Sustainable Gift Ideas: 18th Birthday Presents

What is an appropriate 18th birthday present? Should you buying something for a teenager, or a young adult? In Australia turning 18 means coming of age. In the US that priviledge belongs to the 21st birthday, but at 18 childhood is still well and truly left behind, and moving away to college or leaving school to get a job is usually on the horizen.

So an 18th birthday present should be significant. Just what that means will depend on your relationship with the recipient. Is she your girlfriend, daughter, niece? Is he your brother, boyfriend, best friend, son?

In fact, whether it is an 18th or 21st birthday present, it is nice to find something unique - or at least unique to the person receiving the gift - and somewhat personal. Again, just how personal will depend on your relationship to the giftee.

If you know the person well, you might buy jewellery or a particularly special piece of clothing. If they are moving away for college, or university, you might consider something that will travel well but be useful in their new environment. Or, if they are foregoing college to get a job, and are considering moving out of home, there might be something useful, yet beautiful, you could buy for their new place.

Although gift giving is a custom associated with birthdays and other special occasions in many cultures, in this time of growing awareness of the effects of consumerism on both our natural world and people being exploited in the developing world, finding sustainable gift ideas is becoming more important, and is something many recipients appreciate.

Featured on this page are a selection of Fair Trade and ethical gift ideas including chocolates, cllothes, bags, and assorted other items.

So what do you look for to decide if something is sustainable?

Here is a list of attributes you can look for in sustainable gifts. You may find items that have some of these attributes but not all, or you may want to only put money into gifts that meet all these criteria. That's up to you. All the items shown on this page (in the list above from Amazon.com) meet at least some of these requirements:

Look for things that are:

• Made from organic, sustainable materials - produced without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers, eg organic cotton, hemp
• Made from recycled materials
• Produced under Fair Trade conditions
• Produced locally to you, with local materials - not flown half way across the world
• Second hand (or pre-loved if you prefer)

Oxfam Shops

If you want to shop for sustainable gifts that also raise money for charity, and you have an Oxfam shop nearby, they are a great option. They have many, many lovely gift ideas made in Fair Trade conditions from all around the world.

Have you given or received a really great sustainable 18th birthday present (or 21st birthday present)? Tell us about it below.