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Fair Trade Natural Purse
Everyone knows that getting your favorite lady a great gift is bonus points in the bank for you! Whether she is your main squeeze, best friend, momma, or whoever…a great gift can go a loooong way. We would like to suggest you make the gifts for the women in your life eco-friendly – it’s just one simple way to make the holidays more merry!
So what to get her…jewelry? A purse? Something for the home? There are many eco-stylish options in every price range available that are sure to please even the pickiest of gals, you know the ones that already have everything?! Here is a gift guide to all of our favorite gifts for her.
Purse-a-holic
We have a few on our team (we won’t name names) so we understand the needs of a purse addict from firsthand experience. Fashion and functionality are important and we have just what you need.
Fair Trade Natural Purse – hello beautiful! This purse is uniquely perfect for that special woman. It’s fair trade and handmade from raffia, available in 8 colors.
Medium Seat Belt Tote – it’s a customer and Guffly team favorite for sure! Made from reclaimed seatbelts into an uber functional purse. Sure to get her compliments, we guarantee it!
Funky Natural Clutch – though handcrafted from Buntal (the stalk of the buri palm) it maintains a glamorous look that is sure to compliment both dressy and casual ensembles!
Jewelry Lover
These are the affordable jewelry options that are also kind to our environment or made using fair trade practices. We don’t think jewelry has to be expensive or something you can only wear some of the time.
Nut Blob Ring
Nut Blob Ring – eco-chic, what? Made from the nut of a Tagua Palm and dyed gorgeous colors. It’s vegetable ivory, which makes it extra interesting.
Fair Trade Silver Earrings – so simple and so adorable. Handmade by Kenyan artisans from silver and amethyst chips. Dress them up or down.
Grass Bead Neck Art – a totally unique necklace that you won’t believe is made from sustainable zulugrass by women in Kenya. Beautiful in each of the 3 color options.
Any Eco-stylish Woman
From the girl next door to your mom. Everyone knows that confident lady that wants to be eco conscious and maintain her sense of style. Let her know you support her by gifting green.
Recycled Cotton Hooded Sweatshirt – who doesn’t love a cozy sweatshirt? Perfect for the girly girl and the adventure diva. Made from recycled materials and extra soft!
Recycled Tote Bag – each one is one-of-a-kind because they are made from recycled coffee bags hailing from around the world. Each is lined with too cute fabric remnants and boasts recycled polypro handles.
To-Go Ware Utensil Kit – everyone eats and mostly everyone eats out of their home most of the time. Help your leading lady kick the plastic utensil habit and keep it sustainable with this cool bamboo utensil set in its own case.
Upcycled Scarf Necklace
Upcycled Scarf Necklace – made into an eco-chic scarf from reclaimed cotton jersey scraps. Beautiful, functional and oh so cozy!
Plus, we’re adding a new product every day on our Daily Guff which is featured at an extra affordable price. The good stuff just keeps coming! Guffly is your source for stylish products and unique gifts that ease your shopping conscience by being eco friendly or fair trade. http://guffly.com
***Remember! For every $25 you spend in December, Guffly is giving a $5 gift card right back to ya!
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You may think that if you have read one holiday gift guide you have read them all. Well let us prove you wrong! The Guffly Team wants to help you to be the best eco-friendly gift giver you could possibly be.
We get that this season the wallet is a little thinner than it may have been in years past but it doesn’t mean you have to gift crummy gifts. Instead, we encourage you to give fun, unique, green gifts that offer more bang for your buck.
To help inspire you to get to your holiday shopping sooner than later we’ve compiled some of our favorite gift ideas for under $50:
Reusable Stainless Steel Razor Kit – retro and super classy. These safety razors give you a smaller footprint because you’re tossing out less material and are extra kind to your pocketbook – this kit should last about a year! Good for: Dad, Grandpa, Husband/Boyfriend, Edgy Women, Santa
Recycled Vintage Fabric Necklace
Recycled Vintage Fabric Necklace – well women love jewelry, there’s just no getting around that. Give her a one-of-a-kind piece that has vintage roots with this fun necklace made from recycled vintage fabric and recycled silver. Good for: Wife/Girlfriend, Mom, Cool Aunt, Best Friend
Fair Trade Shoes – because everyone knows a shoe-a-holic…or at least someone that needs a new pair of kicks. Honor them and the people that make these shoes by purchasing fair trade style. Four color options, men’s sizes 7 – 13. Good for: Son, Brother in Law, Dog Walker, Skaters, Fair Trade Lovers
Recycled Circuit Board Coasters Set – it’s always a good thing when you find a cool way to encourage coaster usage. This set of 6 coasters with tin are made from discarded circuit boards and made a new into something useful! Good for: Eco Geeks, Computer Engineers, Dad, Fun Families, College Student
Recycled Bike Tube Leash – pups need love during the holidays too! These leashes are durable because they’re made from recycled bike inner tubes and dry quickly. Fun for the dog and the owner. Good for: Soy, Bamboo, Ruby, Crazy Dog Lover, Yourself (self-gifting is totally appropriate!)
Organic Cotton Green Rainforest Tee – everyone loves a comfy go-to t-shirt that they can throw on and just feel good. Our version is made from 100% organic fair trade cotton with a modern rainforest design (also available in Blue Tree Design). Good for: Babysitter, Sister, Friend, Yoga Instructor, Mom
Bike Burnout Graphic Tee
Bike Burnout Graphic Tee – so we can’t leave the guys out in the t-shirt category. This bad boy is made from 100% recycled jersey cotton and features a design of a biker shredding the gnar, if you will. Good for: Road/Mountain/Cyclocross Bikers, Dudes that wish they were bikers, Annoying Brother, Friend
Whew. How about that?! Makes you wanna pour yourself a beer and get to shopping, right? Online shopping is so much better than fighting the crowds of crazy people at the mall. The pretzels to go with that beer, if you will, is that Guffly is giving shoppers a $5 gift card for every $25 they spend shopping the Guffs through December 31, 2009. That’s right Get 5 for every $25 you spend – to give or keep!
Guffly is your source for stylish products and unique gifts that ease your shopping conscience by being eco friendly or fair trade. http://guffly.com/
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These handmade Organic Natural Soap Sets are made by Earth Natural Essentials a company this is nearby Guffly! The company was founded by Crystal in Troy, Michigan and we’re very excited to be offering a local-to-Guffly supplier for today’s Daily Guff!
Earth Natural Essentials products are made from top quality local ingredients and packaging. We like that the products are hand crafted in small batches. These natural organic soaps are also vegan and of course eco-friendly!
As an added bonus, the company is donating 10% of all November sales to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit that serves hot meals, provides food and clothing for families in need, maintains a 25,000 square foot urban farm, and so much more. Certainly a worthy cause in our book!
Get your Organic Natural Soap Set (you get to pick the size and scents) on the Daily Guff: http://guffly.com/
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The fabulous designer Besty at Foundling brings us the gorgeous Recycled Vintage Fabric Necklace on the Daily Guff! She is inspired by old things and loves to repurpose them – like the beautiful quilt fabric in today’s necklace pendant.
She says that she, “Hope[s] that my work will be loved and worn by people who imagine the adventures all these scraps of fabric, baubles and old, brittle pages had before they reached their hands–and that they might take them on some of their own.
Thanks for bringing us this awesome recycled necklace that is a unique gift for her! Get it on the Daily Guff: http://guffly.com
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Hey Amanda of The Andean Collection! Thanks for bringing us the Classic Tagua Bracelets to feature on the Daily Guff!
Amanda founded The Andean Collection in fall 2008 while she was in Ecuador researching rural women’s survival strategies when dealing with poverty as her master thesis. Determined to make more of a difference than a paper could – she stayed in Ecuador longer to find disadvantaged artisans, training them, and helping them fortify their supply chains. The company brings us fashion forward, eco-friendly, and fair trade jewelry and we LOVE it!
Here’s some info about this awesome company:
Fair Trade
Fair trade in artisan products means ensuring that producers and everyone along the supply chain has good working conditions, a decent wage, and a realistic path out of poverty. Given the inherent low education level of poor producers, fair trade for us also means going beyond and helping artisans lead a better life. We do this through an annual survey of our producers in which we learn more about their lives, the problems they face on a daily basis, and taking action to help them combat these difficulties.
Tagua
The Tagua nut comes from the Ecuadorean Ivory Palm, whose scientific name is Phytelephas aequatorialis or “plant elephant”, and which flourishes in the lowlands of South America. The medium-sized palm, reaching up to 60 feet tall, grows quickly and easily in shady, humid places hidden below larger trees. The tagua nut is collected from large pods emerging from the palm’s trunk. These regenerative pods can be harvested by climbing the tree or collected later once they fall to the forest floor. Harvested early, tagua is a soft fruit resembling the inner fruit of a coconut and can be eaten. Harvested later, tagua is white and extremely hard, and has come to be known as “vegetable ivory” because of its amazing ability to be carved and polished. Tagua is a perfect natural material for making beads, buttons, and figurines; before the age of plastic, tagua was used to produce large quantities of buttons for world markets. Whether hand-dyed into a wide spectrum of colors or left in a more natural state, the versatility of this nut makes it a unique addition to any jewelry piece.
You may have heard news recently about The Andean Collection because people are loving the sophisticated style of this eco friendly jewelry – this isn’t the hippie stuff for sure! These make great accessories and gifts from the Daily Guff: http://guffly.com
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Reducing waste is the mantra of LooptWorks the fine company that brings the Organic Corduroy A-Line Skirt to the Daily Guff today! We appreciate that LooptWorks looks for materials thrown out as excess and figures out how to use them to make innovated products and (the best part!) break the cycle of waste. They are committed to making products and running their business without creating any new material. They say it’s a big goal to live up to and we believe them.
We thought we’d let LooptWorks explain this part for themselves…
Hey LooptWorks, how do you define a product a sustainable?
A product is truly sustainable when it’s made so well that it doesn’t need to be replaced frequently. This concept flies in the face of current product development specification from many companies in many industries. They call it designed obsolescence, and unfortunately, the industry has gotten so good at it that only 1% of everything that’s purchased in the US is still in use after 6 months. For all the details, read The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. LooptWorks has steered away from the disposable fashion business model and from reducing quality specifications in order to make products cheaply. We work hard to bring you a long lasting, well-constructed garment that will stand the test of time. We double- or triple-needle stitch all critical seems. We test all of our fabrics for shrinkage and tensile and tear strength, and we design products with fabrics that last.
We love, love, LOVE this skirt and hope you do too! Here’s a size chart for some extra info when you’re ordering.
Score this eco-stylish Organic Corduroy A-Line Skirt on the Daily Guff: http://guffly.com
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It creeps up every year but the holiday decorations are going up in the mall, kids are already starting to write Christmas and Hanukah lists. That’s right, the holidays are coming. It may seem a little silly to some to start planning gifts and parties this early. Especially now when many of us will be put on a holiday budget for the first time due to the recession. But there is nothing wrong with having a holiday budget plan. By planning early for the holidays you can save a lot of money and you won’t have to trim down on as many activities as you thought you would. This is the perfect time to introduce someone close to you to an eco-friendly lifestyle or pick up on the habit yourself. These tips can get you started in the right direction
- Money Money Money: The first thing you need to do is sit down and figure out how much money you are willing to spend this holiday season. It doesn’t have to be a set number, due to sales and the price change of the holiday season it is due to change but you should have a range. $2,000-$2,500? $5,000-$6,000? Think about that now and don’t go over your budget. You do not have to spend a fortune to have a great holiday season.
- Every Card You Write: It just might be a whole lot easier to go the e-card route. It saves time and money since a lot of e-card websites are free and allow you to make cards for up to 100 people. Plus it saves on paper. Make the card now, set the date to make sure the e-card is sent by email during the holidays and you’re done. Using recycled paper if you’re making your cards by hand is definitely the way to go.
- Trim the Tree: Buying a Christmas tree is hard work. There are so many to choose from! A new trend in the green community is to buy a living tree. It may not be as big as the ones you usually get but you can plant it in your backyard or local park after the holidays and reduce the carbon foot print. Try to avoid the artificial trees. They are usually made from non-renewable plastics and other toxins. If you have to go the artificial route there are ways to store your tree so that it may last for years and will keep you from buying a new one every December. Going to an organic Christmas tree farm may not be an option for all but if one is in your area you should look into it. Use LED lights or solar powered lights. They save power and your electricity bill will not be as high as those using traditional lights. Make homemade ornaments by doing origami or go collect pine cones and acorns outside and glue a little glitter on them.
- A Bundle of Gifts: Make a list of the people who you would like to send gifts to. Carry this list with you whenever you leave the house. As the holiday season approaches you never know when you might see a great sale on something that a loved one would like. If your budget is tight you can never go wrong with a homemade gift. Baked goods fill the stomach and warm the heart. Make a coupon book filled with tasks that you are willing to do for your loved one as a gift. Make a coupon for the kids allowing them to pick dinner or a family outing. Your husband might like a coupon for a free kiss and hug. You might want to donate to a college fund or start a 529 college savings plan for a child. Name a star after a sci-fi or astrology lover. Plant a tree in someone’s name. Make a donation to someone’s favorite charity in their name. There are countless ways to buy eco-friendly gifts. Donations can be done online and save time. You can always look to Guffly for great eco-friendly gifts. We have something that everyone can use.
- Make Space: More than likely your household has items that they no longer use that sit somewhere collecting dust. Now is a great time to go through those closets and pack up the clothes that are too small and the toys your kids no longer use. The closest and toy chests will be filled after the holidays. But you can donate your gently used items to places like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross where every donation is tax deductable. That way you’ll be getting some cash when you file your taxes and helping someone that is in need now.
Look for more eco-friendly tips and budget saving for the holidays coming from Guffly soon. Happy Holiday Planning!
Guffly is a one product per day online store and community featuring eco friendly products and fair trade lifestyle goods like home, pet, clothing, office and personal accessories. We know that people aren’t interested in ugly stuff, so you can bet Guffly’s green products are stylish, fun and attractive – eco stylish if you will. Shop the Daily Guff at http://www.guffly.com
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Our eco-stylish product today, the Recycled Red Graphic Tee comes from Dirtball Fashion based in North Carolina. American employees make all of their organic and recycle cotton fashions in the United States. This keeps manufacturing jobs here and shortens shipping distances, thus reducing our carbon footprint since they don’t have products or materials coming in from all over the world. We dig not only their products but business practices too!
These graphic t-shirts are stylish enough for a night out and relaxed enough for lounging around the house or shredding at the local skatepark. And believe it or not, each Dirtball T-shirt contains 2 – 16oz. water bottles. These A great eco gift for guys or gals, in warm weather or cold! Get it on the Daily Guff: http://guffly.com
Stockings have been filled with many things. Though no one is sure of the exact origin of these treasure filled socks, we like the version from 16th century Germany where children would hang their socks and on Christmas Eve, St. Nicholas would fill them with five gifts designed to stimulate each of the five senses. 
St. Nick is making this year a Green Christmas – he clued us in so our Guffly-elves can be ready to rock. Here’s are some fun eco-stylish items that fit just right in a stocking:
