Our guide to eco-friendly gifting

Our Community Fair Trade programmes ensure small-scale farmers, traditional artisans, and rural co-ops all over the world are paid a fair price. In exchange for raw, quality ingredients, we offer good trading practices and prices that help fund community projects.

Our entire Shea range is made with Community Fair Trade shea butter. It’s handcrafted by the Tungteiya Women’s Association in northern Ghana and helps 640 women from 11 villages. Our Tea Tree range is made with Community Fair Trade tea tree oil which is sustainably sourced from a number of independent farmers in Kenya. Both ranges have treats that make perfect gifts, like our intensely nourishing Shea Body Butter and our powerfully purifying Tea Tree Anti-Imperfection Night Mask.

There are ways to cut back on plastic. In an effort to help empower people and the planet, we use Community Trade recycled plastic from Bengaluru, India, in our 250ml shampoo and conditioner bottles.¹ This partnership helps empower the waste pickers we support with access to more sanitary working conditions, a fair price and the respect and recognition they deserve.

Want in? Pick our Puree Bliss Banana Haircare Duo, containing our nourishing and fruity Banana Truly Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner as well as a super fun Monkey Hair Wrap. Or, if you prefer something a little more zingy, our flake-shaking Ginger Shampoo and Ginger Conditioner have got a lot to feel good about. Wash away loose flakes and kick hair into action.

B Corps™ believe business should be a force for good. To become a certified B Corp™ every business goes through a challenging assessment to ensure they meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and legal accountability. B Corps™ don't just care about profit – they care about people and the planet too; and use the certification process to prove it. Across the globe, B Corps™ – like The Body Shop – work to create stronger communities and healthier environments through their employment and business practices, trade partnerships, advocacy and project work. So, every time you shop with a B Corp™, you're supporting a business that’s taking action to create a better, more inclusive and sustainable world.

We’re all becoming much more aware of the positive impact veganism has on the planet. It cuts down on greenhouse gases, frees up land space and saves water², to name a few benefits. As many of us adopt a more plant-based lifestyle³ – whether that’s through our eating habits or through our skin and body care routines – more resources have become available for brands to adapt without compromising on quality. Interested? Check out our vegan Carrot collection, made with wonky, organic carrots, Drops of Youth™ Bouncy Sleeping Mask and Moringa Body Yogurt. By shopping vegan, you’ll not only be making your favourite vegans happy but doing that little bit to help the environment too. And why not check out our vegan gift guide to get a feel for all of our vegan treats?

Did you know LED lights use up to 80% less energy than their traditional twinkling equivalent? LED bulbs also last a lot longer than incandescent lights, meaning they’re much more environmentally friendly and will see you through the years. As LEDs consume less power, they also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost half a ton.⁴ Now that is energy saving!

The best decorations are the family heirlooms that emerge every year, like that papier-mâché Christmas pudding you made when you were 12 – it’s instantly fun and eco-friendly and your mum just can’t get enough. But if you do love to add new decorations to your collection, look for ones that are made from brass, glass and wood rather than plastic.

It’s estimated that around 40 million Christmas crackers are binned on Christmas day.⁵ And inside those crackers are plastic toys, jokes and hats. That’s a lot of excess waste. But that’s not to say you have to give up the joy of pulling a cracker with your family. Instead, opt for crackers that are made from cardboard that can be recycled and with gifts inside that are made from natural materials or even food like chocolate. (Fact: you can never have too much chocolate on Christmas Day).

While artificial Christmas trees are reusable and will last you a good few years, they’re not actually recyclable. In fact, they have more than twice the carbon footprint than a real tree.⁶ A typical 6’5” artificial tree has a carbon footprint equivalent to about 40kg of greenhouse gas emissions. This is double that of a real tree that ends up in landfill and more than ten times that of a tree which is burnt. This means you’d need to reuse your plastic tree for 10 years for it to have less of an impact on the environment than a real tree.

Pretty crazy, right? So, what to do when buying a real tree? Friends of the Earth advise us to shop local and keep an eye out for an FSC certificate to avoid emissions from transporting and importing.⁷ If you can, buy a pot-grown tree so that when Christmas is over, you can plant it in the garden or re-pot it and use it again next year.⁸