Mother's Day Gift Guide
by Jessica Root - Brooklyn, NY 
on 05. 1.08
Despite its bad rep as a Hallmark Holiday, Mother’s Day has historic significance that pre-dates the sappy greeting cards, flowers, and candy: During the American Civil War, social activist Julia Ward Howe organized it as a way to unify women against war and promote nonviolence. To honor the day’s original mission and say "Thanks Mom!" we've compiled a list of treats that will leave every type of mama—including Mama Earth—feeling peaceful and proud.
Mommy Meetups
Call for climate action by hosting or finding a Mommy Meetup on Mother’s Day weekend. Greenpeace is commemorating the powerful voice that mothers have by organizing gatherings across the country where families can voice phone messages calling for positive change. The messages will be turned into an online audio collage for Congress, the press, and the public to hear.
Paperless Greeting Cards
You could pick up a card…days in advance…go to the Post Office...stand in line…and mail it for a nice big carbon footprint…or for just $1, you can send mom unlimited VIDiGREETs in support of the video e-card's Million Moms For Mother Earth Program. All of the proceeds will go to ClimateChallenge.org, a project by the Energy Action Coalition which unites 46 organizations, over 700 local groups, and tens of thousands of young people across the U.S. and Canada to build a clean and just energy future.
Local Brunch
Treating mom for dinner? We aren't surprised: According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother’s Day is the most popular day for Americans to dine out. That’s a lot of energy expended on restaurant equipment, food preparation, and non-renewable materials. If you can’t whip up a homemade brunch for mom, use the Eat Well Guide to locate a local, sustainable restaurant. You’ll both feel good chowing down on fresh, seasonal ingredients that are low-impact on your waistlines and the earth.
Organic Flowers
Flowers never go out of style. Make mom glow with a fresh bouquet of roses from Organic Style that arrive on her front step. The flowers are grown with minimal environmental impact using sustainable crop and ecosystem production and fair labor practices. Though mail order shipping isn’t the greenest way to show you care, the blooms are packaged in a biodegradable corn-based sleeve. Bouquets range from $39.95-$79.95.
Liz Lovely’s Mother’s Day Cookie Sampler
They might not be as good as her own, but any sweet-toothed matriarch would enjoy hanging up her baking cap to indulge in Liz Lovely’s certified organic, fair trade and vegan cookie sampler. For $22, a bakery box—touting a 100% post-consumer recycled “Happy Mother’s Day” label and a biodegradable ribbon—comes with 2 Cowboy Cookies, 2 Cowgirl Cookies, 2 Peanut Butter Classics, 2 Ginger Snapdragons, and 2 Mochadamia Mountains. Maybe she'll share…
Aveda Spa Services
She spent her whole life pampering you—here’s your chance to return the favor. Locate Ma’s nearest Aveda salon to book her an afternoon at the spa. A gift card in the amount of your choice can go towards a massage, facial, or haircut that utilizes organic, plant-based products in post-consumer recycled packaging. Mom will feel beautiful inside and out knowing that she’s patronizing the first beauty company manufacturing with 100% certified wind power.
Sigg Bottle
With all the debate about Bisphenol A, help keep the queen bee healthy and hydrated with this stylish, reusable and safe water bottle from Sigg. Its water-based, non-toxic lining prevents leaching and keeps water tasting like water—not plastic. With 50+ designs to choose from, all around $20, there’s sure to be a bottle that matches mom’s kitchen tile and your budget.
Organic Heirloom Tomato Garden
Both expert and budding gardener ladies will appreciate this easy, garden-ready eco-friendly container which grows a harvest of juicy heirloom tomatoes. The indoor/outdoor pot is made with rice hulls and organic pigments making it 100% biodegradable. And for only $20 a pop, it’ll fit any budget.
VivaTerra’s Soft As Silk Bamboo Pajamas
Mom is a green goddess in the bedroom with these silky pajamas made from one of the world’s most renewable fabrics—bamboo. For a sexier look, the form fitting rouched top can be worn without the bottoms, which can also double as yoga or lounge pants. The versatility will have mom thinking she’s scored two gifts in one! For $98 a set, the PJs come in powder pink or turquoise.
Electra’s Amsterdam Classic Bicycle
This simple 3-speed European-style bike is fun for joy rides but also makes a perfect lift for multitasking mommies on the go. With 41% of car trips in the U.S. at less than two miles, mom will feel car(e)-free and stylish running errands or commuting. At $610, the price may seem steep, but the alluring, earth-heroine feeling mama will get riding this bad girl will be priceless.
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- 8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)
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While shameless self-promotion makes me cringe, I have to add this suggestion for a 'green' mother's day gift :
Note cards from Doodlespark www.doodlespark.com
My mom and I have been sending drawings back and forth to each other for many years, each of us adding to and changing each other's artwaork. The resulting drawings are featured on a unique set of notes with great 'green' specs : printed with soy inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper that has been produced carbon-neutral and processed chlorine free. It's FSC Chain-of-Custody certified, printed by an FSC-certified printer here in the USA.
Sets are on sale at Supermarket :
http://www.supermarkethq.com/product/1950
Jessica,
What you got right in the brunch recommendation, you forgot throughout the other gift ideas: supporting local and sustainable businesses.
I would suggest that you encourage readers to seek out locally owned organic spas instead of promoting the national chains of Aveda.
Most cities have eco boutiques and stores where they can find organic bed and bath linens for mom that make ordering from Viva Terra a next-best solution.
More and more responsible florists are popping up across the country where readers can buy organic and fair trade flowers while supporting independent and locally-owned businesses instead of buying from Organic Bouquet.
Residing in Brooklyn gives you the opportunity to see that these sorts of independent and locally owned options abound. Take notice.
Especially during this difficult time of economic recession, it is imperative to support the locally owned mom and pop shops!!!!!!!!!!
Another gift suggestion: I like to give my mom theatre tickets for Mother's Day.
I live in Vancouver, where each summer a local company (Bard on the Beach) puts on Shakespeare plays under a tent along Kits beach. It's become a summer tradition for my anglophillic mother and me to choose a play and go together.
So, as her gift I pick the play and the night and buy the tickets, and arrange for some picnic in the park beforehand.
It's on the green side of gift-giving -- because no "stuff" changes hands, we have a shared experience instead.
I would tend to agree with elissa that promoting large international brands goes aganst the grain of the green movements. I would like to see a few local organic spa's and other products make my ceative and hard working entrepreneurs who need help.
Thanks
Suresh
I too feel bad for sel-promoting, but I make the ultimate accent rugs from plastic bags and recycled yarns.
You can find my rugs at www.davaeva.etsy.com and also locally to me at Ewe-nique Knits in Goshen, Indiana.
I try to keep the green lfe going by using bags to create something that will last along time. I use mass-market trash to create one of a kind rugs for a greener life.
Jessica,
I LOVE these suggestions! I may need to get another last minute gift for mom now.
I have another suggestion to add to the list. I bought my mom a Sling bag from WaterField Designs (sfbags.com). They do all their manufacturing in San Francisco (so no "slave" labor sweat shops and no carbon waste in shipping from China, etc.).
http://www.sfbags.com/products/slingbag/sling.htm
I got her two of their little pouches to go with it so my mom can organize all her stuff inside. It comes with a"suspension" strap that is supposed to be ergonomic, which will be great for my mom as she is getting older.
I know she is going to love it. Now maybe I'll get her one of those SIgg bottles to go with it!
so many groovy mothers. so little time! go eco without compromise at The Groovy Mind
just be sure to keep your opus to your mom to 15 words or that error msg will keep doggin' ya. those guys are great. they really helped me out.
d'ya know 55% of losers like me send mother's day gifts a week late?!
now you're looking good.
I have been recycling buildings for 20+ years, and really have been taken back with the ammount of press-board and off-shore items that are bought each and everyday without relizing the cost to the earth.
I am not saying that you have to run out and buy from me today. What I would like to get across is when you are adding to your decor, please look at wood product that are made from recycled buildings.Not only are we saving our forsets, we help to keep the air a small bit cleaner.
Soy candles are lead free, clean burning and 100% biodegradable. They will also make a great gift for moms.
My suggestion would be a jar candle or make a gift basket which includes a jar candle, a few votives and may be a few eco-friendly bath and body products.
I too have a shameless plug. I love Mia Bella's Gourmet Soy Candles so much that I became a distributor. One jar candle gives a long lasting scent that can be enjoyed in many rooms at once.
Another great mother's day gift is loose tea. There are lots of organic options, and what feels more "green" than sitting outside with a steaming mug of green tea and enjoying the morning? There are lots of organic teas available as well.