Spending the holidays together this year may be the greatest gift of all, but that doesn’t stop most of us from joining the bustle of holiday shopping! Finding gifts that serve our loved ones as well as the environment can be a challenge. There are many types of sustainable gifts out there, such as experiences, consumables, and gifts that help jumpstart someone’s sustainability journey. It’s impossible to name them all, but the list below highlights just some of the local offerings available that can spread joy while having a light impact on the environment.
- Hue the Muse is a collective of artists working to inspire through eco-art and sustainable living. In addition to organic lavender scented rescue balms and CBD massage oil candles, they make gorgeous wreaths of succulents in many shapes and sizes. The wreath base is constructed of twisted grape vines and dried moss, while an elegant arrangement of succulents, dried flowers, and crystals adorn each customizable art piece. http://www.huethemuse.org
- Zenbunni is a local Topanga business that is centered around two sustainably grown and harvested, high-quality products. Their biodynamic, fair-trade, and regeneratively grown coffee is roasted with care to retain the abundance of antioxidants and nutrients so often lost in conventional roasting. They also carry exclusive, hand-rolled herb and flower incense made by farmers in Indonesia, free of any impure ingredients or synthetic binders and perfect for smudging or sacred ceremony. https://zenbunni.com/
- Be Love Apparel is a store in the heart of Topanga Canyon that sells ethical, locally-made, comfortable clothing, while contributing to transformative, community-based causes and organizations that serve youth and families. Their current give-back campaign is with the non-profit, Together Rising, that works to provide food and rental assistance for children and families who are experiencing food insecurity, eviction, and homelessness. All profits from Be Love’s “I Choose Love” design are being donated to this cause. https://beloveapparel.com/
- The Well Refill in Topanga Canyon is providing the community with refillable dish and hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and laundry detergent. Refillable glass dispensers filled with scented hand soap is a lovely gift that can start someone on a zero waste path. Bring in a reusable container from home and fill it with bath salts, body scrub, or a clay face mask. Every item in the store is plant-based and compostable so that your gift leaves no waste behind. https://thewellrefill.com/
- Sage Vegan Bistro is a unique restaurant in Agoura Hills (with several other locations) that offers a delicious plant-based menu that uses seasonal, organic, local produce from nearby farms. These farms use regenerative agriculture which focuses on sequestering carbon into the topsoil, producing nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. Kitchen scraps from the restaurants are returned to the farm to be composted. A gift card to Sage Vegan Bistro can be an experience that inspires and nourishes! https://www.sageveganbistro.com/
- Topanga Canyon is blessed to have two different clay studios that offer classes. Kirsty Iredale’s Potter’s studio has been around for many years and Topanga Clay has only recently opened. Each space has a different feel and unique offerings, and classes at either place would make a lovely gift! Topangaclay.com or kirstyiredale.com
- A little known art class in the gorgeous backyard of Topanga resident Sandy Savas has been happening for many years. She offers many classes, each with a different focus, but one of her most popular is: Fairy Furniture. Using found natural objects, kids and adults alike can lose themselves in the creation of miniature furniture for the smallest of fairies. Within this small scale, a seashell becomes a birdbath, a twig helps to make an armchair, and nature and all its beauty comes to life. She offers gift cards for classes or art parties. topangacreates.com
Another way to give this season is to donate in someone’s honor. There are a plethora of local organizations and causes that are on the ground, making a difference. Here are two: The Topanga Women’s Circle (TWC) is a nonprofit that works tirelessly to transform transitional housing into cozy homes for families that have been experiencing homelessness. They bring in bedding, towels, essential food items, books, toys, and clothes for families that often move in with little more than the clothes they are wearing. topangawomenscircle.org. You can also donate to have a tree planted in honor of someone you love. Tree People is planting trees throughout Los Angeles and continues to care for each tree for the first five years of its life in order to ensure its survival. This organization is working to reforest our parks and urban environments and your symbolic gift can have an everlasting impact. https://www.treepeople.org/tree-dedications/
