Father’s Day is right around the corner. To me, my father has always been easier to buy for than mom. He has hobbies that are easy to buy for and doesn’t expect lots of sentiment.
With that said, it’s been harder for me to come up with green Father’s Day gift ideas. It seems like the typical gifts for mom include making breakfast and buying flowers or chocolates. Those are easy to make green.
But the typical Father’s Day presents include things like ties, coffee mugs, and all sorts of gadgets. My dad is an avid fisher, so I usually try to find him lures that I hope he will be able to use. My husband likes baseball. His father likes model airplanes. These are easy hobbies to buy for, but not all of the options are very green.
So, after some thought and reading up on other suggestions, I’ve come up with some green gift ideas for Dad.
No purchase necessary:
– Why not mow the lawn or weed the garden on Father’s Day? It’s preferable if you use a reel mower or electric mower. Here’s a link to a recent article about green ways to maintain your lawn. I think a weekend off from yard duty would make lots of dads pretty happy.
– Fix him his favorite lunch or dinner. Then eat the meal with him, talking about whatever he wants to talk about.
– Make him something out of objects found lying around the house. (This is intended for little kids. I’m not so sure my dad would appreciate it if, at my age, I painted a milk carton and told him it was a bird feeder. My husband, however, would probably really enjoy something like that from our two-year-old.)
Green spin on some old favorites:
– Instead of a ceramic coffee mug with a crazy saying, why not try a reuseable, travel coffee mug? — I found a cool coffee mug made out of corn here. This works for the dad who is already pretty green, or the dad you want to encourage to be green!
– If he’s into repairing things around the house himself, he might enjoy an eco-friendly flashlight — This flashlight looks really cool and would certainly impress the important men in my life.
– For those of you who just have to get Dear Old Dad a tie, I found an eco-friendly tie here. It’s not garish (aren’t the ties bought for this occasion usually ugly?), but would probably match most suits.
– If your dad is into music, order him an album online and download those songs into his MP3 player. That way, you don’t have to deal with CD packaging.
– Got a sports loving Dad? Most sports aren’t all that eco-friendly — they use lots of water to keep the field in tip-top condition, and put in lots of hours (and gasoline) to keep the field in great condition. If taking Dad to a golf course or baseball game rankles your green side, why not set up a croquet set in the backyard and play some games with him and the whole family? Or organize a family baseball game? If you do take Dad golfing, walk the course instead of ride in the cart. And see if there’s a course in your area that has green maintenance practices.
– For the gear-head father, there are a slew of green gadgets online.
You certainly don’t have to buy these specific products. There are TONS of options out there, just search for green or eco-friendly mugs/flashlights/ties/etc.
Most importantly, don’t forget to tell Dad that you love him and appreciate him.
Have I missed anything? There are all sorts of Dads out there, and with a little thought, it should be easy to come up with the perfect green gift to show him how much he means to you.
