Sustainable Gifting

Amid environmental waste concerns, holiday shoppers are increasingly favoring secondhand finds and experience gifts. We know some female founders who can help. (Credit: Avrielle Suleiman on Unsplash) Still struggling to finish your holiday shopping? You’re not alone -- a plurality of American shoppers are still checking their lists off, too. Here’s another thing many of your fellow shoppers are doing: less wasteful gifting. Research firm Mintel discovered that a growing number of people prefer to give “experience” gifts over tangible ones. A similar survey conducted by consulting firm Accenture additionally found that people are increasingly open to giving secondhand presents, too. “That whole stigma of secondhand is waning or really vaporizing,” Jill Standish, senior managing director for Accenture, told The New York Times. Plus, some are avoiding more lavish physical gifts in an effort to be less wasteful as climate change becomes a more pressing concern. Around the world, women entrepreneurs are already offering services and secondhand products to satisfy these waste-conscious givers and receivers. For example, Ann and Jenny Siner's "cute, clean and current" consignment shop chain, My Sister’s Closet, has “kept millions of pounds of clothing and goods from going back to landfills,” Ann Siner told us. And, of course, there are the business owners we recently featured on our “Beyond Stuff” 2019 gift guide. Instead of wrap-able presents, we asked women entrepreneurs to tell us about the best experience gifts that they offer — and heard from scores of founders about their fascinating classes, coaching sessions, apps and more. If you’re struggling to come up with a creative present, tired of buying (and lugging around) the same boring gifts, or just don’t want to contribute to the mounds of plastic floating in the ocean, check out those resources, or look to your local woman-owned businesses for solutions.

Sustainable Gifting

How Women Entrepreneurs Are Playing to a Growing Holiday Shopping Trend

The Story Exchange

Sustainable Gifting

How Women Entrepreneurs Are Playing to a Growing Holiday Shopping Trend

The Story Exchange

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