An Ethical Alternative to Black Friday: 175+ Green Gift Ideas from My Fair Vanity

As you mentally prepare yourself for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I offer you a tasteful and ethical alternative: a catalog chock-full of eco-friendly, made in America, and fair trade gift ideas that will empower and inspire you to make thoughtful gift choices for all of the loved ones on your list.

Settle in with a cup of tea or a mug of cocoa and see what you find-- you may discover a few surprises, especially since I've enlisted the help of a few of my favorite green lifestyle bloggers to help me curate the coolest and kindest gifts around!

Alden from Ecocult put together a collection of covetable gifts that are 100% made in New York. Dominique from Let's Be Fair has golden, sparkly treasures from afar, and Juliette from spades + siLK will share her uber-cool knowledge of all of the hippest, newest sustainable designers. Yoga teacher and blogger Carissa Ciuca curates for the yogi in your life, and surface designer Aaryn West has enough patterns and colors to keep even the most eclectic person on your list intrigued and impressed with your artsy street savvy.

Happy shopping, happy holidays, and happy thanksgiving! It's such a pleasure to write and post about sustainable style for you here on My Fair Vanity each week, and I hope you'll accept this guide as my small way of saying thank you so much for reading. If you find it helpful, I hope you'll choose to share it with friends and loved ones, so that this year, they can join you in giving on-trend, stylish gifts that are kind to the earth and the people on it.

With gratitude and love,

Rachel

Baby it's Cold Outside

The temperature is dropping and I'm starting to live in my cashmere beanie, which is the perfect frame for my new earrings. This snakeskin and sterling silver pair came to me courtesy of a small line called La Kaiser. Each piece is handcrafted here in the U.S., and at prices ranging from $60-$210, they make a great gift option for the holidays. What's more, a portion of La Kaiser's profits are donated to a scholarship foundation in Zimbabwe.



Below are a few of my favorite pieces-- I like how the designer mixes metals, prints and other precious stones to create simple, geometric pieces.

Eco-friendly Holiday Gifts Under $30

The time is upon us, my friends: office holiday parties, friends-giving, actual Thanksgiving, secret Santas, and so many more reasons to start hunting for little somethings to give here and there.

And since you're already poised to purchase, why not buy gifts that were made in the USA or use organic ingredients? When you buy eco-friendly or buy American-made, it's like two gifts for the price of one. Mother Earth wins, American jobs win, you win, everybody wins!

Archipelago candle $24 / Deep Steep Sugar Scrub $9  /  Voluspa Candle $20

Zoya nail polish $8 / Origins Ginger Hand Lotion $16

Voluspa and Archipelago are two of my favorite candle companies, and both are made in the USA. Archipelago goes the extra mile and uses soy wax, which burns a little cleaner than traditional parrafin. These are my go-to "emergency gifts." Inevitably, someone will slip my mind or I'll have an unexpected holiday visitor, so I like to keep a few of these on hand so no one leaves my home empty-handed. Besides, I know I will use them if I don't end up gifting them!

The Deep Steep scrub is also a new favorite of mine. Made with all organic ingredients, the grapefruit bergamot scent is the jam. And, a lady can never have enough lotion for her hands during the cold months, amiright? The ginger scented lotion from Origins is fresh but still a warm winter spice, with the added bonus of it being made with botanical ingredients, as opposed to harsh chemicals. Check out what's not in it-- it's a satisfyingly long list.

Last but not least, I've always thought that nail polish (I would pick two or three fun colors) makes a great gift. I like receiving it because it's fun to experiment with shades you wouldn't pick for yourself. I love this rich, hunter green color, and Zoya goes the extra mile of being a "five-free" nail polish, as opposed to the traditional three: it contains no formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, dibutyl pthalate, camphor or toluene.

 Wine Pearls $25 / wine charms by Alex and Ani $24

Hand-printed napkins by Oh Little Rabbit, $20 for a set of four /  cutting board $22.95

All of the hostess gifts above are made in the USA. The napkins are hand-printed on organic cotton and the cherry wood cutting board is handmade from sustainably harvested Wisconsin wood. I strongly recommend looking through more of the 63 different napkin prints in Oh Little Rabbit's Etsy store- they have nautical themes, Russian nesting dolls, and so many others I love!

Beer-making Book $19.99 / Recipe Cards $14 / Journals made from 75% recycled paper $12 each
(all made in the USA)

To see more eco-friendly holiday gifts under $30, follow my Pinterest Board! I'll be pinning my affordable eco-finds through December.

Primary Colors {Easy and Eco-friendly Weekend Wear}

As you've seen here and here, oversize sweaters and rolled up jeans have have become one of my favorite uniforms to fall back on this season (if you'll excuse the pun), and today I'm using them to do a little color-blocking.

The colors I'm wearing also signify a red letter day: today (Sunday) is the last day you can enter to win your own red bag like the one I'm wearing. If you aren't the lucky winner, you could also buy one to have as your very own over at Modavanti, and take 15% off of your purchases through November 30 with special code MYFAIRVANITY. 

And, I'm pleased to report that today, I'm wearing a 100% sustainable ensemble:

• Vegan bag by Angela + Roi (repeat: today is the LAST DAY to win one of your own!)
• Bangles made from sustainably grown mango tree wood by Mango Tree Bangles
• Consigned J.Crew cashmere sweater
• Jeans are made in the USA by Lucky Brand denim
• Shoes are consigned Stuart Weitzman kitten heels.

Shop the look (sustainably):

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