The Christmas season will soon be upon us again and with it the pre-Christmas stress begins. With a few tips for sustainable gifts, you can avoid this hassle and relax and enjoy the festive season.
The Christmas season will soon be upon us again and with it the pre-Christmas stress begins. With a few tips for sustainable gifts, you can avoid this hassle and relax and enjoy the festive season.
The calm before the storm. It may still be a few months away, but Christmas is fast approaching and everyone knows that the festive season is not exactly the most relaxing time of the year. There are what feels like ten Christmas dinners coming up, the cookies don't bake themselves and the tree (sustainably sourced, of course!) still has to be decorated. Have you fitted the winter tires yet? It wouldn't hurt to have your skis and snowboards serviced before the vacations. And somewhere in between you still have to get the obligatory presents for your mother, uncle and godson. What a miserable stress this contemplative Christmas time is.
We have a few tips to help you get through all of this without having a nervous breakdown:
1. start early enough with the organization
There are still a few weeks to go before the Christmas rush begins - so make the most of the time. Think about what you can do now that you won't have to worry about in December. Certain things are unavoidable, the cookies are best fresh and the tree should only be put up just before the festive season. However, you can take your skis in for a service now - it's cheaper out of season anyway. The winter tires can also wait, but better too early than too late.
2. save yourself the stress of getting Christmas presents
Christmas presents, a thing in themselves. The Christmas season is becoming more and more materialized, it's often no longer about giving someone something because you want to - but because you HAVE to. Start thinking now about what you WANT to give to whom. Sometimes a small, honest gesture is worth much more than anything material.
An alternative to all those "last minute" gifts that you only give because you've given something is a simple game that you'll no doubt remember from your school days: Secret Santa. Whether in the family, among friends or in a store - all participants draw a name from a pot, which must be kept secret. Now you have enough time to organize just one gift. You can take much more time to think of a really suitable gift. This way, everyone receives a personal gift that is much more enjoyable than heaps of junk that you can't use anyway and give away at the next best opportunity.
Gifts don't always have to be bought, they can easily be homemade - it's often cheaper and in most cases goes down really well. Below we show you a few gifts that are super easy to make yourself:
- Jute bag: Cloth bags are the perfect alternative to plastic bags and accompany you through everyday life without leaving any waste behind. To make one yourself, you don't need much more than fabric (e.g. old curtains), thread and a sewing machine. The bag can be customized with waterproof paints. You can find various instructions on the Internet.
- Photo albumThousands of photos that gather dust on your smartphone and are hardly ever looked at again. That doesn't have to be the case! Create a photo book for your best friend that will bring back all those wonderful memories. This idea is particularly suitable after a trip together to capture unforgettable moments forever. You can find various tools for this on the Internet.
- Agenda: A personalized agenda for your office buddy? Totally cool and super easy to make. All you need is a blank notebook that you can design yourself using your creativity. You can embellish the agenda with photos, quotes or drawings, for example, which gives the diary an extra personal touch.
- Homemade jamHomemade tastes best. Get regional and seasonal fruit such as strawberries or apricots and the few ingredients you have at home anyway and make your own jam. With the right instructions (you can also find them online), you can make a homemade and ever-popular gift for your loved ones.
Of course, there are many more such gadgets that are very easy and inexpensive to make. It doesn't matter whether the gifts are works of art or not. However, the recipient will notice that you have taken the time to think about a suitable gift. If you have no crafting skills at all, then simply give the gift of time together in the form of vouchers for various joint activities.
3. sustainable corporate and customer gifts
Are you responsible for organizing the gifts that your company would like to offer customers and employees for Christmas, an anniversary or any other occasion? We can help you find the right gift.
Nowadays, sustainability is an increasingly important aspect in many areas of life, including the selection of gifts for customers and employees. But sustainability is a complex concept. What are sustainable gifts anyway?
As mentioned above, gifts are often given simply because something is given and not because serious thought is given to what the recipient really likes. The need for sustainability is always growing, which is why you should also think about what you can do in the area of customer and employee gifts. Sustainable gifts are not only good for the environment, but also create a positive image for the company, which is not too shy to work towards greater sustainability and thus meet the needs of its customers.
Sustainable gifts are of course not only things that are made from environmentally friendly materials, but also those that take social and economic aspects into account. Support local businesses or foundations that make a living from such orders. Source gifts for customers and employees from brands that are committed to sustainable products. By choosing regional gift manufacturers, you not only support the local economy, but also avoid importing foreign products that involve long transportation routes and high emissions.
With sustainable company and customer gifts, you can draw the attention of your employees and customers to the sustainable use of resources and motivate them to get involved with the issue.
4 The most important points in brief
Think carefully in advance about whether the gift makes sense for your customers, your employees or your loved ones and is also useful - so that it doesn't just lie around somewhere unused and is given away at the next best opportunity and ends up being just as useless. Don't just give the gift of having given something, but take the time to find a really suitable gift.
Pay attention to the origin and materials used when choosing a gift. Avoid "cheap" gifts from faraway countries that have to travel a long way to reach you and instead support local foundations or brands with a sustainable background. Or give free rein to your creativity and simply design your gifts yourself.
5. a sustainable gift from NIKIN?
Sustainable and fair products are very important to NIKIN. We offer trendy, useful and sustainable products at affordable prices that will delight any customer, employee or friend. The recipient becomes a tree sponsor and receives a tree certificate to prove it. On request, some of our products can even be personalized and, if required, we also offer direct shipping to the recipient.
Would you like to give your customers, employees or friends a cool NIKIN product and have a tree planted in their name at the same time? - Then contact us directly via team@nikin.ch.
