Ethical Christmas Gifts for Children Designed by Mamas
Baby essentials, DESIGN, Decoration, Gift guides, Living, Motherhood, SHOPPING
Christmas is fast approaching and there are so many presents to be bought for our closest ones. This year I've decided to take up a more conscious and ethical approach to buying gifts. And buying ethical gifts turned out to be a whole new positive experience.
As an interior designer I often make decisions to purchase large numbers of design pieces over short periods of time. On the other hand, thinking about the longer term impact of buying so many things often gave me a feeling of discomfort.
This challenged me to start looking at interior design from a more sustainable, longer term perspective. And as a result, I am shifting my focus from trendy and fashionable items towards higher quality timeless pieces with great design. The good news is the number of brands offering ethical high quality items made with nature and community in mind is constantly growing.
Here are 10 very special brands for children (and not only), with an ethical and meaningful ethos. They are actively working to be more environmentally friendly. And most importantly, all these ran by mothers brands, manage to unleash a big creative potential and to redefine themselves as entrepreneurs and female founders. They create their products with love and desire to make the world a better place.
Giving unique ethical gifts this Christmas are a fabulous way to make your loved ones happy. But more importantly it empowers you as a consumer to make more conscious choices.
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Best of all, all these mama run businesses are based in the UK, most of them in close proximity to London. This means you have a great opportunity to support your local independent producers.
1. Harriet Hare – Timeless bed linen and decor for little people
Image: Harriet Hare
2. Gooseberry Fool – classic, long lasting, quality clothes and gifts for babies and children
Gooseberry Fool design their unique to be long lasting and passed down through the family reducing the impact on our throwaway society. In addition, the clothes are made to order so there is little surplus stock. Each piece is made from a cotton yarn from a local Lancashire supplier. Most importantly, the supplier adheres to very stringent regulations in terms of environmental impact of production, but also with regard to living wage and using renewable energy. Designs are simple and classic with a modern twist and are easily washable at 30 degrees.
3. Lizzie Chancellor – simply beautiful cards for the kid in you
Lizzie Chancellor create simply beautiful greetings cards from their design studio in sunny South East London. All products are proudly made in the UK using high quality recyclable materials and printed on FSC certified papers. In addition, the company strives to design original greetings cards that you haven’t seen before. And there are lots of cards with great kids friendly designs!
Image: Lizzie Chancellor
4. Little Jagger – hand made children’s wear and decor
Image: Little Jagger
5. A Tribe Well Dressed – sustainable fashion for children
One of a kind products made unique to each customer. The designs emerge from scraps of patchwork fabric from old clothes and modern graphic fabrics, using a zero waste approach. Almost no fabric ends up in trash! The range consists of children’s appliquéd clothes and has recently expanded into upcycling children’s denim jackets with personalised designs. As a result this breaks the fast fashion trend in children’s wear. Upcycled kids wear is hopefully the future!
6. Mud & Bloom – kids gardening and nature crafts subscription box
More and more studies are showing the importance of nature to children’s wellbeing and happiness. Importantly, the benefits include improved concentration and mental health, as well as helping them stay fit and healthy. These magical boxes aim at getting children outdoors more and connecting them to nature. It’s a monthly subscription delivering seasonal nature crafts and gardening activities to your door. Mud & Bloom boxes are accessible to people without gardens with organic, peat-free compost pellets provided in the boxes. Therefore, anyone can grow the seeds regardless of what space they have.
Image: Mud & Bloom
7. The Busy Box Company – carefully curated activity boxes for busy little ones
Image: Secret Projects
9. Make + Wonder – creative art boxes for 3-10 year olds
These art boxes aim to spark your children’s imagination and creativity. Besides that, activities focus on the process of exploring and creating art rather than the finished product. This way there won’t be any frustration for kids trying to reproduce an adults design. Qualified Primary School Teachers take part in creating the boxes basing them on Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Loose Parts Play and process oriented art principles. You can choose to subscribe to a monthly box or purchase a box from the shop. The producers focus on using sustainable materials and include an activities which reuse the box.
10. Little Woodlands – ethically crafted sleepwear for children
All of the Little Woodlands sleepwear is designed, printed and knitted in England in a little old bakery factory. The fabrics are Oeko Tex certified cotton and they use safe, water based inks, perfect for baby skin. All the packaging is 100% recyclable or biodegradable and they use FSC (Forestry Stewardship Certified) paper and card. This means for every tree cut down, two will grow in its place. In addition, Little Woodlands support St Tigglywinkles, a British wildlife charity which helps to care for sick and injured animals.
Image: Little Woodlands
If you are after some more gifts ideas – here is a great list of winter accessories for children.
