Green Granny Gifts for Christmas and Beyond

Granny loves to spoil her little pumpkins all year round, and at Christmas, it’s usually granny and grandpa who foot the bill for the big ticket toys or the special games.

There is a  unique bond between grandparents and grandchildren. They enjoy each other  in a way that often mystifies mom and dad. Anyone who has known the special joy of having or being a grandparent can testify to the depth of the relationship and the special power and responsibility grandparents have towards the kids two generations below them,  who are their posterity.

As the holiday season rolls around again, what better way to impress upon the grandkids the importance of treating the earth with respect, than to make the season eco-friendly and green, and to explain the how and why of it along the way.  An impression made while they are young will cast a long long shadow.  Here are some suggestions.

Start When They Are Babies

When thinking about gifts for babies and toddlers, make– don’t buy, and if you must buy, look for  hand made and local rather than mass produced and imported.   If granny is  accomplished at knitting, crocheting or quilting, this is the time to start making and giving those family heirlooms (using natural fibers and organic materials of course)   A hand knit sweater, a quilt made from recycled fabric, even a teddy bear made from an old chenille bedspread, like the ones I saw recently at a local craft fair, can not only be a wonderful gift of love but can carry the message of  respect for the planet by using things wisely and well and not taking more than you need.

Now, I know that most two year old boys would rather have a toy truck than a grandma-made-it sweater, so I have some advice on buying toys too.  Again, buy local if you can. A wooden toy made  by a local craftsman not only won’t have lead based paint (remember those toys from China last year?), it also won’t be imported and transported across the country so the energy used to get it from maker to user will be much much less than for a mass produced, imported product.

Not all plastics are bad– there are domestic toy manufacturers making wonderful toys from recycled materials.  One online source I love and recommend highly makes wonderful toddler-proof dump trucks from recycled plastic milk containers. The website is called greentoys.com and their motto is ” American made and Eco-Friendly, Yeee-hah” Go have a look In fact, the internet is crawling with green toy websites these days. Just do a google search for” green toys” and you’ll see what I mean.

For Older Kids

School age kids will be more interested in activities and games than toys and they cetainly won’t want grandma-made it sweaters– although they might be interested in learning to weave or knit. Green granny gifts for older children will be more individualized and suited to the particular child and his or her interests. They can range from volunteering in an eco-village to  a Nintendo WII (the greenest of the game boxes and one which encourages physical activity).

For the right child, a grandparent’s gift of  membership in the Sierra Club or the Humane Society can be an important experience.   Even learning to hunt and fish can be a way of teaching grandchildren respect for the earth and the animal kingdom as well as an intergenerational activity.

Then there are trips with grandparents  which offer a special view of the world and encourage a love of nature.  These can be anything from a two week cruise to Antarctica (for grandparents with the funds to do such things)  to a day trip to the local zoo or planetarium. It doesn’t matter what the activity is, but the general idea is for grandparents to spend time with the grandkids and in so doing, to provide them with a platform of love and generational wisdom from which to spring forward into life.

This is the greatest gift that one generation can give to another and if the gift is a green one that includes a sense of stewardship and responaibilty for the earth and all living things, so much the better.