Shipping Holiday Gifts

The deadlines for shipping holiday gifts is quickly approaching. Take a look at the deadline dates from Canada, from the US, from Australia, and from the UK.

Get ahead of the rush with these simple tips.

1) If you don't have a paper shredder, you could beg, borrow, or buy (try a thrift store first) a paper shredder to shred all of your old papers. If you're like me, you likely have a stack of old bills you have kept to take to the shredders, but haven't had time (or the memory!) to do it. Instead, shred them yourself and pack the shredded paper around gifts before sending to your loved ones.



Photo Credit
By simply reusing things you already have around the home, you are helping your wallet and the environment.

2) Do you have a bachelor uncle or brother that doesn't do a lot of cooking? Instead of giving a heavily packaged item, why not send a homemade Gift in a Jar - hearty soup mix, delicious muffin mix, or homemade pancake mix. All they have to do is add the liquid ingredients and voila!

Earrings $16 (Photo: Ten Thousand Villages)

3) Spend your money wisely this year and shop at Ten Thousand Villages where you will find quality hand made products. By supporting a fair trade organization, you can feel good about purchasing products from workers who received fair wages for their hard work. Plus, they drop ship - you make the purchase and have them ship directly to your friend. As far as I know, the gift will not be gift wrapped, which is actually a good thing. :)



How do you make shipping gifts as environmentally friendly as possible?