21 Best Sustainable Gift Ideas For Men
This post contains affiliate links to sustainable brands
Do you want to give a more sustainable gift to a man in your life?
I’ve created several posts that make ethical shopping more convenient than ever, but many “eco-friendly” products tend to be marketed towards women.
I want shopping for your values to be easy and include everyone, so the list of sustainable gift ideas you’re about to read is aimed at men.
Whether it’s for Christmas, a birthday, or Father’s Day… you should be able to find a thoughtful gift for him, that is kinder to the planet.
This gift guide is aimed at the UK, if you live elsewhere check out my global version: 65 ethical gift ideas for a conscious Christmas instead.
21 Sustainable gift ideas for him
1. Ethical tea + Coffee
As most people like hot drinks, it’s hard to go wrong when gifting sustainable tea and coffee.
Oxfam is a charity fighting poverty; its online shop stocks a range of ethical food and drinks with Fairtrade certification.
There are 125 million people in the coffee industry; Fairtrade certification protects farmers by ensuring they get a fair wage from big corporations.
I featured CaféDirect because, as well as being sustainable, it’s my partner’s favourite instant coffee that costs less than £5.
2. Insulated coffee mug
2.5 billion coffee cups are used and thrown away each year in the UK, making a reusable travel mug (for whatever hot drink takes your fancy), an essential sustainable swap.
Klean Kanteen stands out because they make their products from recycled steel, which lowers carbon emissions by 50%.
(I always recommend stainless steel due to the risk of formaldehyde leaching out of bamboo products.)
This insulated cup comes in multiple colours and keeps drinks hot for 3.5 hours.
GET 15% OFF USING: KLEAN-ELEPHANT115
3. FAIRTRADE CHOCOLATE GIFT SET
Be it Father’s Day or Christmas… chocolate is an easy gift for any occasion. Unfortunately, almost all cocoa farmers live in poverty because big corporations take all their profits.
Divine chocolate is certified Fairtrade and its cocoa is traceable back to the farm.
Half of Divine is owned by cocoa farmers which helps them improve their lives and have control over their future. This makes Divine a sustainable choice.
You can buy individual bars, chocolate coins, advent calendars, or gift sets at Ethical Superstore* - a retailer of sustainable and eco-friendly products.
A vegan dark chocolate range is also available for men who don’t eat dairy.
*GET £10 OFF £70 ORDERS USING CODE: X10TUM
4. Tony’s Chocolonely
Tony’s is another popular chocolate brand with sustainability as a core value. Its plan is to fix the chocolate industry by ending modern slavery and child labour in cocoa farming.
While other brands sold in supermarkets have no idea where their cocoa has come from, Tony’s cocoa mass and cocoa butter are all traceable.
You can get a gift set full of different flavours, or choose individual bars if the man you’re buying for knows what he likes.
5. Wonky Food Co
Did you know that 9.52 million tonnes of food is thrown away each year in the UK? The Wonky Food Co. helps fight this by taking imperfect fruit and veg that would otherwise go to waste and creating delicious relishes.
This sustainable gift set containing three relishes makes a great gift for foodies.
6. Face Theory
A beard oil kit makes a great gift for men with facial hair. Face Theory is a British brand that makes cruelty-free skincare in their own lab in the UK.
This set contains a satin finish beard oil, a wooden beard come, and a GOTS-certified organic bag.
Face Theory is A B Corporation and its products are free from animal-derived ingredients, mineral oil, parabens, silicones, PEGS, and SLS.
7. Helleo soap
Soap is the simplest sustainable gift you can buy. Why? Because everybody needs to wash their body.
Mainstream body wash comes in plastic and produces extra carbon emissions from shipping heavy water around. Soap is a great swap, but be careful that you don’t find one that is made from palm oil.
Helleo Soap owns its own olive oil groves in Crete and harvests the oil without pesticides, and without harming nature. It is cruelty-free, palm oil-free, and comes in a recycled cardboard box.
8. Ethique concentrates
While shampoo bars and soap are popular eco-friendly gifts, some people just don’t want to use solid bars. This is where Ethique’s refillable concentrates come in.
You simply pour the powder into a jug with 350ml of boiling water and, once it’s cooled down, add it to a refillable shampoo bottle.
There are concentrates available for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand wash. All of which are cruelty-free, plastic-free, and palm oil-free.
9. Eco Hand care gift
This lovely natural sisal pouch contains all your handcare essentials, only the items in this gift set are plastic-free and sustainable.
It contains a bar of palm oil-free soap, naturally-derived hand cream and a wooden nail brush.
All products are handmade in London and are certified cruelty-free and vegan.
DISCOUNT CODE: ANDKEEP5
10. Grüum
grüum (pronounced groom) is a sustainable personal care brand based and manufactured in Manchester. Although most products are unisex, it sells a few aimed at men, like beard shampoo and oil.
Its shampoo bar makes a good gift because it works in hard water and with no “transition phase.”
11. REFILLABLE DEODORANT
Fussy has created a refillable plastic-free deodorant. To be clear, it is not an antiperspirant which relies on aluminium to plug the sweat ducts.
Natural deodorants use ingredients that absorb some of the sweat and prevent body odour.
Fussy deodorant can be bought as a one-off purchase that includes two refills, or you can choose a flexible subscription with refills posted when you need them. Once you’ve bought the case, refills are £5 each on a quartly subscription.
FOR 15% OFF USE CODE: SUSTAINABLYLAZY15
12. SKINCARE FOR GARDENERS
A gift for the green-fingered men out there. Odylique is one of the most ethical small beauty businesses in the UK. Their products are organic, cruelty-free and made using renewable energy in the UK.
This gardening gift set contains a calendula balm to soothe hardworking hands and feet. Along with a spot-on serum full of therapeutic ingredients to aid in the healing of scratches, skin damage and insect bites.
Odylique was founded by a herbalist, their products leave out controversial ingredients, and common allergens and only use naturally-derived, therapeutic ingredients.
Discount code: LAZY20 for 20% off
13. EUCALYPTUS SILK WEIGHTED BLANKET
Weighted blankets are great for relaxation and improving sleep, particularly for people who are feeling stressed or anxious. However, they aren’t usually eco-friendly.
Many weighted blankets are made from synthetic materials like polyester with plastic pellets, which are made from fossil fuels.
While Aeyla offers weighted blankets in a few different sustainable materials, I chose to buy their blanket made from eucalyptus silk because it stops you from getting too hot at night.
The silk is wonderfully soft and unlike normal silk, it is vegan and cruelty-free. The beads inside are made of glass so there is no rustling or sound.
14. vEGAN LEATHER WATCH
Votch is a woman-founded company that believes no living beings should have to suffer for our benefit. Their watches are made from vegan leather - a term used to describe any cruelty-free material that imitates leather.
Votch uses a number of different types of materials. Their classic vegan leather is synthetic, but they now offer a number of more sustainable options, such as leather made from pineapple leaves (Pinatex), AppleSkin (a byproduct of juice), and mesh stainless steel.
Their watches are timeless and extremely high quality. Votch even has a recycling scheme where you can send in any old watches to get a discount on your next order. The proceeds of their recycling scheme go to charity.
If you’re on a budget, check out their sale or for extra savings on full-price items, use my affiliate discount code for 15% off.
Discount code: SUSTAINABLYLAZY15
15. Runderwear
Runderwear’s is the perfect gift for men who enjoy running. Runderwear’s seamless briefs and boxers have been designed to remove sweat from your body and are 100% guaranteed to prevent chafing.
Runderwear has reduced its environmental impact by making its underwear from recycled materials.
16. Rapanui
Rapanui is a popular sustainable clothing brand when it comes to gifts for men because they offer great value on their t-shirts and underwear multipacks.
Based on the Isle of Wight, Rapanui use renewable energy throughout the supply chain to lower their carbon footprint (their factory in India owns two wind farms!) Rapanui t-shirts are made to order and printed on the Isle of Wight. They only use sustainable materials, like organic cotton which has been responsibly grown in India. Rapanui has also designed its clothing to be circular - at the end of its life, it takes it back to make new clothing.
17. Komodo
Shoes make a good gift because everyone needs shoes, right?! It’s definitely a myth that only women love shoes - my partner certainly has twice as many pairs as I do!
Most shoes (even designer brands) aren’t sustainable. They are made in sweatshops where workers can be paid less than £50 a month for full-time work. Workers don't get PPE to protect them from any carcinogenic dyes and the majority of shoes are made from plastic or toxic leather.
Eco-friendly shoes can be eye-wateringly expensive, which is why I like Komodo. Their shoes are on the affordable side of ethical fashion and are still made from sustainable materials, like organic cotton and natural rubber.
They also sell other sustainable clothing for men and women.
18. Neem London
Neem London is a sustainable fashion brand that makes clothing from recycled cotton, and eco-friendly fabric.
Buying a shirt made from recycled cotton reduces carbon emissions by 54% and requires no toxic pesticides (regular cotton farming uses a vast amount of toxic chemicals).
You can’t get much more sustainable than by reusing the fabrics that already exist.
19. Recycled slippers
Sustainable and comfortable, these light eco-friendly slippers make a thoughtful gift for men. Mercredy uses plastic bottles collected from the ocean to create the fabric for the slippers and combines it with natural rubber for the sole.
Mecredy says each pair of slippers is made in a factory in Spain that works hard to minimise the impact on the environment.
20. ACTIVITY TOKENS
These wooden activity tokens make a great Christmas or Father’s Day gift from children. Being a parent is tiring, and it can be hard to think of things to do or play to keep the little ones entertained.
The tokens in this set can be personalised so that they are relevant to the activities your family likes to do. They come in an eco-friendly recycled cotton bag.
This gift is a fun way to help men bond with their kids.
21. BIODEGRADABLE PHONE OR AIRPODS CASE
Normal phone and Airpod cases are made from single-use plastic that stays on the planet for hundreds of years before turning into microplastics that pollute the ocean.
If you’re buying a gift for a man in need of phone or laptop accessories, help them shop sustainably by getting them a case for their phone or Airpods made from biodegradable wheat straw.
What is a sustainable gift?
A sustainable gift is a present that has been carefully selected and produced with consideration for its environmental and social impact, with the goal of reducing harm to the planet and promoting responsible consumption.
Sustainable gifts often align with principles of sustainability, which include:
Environmentally Friendly:
Sustainable gifts are typically made from materials that are renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable. They have a lower environmental footprint in terms of energy use, resource extraction, and waste generation. This may include items made from sustainable materials like bamboo, organic cotton, recycled plastic, or reclaimed wood.Ethical and Fair:
They are produced under fair labour conditions and often support artisans, workers, or communities that uphold ethical practices and labour standards. Fairtrade products, for example, are a common choice for sustainable gift-giving.Long-lasting and Durable:
Sustainable gifts are designed to be durable and long-lasting, reducing the need for frequent replacements and, therefore, minimizing waste. This could include high-quality clothing, kitchenware, or accessories that are built to last.Locally Sourced:
Supporting local artisans and businesses can reduce the carbon footprint associated with transportation and help bolster local economies. Choosing gifts made in your region is a sustainable option.
Handmade or Upcycled:
Gifts that are handmade or upcycled involve repurposing existing materials or creating unique, one-of-a-kind items. Handmade gifts often have a personal touch and can reduce the environmental impact associated with mass production.Digital or Experiential:
Sometimes, the most sustainable gift is one that doesn't involve a physical item at all. Consider gifting experiences like tickets to a show, a cooking class, or a spa day. Alternatively, digital gifts like e-books, streaming subscriptions, or online courses have a low environmental impact.
Consumable or Zero-Waste:
Gifts like homemade preserves, organic chocolates, or bulk bath products can be consumed and do not lead to long-term waste. Zero-waste items, such as reusable water bottles or cloth shopping bags, also promote a sustainable lifestyle.Charitable Contributions:
In some cases, a sustainable gift may involve making a donation to a charity or nonprofit organization in the recipient's name. This supports a good cause while avoiding the creation of physical waste.
Ultimately, the idea behind sustainable gifting is to choose items that reduce the environmental and social impact of the product while considering the values and preferences of the recipient. Sustainable gift-giving can be an excellent way to promote environmental stewardship and social responsibility.
When is Father’s Day 2024?
Father’s Day always happens on the third Sunday in June in the UK, USA, and Canada. This year it falls on Sunday 16th June 2024.
What is the best gift for Father’s Day?
While I created a list of “sustainable gift ideas for him” to help you out, the best gift for Father’s Day is something that your dad, Grandad, or husband will actually like and use. There is nothing worse than wasting money and resources on an unwanted gift.
When choosing a gift, consider what they are interested in and whether they are loyal to any brands.
If you are trying to avoid products that are harmful to the planet but are worried they won’t like what you buy, then consider the closest eco-friendly alternative to what they use now or a starter kit so that they can see what they prefer.
I hope you found something for the men in your life. If not, have a look at 50 eco-friendly gift ideas in the UK. It has Christmas present ideas for men and women.
