9 Last-Minute, Low-Waste, Low-Clutter Gift Ideas

Low clutter, high appeal

We have too much stuff. Niche stores exist to sell us stuff to store our stuff. Over 10 percent of us rent storage units—at an average cost of $89 per month! This in spite of the fact that the average single-family home has doubled in size since the 1950s—and shelters fewer people.

With Americans planning to spend an average of $932 on gifts this holiday season, it looks like we’ll either have to declutter to make way for the new stuff or buy additional storage for it.

If you exchange presents, give your recipients the gift of no additional clutter.

Plants and seeds

You wouldn’t want to give these to a serial plant killer but you likely have a gardener on your list who would love some plants or seeds. Gardeners never have enough. Opt for native plants and you’ll also bestow the gift of habitat on native insects which support the food web (and us).

“But how do I choose the right native plants or seeds?” you may ask. In the US, search for native trees and plants suitable for your county—down to your zip code!—at National Wildlife Federation’s plant finder. In California, also check out calscape.org, part of the California Native Plant Society. There, you can search for native plants and local native plant nurseries. Your state’s or province’s native plant society may also have links to native nurseries.

Native ceanothus that I’m obsessed with

Books

Continuing with the native plant theme, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, by Doug Tallamy, changed my life—and my yard. This year, I also finally read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s masterpiece, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Maybe your recipient loves to cook. Do I have a cookbook for them!

If you can, please support your local bookstore when you buy books. And if you shop online, check out Bookshop.org, a competitor to Amazon that raises money for independent bookstores—$23,959,424.69 to date as of writing this newsletter. Bookshop also sells digital gift cards.

If you’d prefer not to buy physical books, give your recipient ebooks or audiobooks.

Canadian edition of my book next to my Taste Canada Silver award

Subscriptions

Local papers serve local communities and small businesses. Give the gift of zero firewalls to a friend.

The platform I use for this newsletter—Substack—features and supports great independent writing. Consider giving a paid subscription to a friend. Start your search for subscriptions here.

NYT Cooking is a wonderful resource with fabulous recipes. My family loves it. A one-year subscription costs $40.

Classes

So I’m starting to see a theme: this is list of clutter-free gifts I want…

Michael Pollan, award-winning author, journalist and professor, has teamed up with Masterclass to teach “The Truth Behind Your Food.” His books also changed my life! If you buy your recipient a one-year subscription to Masterclass, they can choose other classes, such as creative writing with Margaret Atwood or gardening with Ron Finley or creating change with Malala—and dozens and dozens of others.

Would your recipient rather get out from behind the screen while learning something? Look for in-person continuing education classes, cooking classes, meditation classes and so on in your community.

Teach them something

Has a friend raved about your homemade pasta? Your tiny origami frogs? Your carved garden gnomes? Perhaps they admire the mittens you knit. Maybe all your friends love your mittens. You could throw a mitten knitting party. Do it over Zoom if your mitten-envying friends live far away.

Event tickets

Luckily (?) my family doesn’t read my newsletters so they won’t know about the symphony tickets I bought for us to see Hilary Hahn. Other gifts of entertainment include digital gift cards for the movies or tickets to a sporting event, comedy night, wine tasting...

Massages and spa days

If your recipient loves wellness gifts, a day at the spa won’t clutter their home. They won’t need to clear off a shelf for their gift. They will never have to dust it off. And the trip to the spa will reduce their stress rather than adding to it as clutter does.

Consumables

You can’t go wrong with very good tea or coffee for the caffeine lover on your list. Buy it in bulk and your recipient also receives a jar they can use over and over. The puerh and cacao nibs I combine in my teapot brew such a flavorful, aromatic cup that I can no longer go out for tea!—except for high tea over the holidays (another clutter-free gift!).

Unless your recipient is a teetotaler, you also can’t go wrong with a bottle of wine. Very good wine vinegar makes another wonderful gift (as does good olive oil). You also still have time to make fantastic limoncello (go here for the recipe).

Arrange to have their broken stuff repaired

Or repair the item for them if you know how.

Recently, I dropped off half a dozen pieces of my kids’ clothing at the tailor for repairs. When I picked them up, they looked like new! My daughter MK has been wearing a couple of the items every week since.

Your loved one may have a similar pile of worn or damaged clothing. Or a bike that requires a tune up. Or knives that need sharpening. Or a coffee table they want refinished. By completing a task on their to-do list for them, you also give them the gift of time.

Someone please take my serger in for servicing!

The best way to deal with clutter is to prevent it.

Happy holidays!