Christmas gifts: Where to shop local, ethically in regional Australia

Want to buy a present that doesn’t cost the Earth? Find out where you can buy some truly thoughtful Christmas presents this year and support country businesses.

OVER the weekend, we had our annual Christmas gathering with my older friends.

Let’s just say they used to talk about aged care as a far-off eventuality. Now the need’s more pressing. You get the picture.

Among this group there are no kids or grandkids, and mostly they deliberately downplay the show and go very low key for Christmas Day.

Annie packs a sandwich, a Thermos and a cool bottle of bubbly and heads off to her parents’ grave where she pops the bubbly, imbibes a little and then proceeds on to the burial sites of various other rellies for a wee drink with their spirits.

It’s not my kind of Christmas, but for Annie it’s a Christmas tradition, a good way of avoiding distant rellies who feel obliged to invite her for the day, and she’s perfectly happy.

Another couple, whose parents are dead and gone, also opt for a simple sandwich, usually under a tree somewhere if it’s not too hot.

We always give each other presents, usually books, at our Christmas gathering but this year the retired teacher among us suggested we give each other a goat, some pigs or a kid’s education. Which we all willingly did via Oxfam Australia. (unwrapped.oxfam.org.au).

This works by going online, donating an amount towards a special “gift” — for example, buying a duck that gives families in Bangladesh eggs that they can eat and sell at market. Back at home, you can either print the card to give to your intended recipient or email the card to them.

As I said, the people in this particular group are well beyond the non-acquiring phase of life, from where it is easy to damn gross and excessive consumerism.

Truth is I love giving and getting presents, especially things I rarely buy for myself such as a meal out at a place where the food is nourishing, or nourishing skin moisturisers.

For the meals out, a voucher is easy. Most restaurants offer them.

But the thought of all those moisturiser bottles and tubes being thrown out to landfill has put me off buying pretty bottles of hand wash and moisturiser.

What happened to refillable, bulk soap dispensers? Or old fashioned bar soap that comes in a paper or cardboard wrapping?

A new discovery is a solid moisturiser bar in a re-usable beeswax wrap. It’s heavenly and great for rubbing on after a shower. Check out the options online.

Some companies (not enough) are starting to sell refills for skin moisturisers, and shampoos and conditioners.

Tammy Logan of Gippsland Unwrapped has outlined some top ideas in her blog, which is all about maximising resources and minimising waste (gippslandunwrapped.com). She suggests we can make memories by giving experiences instead of things — such as cooking, dance or yoga classes, movie passes, go-karting, rock climbing or a massage.

Try highcountryhorses.com.au for horse riding experiences. An art gallery membership can work well too. Or a National Parks pass to ski-fields or other beautiful places, such as the Three Capes in Tasmania. (threecapestrack.com.au).

If you must buy some “thing”, consider looking for something that can be recycled or is upcycled (made from recycled materials).

Tammy suggests backpacks, pouches and bags from BeeKeeper which makes them out of discarded shirts and donates part of the sales to fund education and schools in Cambodia (beekeeperparade.com).

And try rubber door mats made from discarded car tyres or plastic floor mats made from recycled Polypropylene (recycledmats.com.au).

And anyone who can teach me how to make a dress is welcome to gift me the appropriate hours. People you know might like this.

I’m all for supporting local farmers and retailers, especially in our rural areas. Honey, jams, olive oil, eggs … why not even a year’s supply of eggs from your local chook farmer? Approach them and ask for a voucher big enough to cover a year’s supply. Make sure the recipient lives near enough to collect them direct or from a local supplier.

For someone special, a 4kg tin of flavoursome olive oil from your local producer is a delight, especially if refills are available.

You can almost guarantee that the recipient will ask you more about where the oil comes from and next minute you’ve opened up a conversation about what’s produced in your area. And they might head up your way to refill. This is the perfect gift for city rellies and friends.

Any outback company or shop will love your patronage. Try Lake Tyrrell salt flakes at Sea Lake (laketyrrellsaltcompany.com.au)

And though you might not make the trip there to buy, shops in far-off places will love you for buying from them. Consider this a gift in itself, a way of supporting rural areas. (Try marlbrohouse.com.au in Wycheproof or thegrainshop.com.au in Lalbert for therapeutic wheat bags.) And for looking after the earth and building our backyard soil, a composter or worm farm are great options. This can be great fun for families with small children, though only if they have the time to show the kids how it all works and the commitment to keep feeding the worms.

For the adults, there’s always a wine that’s produced locally.

The great thing about these options is that most offer a way of avoiding shopping malls.

Happy thoughtful Christmas shopping.