Mother's Day Low Waste Gift Ideas

Mom is the best, aren't they! 🌸 ..and they deserve the best. Every year I feel more and more challenged about what to gift to my mom. And my mom is far away from me, so I can’t be there which feels horrible so I want the Mother’s Day gift to be very special. It‘s challenging enough to find a present but when the present also needs to be planet-loving, It’s extra hard! Do you feel me? Thankfully there are a lot of sustainable alternatives to many products that can be gifted, but since I made a promise to myself in 2019 to always source (when it is possible) used items when shopping, I have no access to those alternatives and this blog is not about advertising those items.

Here are my best gift tips that are easy to get/make, will make your Mom feel like a million bucks, and is also a gift for Mother Nature!

1. Give your time

This is my numero uno, but ever since I moved to the United States it’s not unfortunately possible. Of course, we do long phone calls on Mother’s Day, (we do it quite often, my mom is my rock, I always tell her what’s up with my life; sometimes I feel like she would like to receive fewer updates 😝) but spending time face to face is just the best and most valuable gift. To you and her.

So what can you do together?

Cook a nice surprise dinner.

You can take this to the next level and create a nice restaurant scene in your dining room and serve a delicious three-course menu with wine pairing. Why not show off your bartending skills as well and mix a crafty welcome cocktail to start with. Decorate the dining room with candles, paper lanterns, and other eco-friendly festive decorations. You can even ask your sisters/brothers/partner/dad to help with transportation and pretend your mom will get her VIP transportation to the "private restaurant".

Spice up the dinner with a special program

Think of ways of making the dinner extra special. If you have musicians or artists in the family, I'm sure your mom would love to see them performing. Or maybe your video editing skills are on top, create a presentation or video of special memories with your mom. Write a poem or just have a moment to talk about why your mom is so special and memories together.

Dinner Location

Think of different locations that might be very special to your mom, like your favorite park, or place. If the weather does not allow you to get outside, throw blankets and pillows on the living room floor or in your backyard and watch your mom's favorite movie together.

Picnic in a park for mom! Go crazy with the decoration, she will appreciate it.

Not a chef? If cooking is not your thing, you can always think of

• Ordering food delivery.

• Try out dinner packages, where a local restaurant delivers the half-cooked ingredients and recipe cards to you and you only have to follow the steps.

• Hire a private chef who will take care of the cooking and preparing. This option will give you some time to concentrate on your mom and spend time with her while the food is served.

2. Make your own Plantable Mother's Day Card

Give your mom a card that they can plant and turn into a flower. Plantable Card is a great gift idea not only because it is 100% eco-friendly but also because it will give your mom joy for a very long time. You can plant it together after she has read it!

If you want to make your seed paper

Just mix some egg cartons, paper grocery bags, and newspaper, shred them into small pieces and blend them in a blender. Then mix it with water to create pulp. Stir the pulp with flower seeds and dry it out. Spread the pulp on a towel and wait for it to dry.

Voilá! – you just created your paper!

Seed paper cards with real natural flowers.

After the paper is dried out, cut it into the size you like, and finish it with a personal note to your mom.

Here is a good tutorial that I found and I recommend to following: https://www.naturesseed.com/blog/how-to-make-plantable-seed-paper/

Remember to start working on this at least a day before, so you have time for the drying process.

3. Wine Delivery Subscription

I have to throw this one here because I love this service and I think it is the perfect gift idea, and I can quarantine most of the moms would appreciate (and need) this as a gift! You can hand on a Subscription to online wine membership with a nice hand-made card and maybe with a delicious bottle of wine.

Read this article for sustainable wine subscriptions; https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/wine-club-subscription-delivery

Not a wine lover? : There are so many different subscriptions to choose from, it doesn't have to be wine! You can choose for example beauty products, or food and recipe subscriptions.

4. Road Trip

Travel is one of the greatest experiences in life. Does your mom keep talking about some magical place where you could drive her? Or if your mom is an adventure type, pack your tent and go camping for the weekend!

You can also plan the trip for some other weekend and just gift her with a little hand-made travel gift card to let her know what is waiting for her!

P.s rather choose a car than an airplane when traveling 😉

5. Classes and Workshops - support local small business owners

Is there something your mom has always wanted to try or is there an activity you think she would love? Take her to a fun workshop to learn new skills and have fun, this way you are spending time with her but also giving her something nice to experience. And experience is the best most sustainable gift unless it’s whale shooting 🙈.

Here are some ideas:

• Craft workshops

• Flower workshops with a florist

• Cooking Class

• Wine Tasting

• Yoga or Meditation

• Baking Class

• Learn a language together

• Ballooning Experience

• Helicopter Experience

• Spa Day

• Candle Workshop

• Pottery Class

6. DIY Gift Baskets

Gift baskets are always a nice way to surprise anyone. Bake your cookies or cupcakes and place them in a beautiful basket with the best dessert wine. Or maybe your mom is very into tea and coffee, create the ultimate tea/coffee lover -a gift basket with her own personal tea/coffee mug.

No time DIY? If you are not very much into baking and making, you can try local farmer's markets and stores to fill the basket with special items. This is a time when you do not want to buy items your mom can buy on her regular day at the grocery store. Treat her with the best treats!

7. Upcycled Second-Hand Items

No second-hand gifts are not lame! They are unique gifts with a mysterious stories! Go second-hand shopping and create a truly one-of-a-kind gift to surprise your mom.

Here are my second-hand gift ideas:

• Make candles of jars and cups

• Make flower bouquet in a coffee cup, jar, bowl

• Paint jars

• Books

• Plants (yes, some people sell their plants on Facebook marketplace!)

• Picture frames

I organized this fun Upcycling workshop. We upcycled coffee cups. We first painted the cups with acrylic markers, used second-hand artificial flowers, and cherry on top we made Seed Paper cards with text "Mom".