2021 Gift Guide
What to get the Jack, Jill or Jacob All Trades In Your Life
I’ve been thinking a lot about my consumerist capitalist footprint and where my money goes once I hand it over to someone else. There’s a LOT of greenwashing out there, and truthfully the best thing for all of us to do (besides elect anti-corporate pro-environment politicians) is to buy less, reuse, and repurpose more.
So, with the exception of books, I’ve tried to make sure everything else on this list is from a company that is either a B Corp, a supporter of 1% For The Planet, an extremely small business, or at least made in America with fair wages.
It takes me a while to write these because I gotta hamfist my own opinions and prose into the list (or do I? I do! 🤗) — so, I’m just listing the items for now, but will continue to update with explanations and more items throughout the month of December.
Do you have recommendations? Post them in the comments below!
Last updated 12/6/21
GIFT CARDS + CLASSES
Presents are nice, but I think there’s something really classy about a thoughtful card and a gift card to a service or a donation on someone’s behalf. I love my local shops, Paper Pastries and Oh Shiny for holiday cards, btw. Both ship nationally.
ASL Classes from Sign Language Center
SLC is based out of New York, but has virtual classes for anyone to learn American Sign Language (ASL). I’d love to take one of their classes!Mutual Aid Donations:
TO READ*
I love a good book. Personally, I tend to alternate between non-fiction, fiction, and beach read (usually really shitty fiction or a celeb memoir) and then cycle back to non-fiction. You can follow me on Goodreads — but here are a few books I’ve either recently loved, or are on my personal wishlist this year.
The Anthropocene Reviewed
I’ve never read John Green’s other bestsellers (he wrote The Fault In Our Stars) but I recently became familiar with his wonderful podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed and am excited to read the book it became. In both, Green reviews – on a five-star scale – aspects of ‘the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity.’ Entries include a specific hot dog stand in Iceland, the QWERTY keyboard layout, Gingko trees, orbital sunrises, and so many more aspects of human existence. Green finds a poetic humanism in each entry is at once trivial and profound.Read This To Get Smarter: about Race, Class, Disability, Gender & More
I love Blair Imani’s Instagram posts and find her uniquely skilled at breaking down seemingly complicated topics into easily digestible nuggets that are as informative as they are empowering. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.Uphill and Into The Wind
When my dad was in his early twenties, he rode his bicycle across the country with two friends. I grew up hearing stories about their trip… which have now been collected in this memoir. Full disclosure: it’s my dad’s book, and I designed the cover — but it really is very good. The journey itself is riveting, but the icing on the cake is the description of the American landscape by a naturalist and landscape architect.Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts
In my teenage years, I spent a chunk of Bar Mitzvah money on an AIWA three-disc boombox that promptly broke. It was my first memorable experience with manufactured obsolescence and began a life-long unease with buying new things. A few years ago a friend turned me onto the Instagram hashtag #VisibleMending and it became something of a rallying cry for me. My mom has mended clothes for me, but I don’t know how, and I’d love to learn. This book asserts that by mending the things we own, we mend the world around us, and I’m eager to make it a household reference manual.Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation
Paul Hawken is one of the leading voices in climate regeneration and the way he talks about the climate crisis makes me feel less terrified about humanity’s future. From the jacket: “Regeneration offers a visionary new approach to climate change, one that weaves justice, climate, biodiversity, equity, and human dignity into a seamless tapestry of action, policy, and transformation that can end the climate crisis in one generation. It is the first book to describe and define the burgeoning regeneration movement spreading rapidly throughout the world.”
*All these links go to the book through Vroman’s, my local independent bookstore in Pasadena. They ship everywhere - but it’s also easy to find an independent bookseller near you so that you don’t support Amazon’s anti-environmental and anti-Democratic practices.
TO CREATE
The Travel Tripod (or really any item) from Peak Design
Peak Design makes my favorite camera bags on the market and they recently crowdfunded an amazingly compact travel tripod.2022 Task Planner from Appointed
After a decade-long search for the perfect planner, my (much smarter and more organized) wife has convinced me it’s this one from Appointed. Things I like about it: the organization has an equal balance between tasks, notes, and schedule; the coil allows for it to lay flat on a desk; the weight and texture of the cover and paper. I love it. It also pairs nicely with their task adhesives.
TO PLAY
Messy Mod Playing Cards from Art of Play
Art of Play creates and distributes some of the most beautiful playing cards on the market. I haven’t snagged a deck of these Messy Mod ones yet, but they’re on my list — along with the National Parks, Into The Weird, Lady Moon, Modern Times, and Tempo decks, and one designed in the style of Charles & Ray Eames. Fun fact: I have a collection of more than 50+ uniquely designed decks of cards!LEGO Typewriter from LEGO
LEGO has had a Renaissance of AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego) sets over the last handful of years. The Typewriter is gorgeous, but some other recent sets I think are particularly exciting are the Home Alone House, Tree House, Camper Van, and remote-controlled Bulldozer. Of course, the set I always wanted to buy was The Old Fishing Store… but that’s out of stock and resells for nearly $600. 🤦♂️
TO NEST
Parks Of The American Southwest Candle Set from United By Blue
Persimmon Brandy from Ventura Spirits
Personalized Return Address Stamps from Paper Pastries
Sherpa Fleece Blanket from Rumpl
Solar Wool Rug from Elementos
Elementos makes (expensive) handwoven wool rugs in Argentina and their patterns and textures are gorgeous. Everything is made sustainably and with fair trade principles and Elementos is a B-Corp.Plant-Based Charcuterie Kits from Renegade Foods
Grateful Dead X H&B Tie Dye Bears Apron from Hedley & Bennett
Impeccable craftsmanship, function, and design are just a few reasons why Hedley & Bennett aprons are used by top professional chefs. Recently, they’ve expanded their designs to include licensed IP like Sesame Street. For my family – a buncha Dead Heads – these Grateful dead aprons are where it’s at. They combine tie-dye with the iconic dancing bears (now holding cooking utensils). I’m buying one for my mom (who, I assume is not reading this).
Flow Hive 2+ from Honey Flow
Help the bee population and have fresh honey on tap with your very own backyard hive system. My wife has vetoed this for our backyard, but I’d love to come visit if you get one.
TO EXPLORE
The Meal Kit by United By Blue ($38)
This portable and reusable meal kit is a great item to keep in your car, backpack, or bike. It comes with cutlery, bowls, cups, and sporks – perfect for camping or takeout. Also, pretty much everything United By Blue sells is rad – and, they have their own gift guide.National Parks Pass from USGS ($80)
Personally, if this was just a donation to the National Parks system, I think it would be worth it. Eighty bucks gets you a years worth of entry to all National Parks, and many state and local parks as many times as you can fit into a calendar year. Most parks are around $30ish to enter these days, so three trips pays for itself. Pro Tip: get your park pass from REI, and they’ll make a 10% donation AND you can use your member dividend.Bird Buddy ($199)
The Bird Buddy is a bird feeder with a webcam that identifies birds and sends high res photos to your phone. It is totally unnecessary, but also pretty rad.Patagonia Worn Wear ($ varies)
Patagonia makes some of the nicest, most comfortable, and most ethically made adventure gear out there. And I just learned they have an official resale site. Get lightly used clothes at a discount and help fight fast fashion at the same time.Standard Issue Binoculars from Nocs ($95)
Nocs 8x25 waterproof binoculars are lightweight, rugged, and affordable. I read somewhere that if you sit quietly in nature after about 40 minutes, animals will stop ‘seeing you’ and assume you’re part of the landscape. Even in our own backyard, I’ve been amazed at what kind of wildlife I can see if I just sit still and observe. A few weeks ago I had a good stare down with a red-tailed hawk perched on our telephone pole and it really made me wish I had a good pair of binoculars. These are the ones I want.Foldable Kayak from Oru Kayak ($1200)
Oru Kayak makes a fleet of foldable kayaks with origami-inspired design that allows them to pack down about the size of a very large briefcase. I love kayaking but don’t live anywhere close enough to a body of water. If I did… I might have to save up for one of these.HC Traveler from Happier Camper ($68,950)
Okay, at nearly $70k I don’t think I’ll ever experience this - and it’s hard to justify anyone spending that kind of money. But, hot damn, this travel trailer is beautifully designed and made to last. I’ve had my eye on one for a future mid-life crisis for a while now.
TO REPURPOSE
GIFTS FOR GOOD
If you’re in charge of gifts for a company or organization, you may want to check out Gifts For Good. They’re also a B-Corp.