Getting the perfect gift for your friends and family at Christmas requires a lot of thinking about what each person is interested in. Victoria Carter, eco-friendly blogger and CEO of NZ’s only car share company, Cityhop has some ideas.

With Copenhagen the topic of the week here is  a range of practical and not so practical ideas to make the planet a cleaner, greener place! We’re not sure how many people would thank you for this but they will never forget the year you bought them some carbon credits!  

Go to Terrapass, buy some carbon credits and give them to your friends and family. Tell them you are so committed to changing thinking you want them to have these carbon credits. They will never forget your gift but it might get them thinking!

Number 2 green gift – give a worm farm. A bit more pricey but oh so practical and with so many people getting into gardens these days it makes great fertiliser for the garden. Much easier to maintain than a compost and great way to use up all your kitchen vege and fruit scraps.  

Number 3 green gift - here’s a practical present and probably the most cost effective. Make your own pomanders - scent bags to put amongst your wardrobe and stop moths. Buy some velvet or cloth bags ( try the Warehouse or Spotlight) and get some handcrafted soaps proudly made in NZ. We bought from Lizzie Bee some heavenly cinnamon and clove soaps  that we unwrapped and popped into the bags. Average price $5 –the look & feel is triple that!

Number 4 green gift - depending on your budget get a plastic, terracotta or smarter pot; fill with soil and pop some lettuce seedlings into it (The Warehouse has 3 punnets of 6 plants for $10. Again for around $15 you can give a useful and handy gift that after the lettuces have been eaten can have another life. No one ever turned down a small  freshly planted herb garden either if the lettuces look too pathetic in time for Christmas!  

Finally,  the most sustainable green gift  has to be  a cityhop car share membership. For $75 you can join someone up to the cityhop club with cars in Auckland and Wellington CBD. Then they can have access to the cityhop cars for one year’s driving. Join up this week (ends December 18) and you’ll get 3 free driving hours with it. Perfect present for a student or someone on a budget. They can sell their car and use a car when they need it from $15 an hour or $75 for 24 hours. There’s a special overnight rate of $30 too.

Now if we haven’t given you enough ideas, go to the greenlist for a directory of  New Zealand sustainable business and services.