approach! Arena Flowers, Appleyard Flowers and Bouqs.

CHOCOLATE

Sometimes you just can't beat chocolate! Especially, when it’s been consciously farmed with species, habitats and livelihoods at the forefront of its production.

Endangered Species are a brand that epitomize these ethical values by donating 10% of their annual net profits to conservation organizations in a bid to ‘give back’.

In addition, we most certainly recommend the following brands, especially for those with mums who have a sweet tooth - no judgement here! Divine Chocolate, Tony’s Chocolonely and Booja-Booja.

CANDLES

Who doesn't love a candle? More importantly, who doesn't love a candlelit bath?

Give your mum potentially the best gift of them all - an excuse to get some peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives (probably spent looking after others!) The following brands are a great place to start when looking for a glorious bath time accompaniment: Keep Candles, Evermore and Earl of East.

Sadly, a lot of the more traditional candles on the market contain a mix of palm oil, paraffin and soy waxes, of which the use of palm oil contributes to the influx of deforestation. Whilst the use of paraffin releases harmful toxins into the air - as expected from petroleum derivatives.

Alternatively, we’d strongly recommend plant-based wax, made from substances such as soy, beeswax or coconut. Just try to ensure that whichever you go for wax wise your candle is made 100% from this and there are no sneaky surprises in there!

Hopefully this list will act as a source of inspiration for those still looking to source their lovely mums that little something special! We wish everyone a lovely Mother’s Day this weekend - whether you’re able to spend it with your loved ones or not! Here’s to all the wonderful women out there, mums, aunts, grandma’s, daughters, sisters, friends and more!