Our Top 5 Sustainable Gift Ideas for People Who Love Food

Every Heartell card and art print we’ve ever produced has been printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. 

Most of the packaging and shipping materials we use are recycled (we love Ecoenclose for their products and their leadership and information in this space). 

 As we add non-paper products to our catalog, we are taking care to only add new products that support circular systems of consumption, like our new Generous Kitchen Sponge Cloths.

Here are some ideas for choices you can make as you are thinking about gifts for your food-loving friends and family this season. We hope they’ll help you celebrate the people in your life who you love to share meals with while having a positive impact on the world we all share.

For the person who loves to eat (but not necessarily cook):

Card Bundles and Boxed Sets of Food-Themed Cards

For the person who enjoys their meals best when they are prepared by other people, a box of food-themed cards will make it easy to write thank you notes.

Any time you buy in bulk you’ll be reducing the amount of packaging your goods will need to reach you safely. And fewer orders with more items will reduce the amount of shipping-related resources you’ll use as well. Cards with simple, classic designs will mean your food-loving giftee can use them for birthdays, thank you cards or everyday nurturing.

You can create your own mixed bundle of any six greeting cards or try an assorted set of classic, food-themed greeting cards that work for lots of different occasions. 

Our Generous Kitchen Assorted Sets are printed on paper that is not only 100% post-consumer recycled, but also made with 100% renewable energy in a carbon-neutral, hydroelectric mill in Michigan.

For the home gardener:

Keep the gardener in your life stocked with fresh tomatoes all year long with a sweet art print or pretty kitchen towel. My husband is the gardener in our family and he thought a small kitchen compost bin would make a great gift. Our So Lucky to Have You Card would be the perfect for tucking a gift certificate from Johnny’s Seeds into. They have a wonderful selection of seeds and also a great assortment of gardening tools so your gardener can get exactly what their green thumb is craving.

For the seafood lover:

Oysters are one of the only proteins where farming them can have a net positive effect on the environment because of how good they are at purifying the water they live in.  To reduce the distance your gift has to travel, choose Pemaquid in Maine if you’re on the East coast or Hama Hama in Washington if the West coast is closer to where you are. I’ve heard good things about Purefish if you aren’t into all the shucking and slurping and want a different kind of seafood.

This oysters art print and oyster card will be a great way to have something to wrap up and keep their mouths watering until the salty treats arrive. A Generous Kitchen Towel and Sponge Cloth with a fresh oyster design will be perfect to catch the drips and bits of shell once they do.

For the baker:

If someone in your life loves to bake, it’s in your best interest to support that habit! A set of cards featuring everyone’s favorite ingredient (chocolate!), a richly colored towel or sponge cloth to wipe up crumbs, or a pretty art print for their kitchen wall will make them feel appreciated for all the ways their presence in your life sweetens your days.

For the food activist:

The choices we make about our consumption are important, but when it comes to long term sustainability, structural changes to systems and laws are where the real change needs to happen. Make this important work easy for the activist in your life with a set of our Art for Change Postcards (perfect for writing to representatives) or inspire them with a hopeful print to hang above the kitchen, where we feed our hearts, bodies and souls.