Over the past couple of years, many of us have shifted our focus to a greener, more eco-friendly lifestyle. It starts with small changes, like recycling more, using reusable shopping bags, and switching to LED light bulbs. A lot of us also began making more environmentally friendly choices when buying technology or home appliances by choosing Energy STAR certified options or sustainably made products that help save energy, money, and the earth.
While the holidays tend to generate more waste, you can keep your sustainability trend on track during the festive season by choosing eco-friendly gifts everyone will love. Read about a few green gift choices for yourself or anyone on your list who wants to go greener this year, then enter the contest and you might win some of these items.
Climate-friendlier holiday gift ideas
Whether you’re almost finished holiday shopping or you’re just getting started, take a look at these five categories with products that are either sustainably made or will help you in your quest to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Smarter, more sustainable gifts for everyone
From gifts that help save on electricity to growing their own fruit and vegetables, there are quite a few smart home devices for everyone on your gift list.
Smart gardening with Click and Grow
Living small is one way to make less of an impact on the globe. The only downside to living withs a smaller footprint is the lack of space for things like gardens and plants. With a Click and Grow Smart Indoor Garden, your gift recipient won’t need an outdoor garden. They can grow strawberries, basil, red kale or fruit and veggie mix right on a bookshelf.
Click and Grow has built-in sensors and Smart Soil to monitor every part of the life cycle of your plant. From seed to seedling to your plate, this smart garden lets you set it up and simply enjoy watching your plants grow.
Smart plugs help reduce electricity use
A smart plug is a plug that fits into any electric outlet and connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network. Once it’s plugged in you can add any of your small appliances, lights, or other devices to the plug and control them via an app. You can choose indoor smart plugs like the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Lite or outdoor smart plugs like the TP-Link KP400 Smart Outdoor Plug.
Smart plugs are a thoughtful sustainable gift for an eco-friendly friend or family member. They will be able to turn any appliance or device on and off on a schedule. It also gives them control of that device when they aren’t home, so if they are worried they forgot to unplug a flat iron or coffee maker, they can use the app to turn it off instead of driving home.
Smart devices save time, energy, and money
A smart display is a great gift if you’re looking for something that will improve the functionality of any home. They help individuals and families save money by controlling all of their smart home devices in one location. You can set your smart lights on a schedule and sync them with other devices like thermostats so they automatically turn off when you’re not home. The Google Nest Learning Thermostat (shown above) remembers what temperatures you like, learns your schedule, and programs itself to conserve energy use.
There are a few smart display options including Google Nest Hub and Amazon Echo Show 5. Google Nest Hub works with Google Assistant and will stream video, turn on your lights, lock your doors, and even monitor your outdoor cameras. Amazon Echo Show 5 connects to the Alexa voice assistant. You can ask her to stream music, put on your favourite TV show, or control your smart home devices. One of the best parts of having a smart display is how you can use it to keep in touch without needing to travel. Instead of adding to the carbon emissions created by flying, you can make video calls to anyone, even if they are halfway around the world.
Go greener in the kitchen
A great way to help the environment at home is to be eco-smarter in the kitchen. Here are a few sustainable gifts that help you do that.
Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler
Throwing food waste in your trash is very damaging to the environment. Not only will it not decompose properly, but it also creates methane, a greenhouse gas that’s very damaging to the environment. If you’re choosing a gift for someone who is already dedicated to composting or for someone who wouldlike to compost more, the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler will be a nice addition to their kitchen. It has a 2-litre capacity and can convert your food waste and scraps into fertilizer that’s ready to use in your garden.
LARQ PureVis Self-cleaning Water Bottle
We can all keep our landfills and oceans free from excess plastics by making use of stainless steel water bottles. The LARQ PureVis makes it easy to stay green and hydrated, and it can clean itself too. It has a built-in UV-C LED light that purifies the water whenever you’d like it to, and there is a self-cleaning function that turns on every 2 hours to keep your bottle fresh and clean. You can choose a variety of colours and sizes for everyone on your gift list.
Eco-friendly electronic transportation
Electric scooters and electric bikes are so fun to ride you’ll forget you’re helping the environment when you use one. Here are two sustainable gift choices for someone who loves to blaze a trail outside.
Segway Ninebot G30P MAX Adult Electric Scooter
The Ninebot by Segway is a speedy scooter that runs on electricity. A single battery charge will last up to 65km, so you can use it to commute to work or grab a few groceries at the store. With 10″ pneumatic tires, you can cruise over all types of terrain. You’ll never have to slow your roll on this scooter because it can reach top speeds of up to 30 km/hr.
If you’d like to see a comparison of the Ninebot with a few other scooters, take a look at Andy’s article on all three. You can also check out the E-transportation page and the E-transportation buying guide on the Best Buy blog.
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike
Just because you choose eco-friendly transportation doesn’t mean you can’t have a blast while getting from point A to point B. The SWFT ZIP Electric Bike has rugged fat tires to take you everywhere in style. You’ll have battery life to spare because a single charge gives you up to 59.5km of time on the bike, and you can reach top speeds of up to 31.8km/hr.
An eco-conscious computer for the techie on your list
If you have someone on your gift list who would love a computer but you’re concerned about the plastics used to create it, you’re going to love the latest Acer laptop.
Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop
The Acer Aspire Vero is an eco-friendly computer made from 30% PCR plastic to reduce the environmental impact of harmful CO2 emissions. It also has an OceanGlass touchpad made of ocean-bound plastics and uses VersoSense software for more energy saving.
While it’s designed to be friendlier to the environment, the Acer Aspire Vero is also a speedy laptop designed for work or play. It has a 10-core 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB solid-state drive for all of your storage needs. The large 15.6-inch screen with 1080p Full HD resolution is the perfect portable screen for watching your favourite videos.
Accessories to help you go greener
Looking for a new laptop bag or iPad case? There are quite a few different tech accessories you can choose as gifts that are sustainably made from bioplastics, biodegradable materials, or PVC-fabric.
Tucano Biodegradable iPad Case
Using an iPad or tablet for notes or as a portable computer is a great way to save on paper waste. To keep their iPad safe, why not give them the gift of a Tucano Biodegradable folio case? It keeps the iPad safe from bumps, drops, and scratches but has a sustainable style with 100% biodegradable construction, a bioplastic interior, and a wood pulp exterior.
Targus Balance EcoSmart Backpack
The Targus Balance EcoSmart Backpack is a stylish bag made from PVC-free fabric that’s woven from recycled water bottles. It’s weather-resistant, has recyclable zipper pulls, and will protect your laptop and other devices when you’re on the go. It also has an adjustable design that evenly distributes the load in your bag so you don’t have a sore back from heavy books and other gear.
PKG STUFF Recycled Laptop Sleeve
When they want a lightweight, eco-friendly way to take their laptop on the go, the PKG STUFF Recycled Laptop Sleeve is the perfect gift. It’s made from recycled water bottles, is water-resistant so it can stand up to all types of weather, and has a laptop compartment with padded walls to protect against drops or bumps.
Rechargeable batteries keep you charged without creating excess waste
Rechargeable batteries are a more environmentally friendly way to keep all of your devices, toys, and tech charged and ready to play.
Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Charger
Energizer rechargeable batteries are a great option for everything from remote control toys to handheld video games or battery-powered smart devices. You can choose AAA, AA, and NIMH AA-2 rechargeable batteries for every type of device. To keep them charged there’s the Energizer Recharge Value Charger or the Energizer Pro Charger. The Energizer Pro includes 4 AA batteries and charges in 3 hours. The Energizer Maxi also comes with 4 AA Ni-MH batteries and can charge two or four batteries at one time.
Recycle your old tech and batteries at Best Buy
Choosing sustainable gift options is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and keep your focus on going green. There are also a few other ways you can reduce waste from the holidays this year. If you’re holding onto old electronics or empty batteries, consider recycling them at your local Best Buy store. You’re always welcome to bring your tech waste in for recycling, even if you didn’t purchase it at Best Buy.
There are also Best Buy trade-in promotions that happen throughout the year. You can visit BestBuy.ca for more details on what products qualify for trade-in and what types of old tech are accepted for electronic recycling at a store near you.
Creating a greener world, one step at a time
Best Buy has a great selection of sustainable gift choices for everyone on your gift list. For the holidays, birthdays, and beyond, you can shop in store or online to find the perfect gift for someone special. Some of the many sustainable choices are included in a prize bundle that you can enter to win in this contest. Here are the details:
How to enter
Entering this contest is easy and you can enter in two different ways:
- In a comment below, tell us what eco-friendly device or green tech program at Best Buy discussed in this article are you interested in the most and why.
- For up to two (2) additional entries, create a public post on a social media channel (one entry per channel!) sharing with your friends and followers that you are entering a Best Buy Blog contest for a chance to win a green lifestyle prize pack; include the hashtag #BestBuyGreenLifestylecontest, so we can find your post, and include one of the pictures showing on this article. Then return here and tell us in a comment below on which channel you posted it and the name of your channel (since many people use pseudonyms) so that we can check and verify your entry. You can use any social media channel (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.), but the post must be public so we can verify it is there.
What you can win
At the end of this contest, we will randomly draw one winner from all eligible entries to receive a sustainability prize package that includes a Google Nest Wi-Fi Smart Learning Thermostat, a TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug lite, and a LARQ PureVis 500 mL Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Self-Cleaning Mode.
This contest runs from Dec 15th to Dec 29th.
Remember you can enter in two different ways as mentioned above. Many of your friends and family are likely also interested in sustainable tech. Send them the link to this contest so they too can learn from this article and enter for a chance to win this great prize bundle.
Win a sustainability prize package Rules and Regulations
Good Luck.
I like the Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop.
The Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler is most interesting to me because we can make fresh compost quickly and easily.
I’m most interested in the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler, because I think being able to compost so simply would be a boost to my garden.
I love the self cleaning water bottle.
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike is great for short trips to the store.
Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler would save the planet from having more organic garbage fill the landfill sites.
i am most interested in the self cleaning water bottle
Targus Balance EcoSmart Backpack is exactly what I need, water resistant on the go!
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike— great for the outdoors!
twitter @costy11
Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler – I never heard of this and would be so useful to fertilizer ours gardens!!
Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler would be very practical for my garden. i don’t really like the outside composter as i find it starts to smell and they are big and hard to mix.
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike—its small great for the lake.
i am most interested in the self cleaning water bottle! i drink so much water this would be amazing
The Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop because I could use a 15″ laptop for being on the go.
Poster on Twitter!
@tim_naerebout
I am interested in the Click and Grow smart Garden. oit would be fantastic to grow indoor herbs and veggies during the winter months to have fresh for cooking
would love the electric bike
I like the Click and Grow Indoor Garden as I could have fresh, healthy food all year especially during the winter months.
I would really enjoy having the Smart Gardening With Click And Grow because it would be wonderful to have fresh,organic salad greens and tomatoes over the winter.
I would be interested the most in the SWFTZIP Electric bike because I could zip easily over to my friends and family without starting the car every time for these short trips.This would be much better for the environment,and better for my car and for my pocket book as well.
The Google Smart Learning Thermostat would be a great addition to our house!
I am most interested in the SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike, because ebikes are just so much fun.
I’m Most interested in the SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike as it would help my family get around in a cleaner way!
I am most interested in the Acer Aspire Vero because it is an eco-friendly computer made from 30% PCR plastic to reduce the environmental impact of harmful CO2 emissions. It also has an OceanGlass touchpad made of ocean-bound plastics and uses VersoSense software for more energy saving. It would be great to have a new laptop!
Posted on Twitter under the username @tommy_roseberry
Posted on Tiktok under the username @tommyroseberry
I am most interested in the Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Charger as those are so versatile and useful !
I would love the Google Thermostat to help save energy and control the temperature
The SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike because I don’t own a car, and never have, and so something like this would be amazing for me. Thank you.
The Google Nest Learning Thermostat Would be very helpful for my heat to turn down at night or when I get called out and forget to turn the heat down for a significant period of time.
The TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Lite would great to switch up lights that turn on different times and not the same time every night for people to think someone is home.
Definitely the Click and Grown Smart Indoor Garden. I already have the Aerogarden and it is pretty awesome to be able to grow my own cherry tomatoes/ lettuce and even flowers in the system I currently have. I absolutely love the idea of being able to produce my own food. This has encouraged to get a bigger garden going next year.
After being in Europe and seeing so many people use these to get around these I would really like to have a Segway Ninebot G30P MAX Adult Electric Scooter. Also with bike theft on the rise you can save your self stress by bringing the scooter into your office.
posted on twitter https://twitter.com/sapphirerose58/status/1604693893421072384
I am interested in the Click and Grow smart Garden. Would love to grow indoor herbs and veggies during the winter months to have fresh
Definitely interested in the self cleaning water bottle. I think it’s absolutely genius and I’m even going to research myself how the water is affected by the Uv. I’ll be lighting up
My own water bottle if I don’t win either way!
Smart gardening with Click and Grow would be nice to have because I want to start a microgreen at home.
I’ m most interested in the Acer Aspire Vero computer as it has an OceanGlass touchpad made of ocean-bound plastics and uses VersoSense software for more energy saving.
I’m most interested in the Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Self-Cleaning Mode, as it is the perfect size and reduces my environmental footprint
I would love to own the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler. I always tell myself that I want to compost but I don’t have the time or energy to dedicate to it, so this would make it much more accessible!
SWFT ZIP Electric Bike is what i would love to win. People where i live are always bombing around with these cool electric bikes and I always wanted to try one. This one has a cool retro feel too.
I am interested in the LARQ PureVis Self-cleaning Water Bottle because of the water purification and self-cleaning features.
The thermostat to easily control the temperature of my house
I am most interested in the Google Nest Learning Thermostat because I’ve always wanted one
I’m intetested in tje Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop because who doesn’t like more eco friendly and made electronics. Recycle!
I’m interested in the Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Charger to do my part for the environment.
I am most interested in Energizer Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Charger because I can use them instead of single use batteries.
I like the food waste recycler. Helping with recycling scraps and helping make fertilizer for my plants
I also entered this contest on Twitter, under @ChanSelig
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