Green Mother’s Day gift ideas that are eco-friendly and fun!
Ditch the roses, forget about the chocolates and focus on the good times this Mother’s Day as you provide your mum with great memories and sincere appreciation for all the things she does just for you. Traditional gifts carry with them a HUGE carbon footprint that you can avoid with these fun, sincere and generally kick-ass green living suggestions.
Flower Power
Green living: Transform old bikes into planters
Bouquets are just about the worst gift you can give in terms of green living. They require scads of artificial fertilizers and pesticides to grow and imagine the carbon footprint of picking and transporting them to the market from exotic far-flung locals, then to the florist and finally to your mum’s front door on Mother’s Day. Its astronomical, and (let’s face it) passe’. If floral features on your mum’s radar, then plant her a veggie garden instead. Convert one of her flower beds into a urban farming paradise that will provide her with a wealth of organic veggies this summer. Its the gift that keeps on giving!
Guerrilla gardening is an activity best enjoyed by the whole family. Green living families can make seed bombs together and then target unattractive areas in the neighborhood to transform. Seed bombs are seeds encased in clay which can be thrown onto any patch of ground and will soon grow into beautiful flowers or plants. Learn how to make seed bombs here.
Empty parking lot giving you the creeps? Old abandoned bicycle rusting in peace on the fence? You can make them pop by planing some flowers or veggies with your mum this Mother’s Day.
Consider an act of green living vandalism for mothers with moxie. You can make awesome moss graffiti (featured picture) with very little effort and a spray bottle filled with water. You can work with your mum or on your own to write messages or her name on your outside wall. This will make a great display for all to see. You can get the recipe for green graffiti here.
Upcycled Gifts
The art of upcycling is taking something old and repurposing it to become something useful. You can take things your mum has a sentimental attachment to and transform them into something she can really use. The best place to look is the attic or garage where long forgotten items live that are no longer useful, but too loved to end up on the yard sale pile. Use old skates, high heels and baby shoes as flower planters. The same goes for old wheelbarrows, watering cans and anything else that could hold a pansy. You can get a basic idea of how to proceed here.
These Mother’s Day gift ideas are fun and environmentally friendly. They reduce the carbon footprint of your mother’s day celebrations and, because they are handmade, will show that you have put some thought and effort into create a great memory, or a growing gift for your favorite person. If you want to show your mum some love this Mother’s Day, then do it the green living way.