16 Experience Gift Ideas for a Sustainable Holiday Season
avoid buying stuff with these experience gift ideas
Gift giving has become a staple of the holiday season or any special celebration. As such, this practice has become somewhat unsustainable, largely due to the number of unnecessary items bought. This year, instead of buying physical gifts for others, why not give experiences? In this article, we cover a wide range of experience gift ideas so you can find an eco-friendly gift for anyone, no matter the time of year or celebration.
What Are Experience Gifts?
Experience gifts are gifts that provide experiences instead of something material. These gifts require active participation from the recipient. Experience gifts can provide inspiration, education, and fun.
An experience gift can be anything that you can “do.” If the gift isn’t a physical object, it’s most likely an experience gift. This can look like a ticket to their favorite vacation destination, a cooking class, or membership to their favorite yoga studio.
Why Are Experience Gifts More Sustainable?
As a society, we frequently buy things that we don’t need and are often produced in unsustainable ways. When it comes to gift giving, this can often be a wasteful practice. We tend to buy gifts for people that they didn’t ask for, aren’t needed, and oftentimes, aren’t used.
The corporations producing our favorite gifts, like fashion, beauty, and food brands, are significant environmental polluters. Traditional brands use plastic and synthetic materials, don’t pay their workers fair wages and produce unsustainable quantities of products that often end up in the trash.
This gets tricky because we all want to give gifts to celebrate holidays or milestones. Giving gifts to our loved ones is how many of us show we care. What we choose to give, however, can have a major environmental impact. Choosing experience gifts over material items is one of the more sustainable ways to give gifts.
Experience gifts don’t require the production of anything new. The businesses you support for experience gifts are often smaller or local companies, artists, and teachers, and they most likely don’t produce material things.
We can also use experience gifts to provide education or a new perspective. Experience gifts not only have a lower environmental impact, but they tend to be thoughtful and personalized, giving your loved ones something that they will truly value and use.
Plus, experience gift ideas can help you spend quality time together. You can book an activity that can be shared with your loved one, or with their family.
Overall, when choosing experience gifts, prioritize locally-run or led options that use sustainable business practices when relevant.
These are Our Top 16 Sustainable Experience Gift Ideas:
1. Get Tickets to a Show or Concert
This is an ideal experience gift for the person in your life who loves the arts.
You can get tickets to the ballet, their favorite artist's upcoming concert, a symphony, a play, or a comedy show.
The options are somewhat endless, with thousands of shows happening throughout the year.
This is a great gift to enjoy together and will give them something to look forward to.
2. Book a Refundable Getaway
A refundable getaway may be the perfect gift If you’re looking for something bigger and more intimate for your partner or family member.
Choose refundable or changeable plane or train tickets and accommodation. This will make it easy to surprise your loved one without having to confirm the travel dates before booking.
This doesn’t have to be a faraway or expensive getaway either.
You can take them camping or on a staycation if a nearby getaway is a better fit.
3. A Guided Outdoor Adventure
For the adrenaline lovers in your life, booking an outdoor experience is the perfect sustainable gift.
Book a guided hike, trek, or climbing experience. Schedule a boat or hot air balloon ride.
To be as sustainable as possible, look for locally-led experiences.
You can find numerous options on platforms like Get Your Guide and Airbnb.
For bigger tours or treks, support a sustainable tour company like G Adventures.
4. Create Coupons for Personal Experiences
If you’re looking for budget-friendly experience gift ideas, why not make your own coupons for thoughtful things you can give them? This is a great gift idea for intimate partners, close friends, or immediate family. You could create a coupon for an at-home massage, a home-cooked meal on the night of their choice, a picnic in the park together, or even offer to do all the house chores for a few weeks. Think about your skill set, and their interests, and see what you can create.
You can design the coupon for free, and without paper, on platforms like Canva.
5. A Travel Gift Card
A gift card to a booking platform is a wonderful gift for the travelers in your life. If you know they like to stay at Airbnbs, or they use a specific booking site to find accommodation, get them a gift card for it.
Alternatively, you can also purchase a gift card for certain airlines, train operators, or car rental companies. Just make sure you’re choosing companies you know they frequently use so that the gift card doesn’t go to waste. This way they can use the gift card when they want and will think of you on their next trip.
6. Do a Beverage or Food Tasting
For the foodies in your life, there’s no better experience gift than food and beverage tastings. If they live locally, you can even do this together. If they don’t live locally, it’s easy to find something in their area that they can enjoy.
Book a wine, beer, or spirit tasting for those who love to drink. You can even book something at a nearby vineyard. Alternatively, you can also find great coffee or tea tastings. When it comes to the foodies, look for a food tasting or food tour you know they’ll love. You can find numerous tastings easily on Airbnb or through a local search.
7. Treat Them to a Dining Experience
This can be a fancy or cost-effective sustainable gift idea.
It’s also a fantastic way to support local businesses and enjoy some quality time.
You can make brunch reservations, or treat them to dinner at a restaurant they’ve been dying to try.
For fine dining lovers, book a tasting menu for a memorable and tasty dining experience.
8. Sign Up for a Class or Workshop
For the forever student, they might love a masterclass or locally led class to develop a new skill or further their education. Whether they are interested in learning how to play guitar, speak a new language, or perfecting Italian cooking, chances are there’s a class for them.
You can also choose a one-day workshop or series that’s less of a commitment. Some fun ideas could be an art class, mixology, floral arrangements, chocolate making, essential oil mixing, cooking, or gardening workshops. Browse online booking platforms or search for local teachers to find the perfect fit.
9. Gift a Spa Day
If your loved one is into self-care, or badly needs some rest, a trip to the spa is a great gift. You can either give them a gift card or book them a specific treatment or package.
This could look like a massage, a facial, a wrap, or a mani-pedi if that’s more their style. Some additional rejuvenating treatments include acupuncture, cupping, float session, salt cave treatment, or a day at a bathhouse.
To make this gift more sustainable, prioritize supporting locally owned and run spas or facilities.
10. Get a Park Pass
An annual or seasonal park pass is a wonderful experience gift for your outdoorsy friends. If they love to hike, gift them an annual national park pass. If they’re more into camping, maybe a camping pass would be a better fit. If they love to ski or snowboard, a season pass to their favorite mountain will always be appreciated.
Most state or national parks have a seasonal or annual park pass you can purchase.
Find out what their favorite park is, or where they’ve been dying to visit and gift them a pass.
11. Give a Subscription to their Favorite Platform
There are numerous online services these days that make amazing sustainable experience gifts. Gifting a subscription to a platform they’d love is an easy yet thoughtful gift idea. If they love a certain creator, podcast, or artist, see if they have a Patreon you can subscribe to on their behalf. If they like meditation, you can get them a subscription to meditation apps like Headspace or Insight Timer. For readers, choose a subscription to their favorite online magazine or an audiobook app like Libro. FM. If they love music and don’t have Spotify Premium, pay for their subscription for a year. If movies are more their thing, sign them up for a streaming platform. There are endless options for subscription services that fit all interests and budgets.
12. Sign Up for a Gym or Studio Membership
Another sustainable experience gift idea is a membership to a studio or gym of their choice. Maybe they love to boulder, go to CrossFit, do yoga, or are interested in taking dance lessons. You can purchase a membership or class package at the fitness studio or gym of their choice.
If your loved one isn’t into a specific workout but wants to get active, sign them up for a flexible membership on platforms like ClassPass or an online studio.
13. Book a Cameo
Cameo is a platform that allows you to pay for personalized messages from celebrities and public figures.
If you’re looking for fun experience gift ideas, especially for kids or teens, purchasing a Cameo is a memorable one.
Choose their favorite actor, athlete, or musician and help them craft a message your loved one will never forget.
14. Go to a Game
For sports-obsessed friends and family members, an experience gift they’d probably appreciate is tickets to a sports game.
You can go together, or get them an extra ticket to bring someone of their choice.
Whether it’s football, soccer, or tennis, chances are you can find an upcoming game they’d love.
15. Choose a Cultural Tour
A cultural tour can be an educational and memorable experience gift idea. You can find something for just about any interest, whether it’s a history, street art, architecture, or nature tour.
Find a locally-led tour on a topic you know they’d love for a sustainable experience gift.
This is a great option if your loved one is on the road or has any upcoming travels.
You can find something in their area, no matter where they are.
16. Gift them a Photoshoot
If your loved one has a strong online presence or likes to be in front of the camera, a photoshoot is a fun experience gift idea.
This way you can support local photographers while giving them something they can have forever.
A wonderful place to find local photo shoots is on Airbnb experiences.
Some options include tours or cover certain locations while others can be personalized to suit your friends' interests.
About the Author
Alicia Briggs is a writer & editor specializing in slow travel & sustainable living. She has been a full-time traveler since 2018 and runs her own blog, Learning the Local Way, where she covers responsible travel tips and guides.
MAKE SURE TO PIN THE PHOTO BELOW TO SAVE THIS POST FOR LATER!
WANT MORE SUSTAINABLE BRANDS? VISIT OUR BRAND DIRECTORY!
Our Brand Directory is home to hundreds of sustainable brands, from makeup to cleaning supplies, from underwear to shoes. We have broken everything down by category for easy shopping, along with discount codes unique to Sustainably Chic viewers.
