5 eco friendly mothers day gifts that are good for your mum and mother earth

Looking for a gift that your Mum will love but won’t negatively impact mother earth? Check out our roundup up of the best eco-friendly Mother’s Day gifts! And no, it doesn’t include flowers and here’s why…

Plants

While those sweet-smelling lilies may bring a smile to your mum’s face, unless you’ve picked them from your own garden they’re not making mother earth smile. The cut flower industry has hugely negative environmental impacts through water usage, pollution, land degradation and fossil fuel transportation emissions.

For example, about 80% of all roses come from South America or Africa. They require intense irrigation systems to provide for their thirst and are sprayed with pesticides to protect them from pests. Recent research suggests for example that just one hectare of a flower farm consumes over 900 cubic metres of water each month, often leading to drought in surrounding areas as water is redirected to feed the flower farms.

They must then be shipped, via plane to other parts of the world, usually in refrigerated containers and then trucks to transport them from airports to their destinations to preserve them. Flowerpetal.com reports that sending the roughly 100 million roses of a typical Valentine’s Day produces some 9,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from field to florist (if we could use the draw drop emoji here we would!).

So, this Mother’s day opt for a more sustainable option- plants. If you’re looking for something last minute we recommended Patch Plants. Their range of humorously named indoor and outdoor plants will give your ol’ mama joy for years to come rather than just a few days. They even have a range of ‘unkillable’ indoor plants for the less green fingered mamas out there. Alternatively, pop down to your local garden centre!

 

Chocolate hamper from Montezuma’s

If you’re looking for an ethical and eco-friendly chocolate option  for your chocolate loving mother then Montezumas is them. A small family business, Montezumas, in their own words, ‘try pretty damn hard to ensure we do a good job with equity and integrity’

Producing some of our favourite chocolate - including a delicious, tongue-tingling nutmeg milk chocolate- Monetzumas tick a lot of boxes. Its chocolate is all certified organic, but it eschews Fairtrade certification on the grounds that it simplifies the issue. They argue that its farmers in Peru and the Dominican Republic get a higher price than Fairtrade cocoa because the quality is so high. This is not independently monitored or audited though so of course, we've only got Montezuma's word. One thing is clear - we love the fact the company's £20,000 advertising budget is donated to charity instead of being spent on ads..

Shop their gift hamper collection here.

 

Homemade Beauty Products

If you know the Acala team you’ll know that our favourite things to gift anyone (for any reason!) are homemade beauty products. We’re also experimenting with new DIY recipes and the best of that can be found here in our free, DIY zero waste beauty recipe e-book.

We’ve also put together a Mother’s Day special recipe that is super simple to make and the perfect thing to help Mum take some time out and pamper herself for a little while. The recipe focuses on Epsom salts (aka magnesium sulphate) that create a wonderful soak for the body.

The recipe:

• 340g Epsom salts
• 170g baking soda
• Optional: 5-10 drops your favourite essential oil. Try lavender oil to relax or tea tree to boost the immune system.

Directions: Add ingredients to a full, warm or hot bathtub and soak for 20 minutes.

Why did we choose this recipe? Absorbing some of the magnesium through your skin helps to relax your muscles. The Epsom salts also raise the specific gravity of the bath water making the body more buoyant, which in turn allows you to feel light as you relax. With the addition of a few drops of Mam’s favourite essential oil she’ll be floating her way to relaxation central in no time at all.

 

Not into DIY? Go for ready-made relaxation

 

Not into DIY? Go for ready-made relaxation with an Acala candle or our Relaxing Spa Gift Set with 3 beautiful pampering treats. A lovely self-care gift for Mum’s ultimate relaxation.

Relaxing Spa Gift Set available here.

 

Reusable Items

Give the gift of zero waste this Mothers Day with one of our zero waste starter kits. Starting out on a Zero Waste/Low Impact journey can be tough. Searching for good quality products that are people, planet and animal friendly, as well as reasonably priced, can be a minefield, so, allow us to simplify this for you/for your mum.

Whether you're looking to start your own journey or help a loved one to, the kits give you the opportunity to try multiple items all at once at a reduced price from buying them separately.

Shop the collection here.

You can also simplify your mum’s skincare routine with our reusable makeup remover pads. Many people reckon they remove makeup with just water. Each pad can be used over and over so not only will your mum not need to buy wipes any more, she gets the feel-good factor of creating less landfill.

Cleansing pads are good for exfoliation too, especially for those with sensitive skin as they give a gentle exfoliation that doesn’t over-exfoliate the skin compared to other tools on the market such as face brushes.

 

All these items are sure to make your mother feel loved while keeping Mother Earth in mind. 

P.s. shop our collection of plantable Mother’s Day cards to share the perfect message with your Mum this year. Made from 100% recycled materials and embedded with 12 varieties of British wildflowers and grass seed. Once Mam has enjoyed the lovely message you have sent her, she can plant the card to grow wildflowers! It's good for us and it's great for the bees too.