Giving a gift doesn’t necessarily mean giving a product that will end up increasing waste, it can also mean a delightful yet eco-friendly gift. But how? Experience gifts, like the ones from sites like Giftory, are great for the eco-conscious. Why? Unlike buying physical, material goods, what you’re giving can be a great experience with a very low environmental impact.

The Problem with Traditional Gifts

Traditional gifts have a high environmental cost. Everything from manufacturing, packaging, and transportation is contributing to pollution and waste. With experience gifts, nothing needs to be shipped, flown, or even delivered. So, in a lot of ways, they are a lot more eco-friendly. Give the gift of an experience and you’re giving something that isn’t going to end up in a landfill.

The Joy of Giving Experiences

If you’re giving someone a high-flying helicopter tour or a pampering spa day—these gifts last a lot longer than that cute and cuddly stuffed bear. They leave lasting memories and that is the real gift. Giftory’s gift collection includes driving experiences, food and drink tours, sports and adventure activities, and sightseeing tours. These kinds of green gifts an eco-conscious person is sure to love!

Reducing Environmental Impact

The impact of an experience gift is minimal. You’re not using up resources to make the physical product. Many of the experiences at Giftory are eco-friendly ones. Things like sustainable workshops and eco-tours have little impact. With an eco-conscious type of mindset, experiences from Giftory are a good present to give a loved one.

Supporting Local and Sustainable Businesses

Besides being better for the environment, giving an experience gift is also better for local businesses. Many of the Giftory experiences are put on by local businesses. In some cases, it’s an eco-friendly, small business. For example, a farm-to-table dining experience serves up sustainably grown, local produce, and supporting local businesses can encourage them to expand their offerings.

Creating Lasting Memories

The best part about a gift is the memories that are created. Experience gifts for the receiver are to keep and cherish. Look around Giftory’s fantastic selection of experiences and you can find the best options for anyone. So, if you want to find the perfect experience for your loved one, look no further.

The Sustainable Choice for Thoughtful Giving

Experience gifts are the perfect gift to give. They take the guesswork out of what to get a loved one, and they can be used for any occasion- a birthday, an anniversary, or just because. Now you can rest almost all assurances that every experience that you gift will be an eco-friendly one.

The post Why Experience Gifts are the Perfect Sustainable Choice for the Eco-Conscious appeared first on Green Prophet.

I’ll bet snow-capped pine trees and ice-crusted cars don’t spring to mind when you think of the Middle East, but that’s what we’re seeing in Amman as we tuck into the second straight day of fierce blizzarding. A perfect setting to tuck in with some simple knitting. 

Green Prophet’s re-tooled our beard hat recipe for more instant gratification! Simply make a one-size-fits-most beard and sew it on a ready-made hat.

In a couple of hours you’ll be geared up in knitted manliness and able to join the wacky crowds stumbling around taking frigid selfies in the mid-day darkness.

Amman is getting pounded with precipitation!  A solid week of rain followed by a bona fide blizzard has people on the street building snow men atop car hoods and firing snowballs at passing trucks.  But most of us have hung up our car keys and settled in for the storms.

How to knit a Middle Eastern beard:

Grab a ball of chunky weight yarn (or use 2 strands of worsted weight) and size 8 (5 mm) knitting needles.  This is a simple all-knit (or “garter stitch”) pattern.  Aim to create a dense fabric at an approximate gauge of 14 stitches = 4 inches (10 cm).

Cast on 36 stitches and knit 5 rows.

Row 6: knit 12 stitches, bind off next 12 stitches, knit last 12

Row 7: knit 12 stitches, cast on 12 new stitches, knit last 12

Rows 8-15: knit

Row 16: knit 2 stitches together, knit to last 2 stitches, knit 2 stitches together

Row 17: knit

Repeat these last 2 rows until 12 stitches remain, bind off.

Put on any simple knitted cap (I sourced some at the local flea market) and pin your beard to your preferred location.  Using thread to match the hat color, sew the beard securely in place.  If the chin is too loose for your liking, sew in some elastic thread – tighten to gather the chin fabric, and secure thread in place.

To wear the hat, push the beard up as if it was a visor.  Pull on hat, then pull down the beard and position on your chin.

For an investment of $3 and in under 2 hours, you can have the perfect protection from storms in your zip code (or the coolest warm holiday gift ever!). 

The post Grow a Middle Eastern Beard in Under 2 Hours! [knit pattern] appeared first on Green Prophet.