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.
Google Nest Learning Thermostat – An efficient Thermostat that would help reduce my electricity bill.
I would like the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler so that I can reduce our waste.
The Vitamix Food Waste Recycler interests me, as I don’t have room for a traditional compost heap, but I would have room for this. No more wasting veggies that have gone slightly off, or food scraps.
The rechargeable batteries and charger to save money and reduce waste.
A Google Nest Thermostat would be great! A much more intuitive interface for managing and programming the heat at home.
Rechargeable batteries and charger to reduce the amount of waste.
the laptop
very much like the laptop, new updated and would be a pleasure to have in my home.
Click and Grow Smart Indoor Garden – with the price of lettuce, this will keep me well fed with fresh greens, and keep some of the green in my wallet.
the vitamix food waste recycler would be awesome both for recycling and for having compost for my garden
Rechargeable batteries and charger to reduce the amount of waste.
Really liked the laptop
A Click and Grow Smart Indoor Garden would be wonderful
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike for my commuting
The vitamix composter would really help with my garden
battery recycling! now I know where I can take these
I love the “recycle your old tech batteries at Best Buy” program. I think it’s so commendable that Best Buy takes that responsibility and it’s nice to know that at the end of life for these necessary but toxic supplies they get used and disposed of appropriately.
Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler, because it helps us get rid of scraps and helps us with the garden, too.
I really appreciate the battery recycling program because I never know what to do with old batteries
I would love the Google Nest Learning Thermostat so I can heat up my home just before I get home.
for me, i would like the
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike
i like it uses no gas and i would save $$’s
not needing gas! 😉
The Recycle your old tech and batteries at Best Buy program will help me recycle old tech in the house to make the planet a little better
The Recycle your old tech and batteries at Best Buy program will help me recycle old tech in the house
I would love the SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike = a great eco friendly way to get around
The Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop is the eco-friendly device or green tech I am interested in the most because my current laptop is old so not as efficient as newer ones!
I tweeted @HLiang007
https://twitter.com/HLiang007/status/1604528234586308608?s=20&t=liF2c_imc9S4Icxe0PsBvA
Absolutely love the laptop and thermostat. My laptop broke and can not replace at this time so what an incredible gift it would be. The thermostat is really interesting. Amazing how technology has changed and grown so fast!
I would like the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler so that I can reduce our waste.
They are ALL awesome products, but the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler would great to win. We eat a lot of veggies and fruit so there is a lot of compost every week. Plus we have bears in the neighborhood. So this would be incredibly practical for us!
Would love the smart gardening with click and grow.
I would love a change to try this: Acer Aspire Vero 15.6″ Laptop. The idea that it is made from recyclable materials is very inspiring.
Entered on instagram as @lyleopseth at https://www.instagram.com/p/CmUTPEZP0ga/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Entered on twitter as @lyleopseth at https://twitter.com/lyleopseth/status/1604524522174316544?s=20&t=5TWE9vkqjVvAMVTRwG5fAA
The Click and Grow smart indoor gardening would be helpful too me because of the cost of fresh vegetables like lettuce.
I could really use the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Lite. We would use this to control indoor lights, turn off electronic devices and other things when not needed (ending trickle current draw), etc.
I am most interested in the Vitamix Powered Food Waste Recycler as it would be great to create less waste and help my vegetable garden in the process.
The Click and Grow Smart Indoor Garden would be great for indoor gardening during the long winters.
I’m most interested in the battery recycling program because I’m always trying to find places to safely dispose of them.
SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike—its small great for the lake.
I am interested in the Energizer Rechargeable batteries for all my grandkids toys.
I am interested in the Energizer Rechargeable batteries because it is a good way to reduce e-waste.
Posted on twitter
The electric bike has me intrigued for short trips to the grocery store or to get the mail vs my ICE Car.
I love the recycle of old tech. Everyone has so much lying around and this will help keep it out of the landfills
Love all the prizes!! Good Luck everyone!
ive really been wanting a nest thermostat so my downstairs neighbor and I can be smarter about the energy we use, especially when we aren’t home. My epcor bill was $400 this month, and I’m on disability so that’s 25% of my monthly income. It’s too big a hit and completely unsustainable, but also doesn’t leave room for me to invest the alternatives like this that could actually make the difference between. not going for the sympathy vote, but sure would be nice
The SWFT Zip Fat Tire Electric City Bike great way to commute to work!
The electric scooter
The Segway Ninebot G30P MAX Adult Electric Scooter interested me the most, sounds like a blast to use.
Click and Grow Smart Indoor Garden, because the cost of lettuce is crazy
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