Gifts with Impact: Sustainable gifts from the Impact Hub Berlin community
The holiday season is a great time to reflect on how our purchasing decisions impact the environment and our society as a whole. Being a conscious consumer means reflecting on what you need and then choosing the people or businesses whose products and services reflect your own core values.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of changemakers from within our community who offer innovative, sustainable, and inclusive products and services that have a positive social impact on our world. There are plenty of fantastic sustainable gifts and ideas below, take a look!
Where ecology meets activewear functionality
Danish for “everlasting/enduring”, EVIG is committed to creating sustainable activewear that’s made for life. Made from plant-based fibres that are self-cleaning and anti-bacterial, each item of EVIG clothing is made to be not only durable, but to be worn across all seasons and activities. You’ll find gender-neutral T-shirts, running shorts, and more – all handmade to order in both Germany and Portugal.
Art that celebrates neurodiversity
Founded by queer multiply neurodivergent visual artist Coco Stoppelli, cocomoino is a beautiful online store dedicated to sparking joy and advocating for neurodiversity awareness through art. You’ll find greeting cards, pins, original artworks and more, all featuring birds that have helped Coco explore both the uplifting and difficult things in life. Coco uses environmentally-friendly packaging when possible and vegan ink and paper to create unique pieces that sing. Coco is also part of our Empower Now cohort.
Goodbye fast fashion, hello sustainable styling
What better gift to give than to help someone find their style? Sustainable fashion consultant Tina Steinke is on a mission to do away with the chaos in your closet and help you find your style in a number of ways. Online vouchers give you access to a number of offers, including a wardrobe deep-dive to find new combinations from existing items or a shopping tour across Berlin’s fair fashion, secondhand, and vintage stores.
Sustainable gifts best served hot
This German-African social business is all about revolutionising the coffee distribution market by putting it directly into the hands of coffee farmers. The aim is to help producers not just grow the coffee but also process, roast, and package the product directly. Plus, the coffee tastes fantastic too – think notes of dark chocolate, brown sugar, honey, or orange. What better way to start the day?
For the chocolate lovers
What’s a natural accompaniment to coffee? Chocolate, of course! With Weinrich’s chocolate, you can help someone indulge in their sweet tooth knowing the cocoa used is 100 percent certified and is processed using eco-friendly farming methods. The variety of chocolate flavours available – from strawberry to whisky – make for perfect sustainable gifts.
Get more connected
Is there someone in your life wanting to become better attuned to their body and needs? Somatic coach Eva Bakardjiev is here to help empower people by reconnecting them to the wisdom of their bodies. Somatics is a holistic transformation theory that focuses on the body to help us better understand ourselves. Eva offers 1:1 consultations and workshops.
Delicious, handcrafted pantry items
Based out of Berlin, Roots Radicals is a zero-waste food company intent on reconnecting people with food that’s been rescued and repurposed into delicious conserves, spices, and pickles. Following the Circular Economy concept, the team at Roots Radicals cook with creativity and a passion to raise awareness of food wastage. Their range would suit even the fussiest of eaters, from ketchup to kimchis.
Sustainable gifts for the outdoorsy types
The Fair Cottage is a Berlin-based startup that was founded in 2021 to combat unethical practices in the sportswear industry. The marketplace partners with sustainable brands to bring transparency to its customers, providing information on products’ certifications as well as each brand’s values and social responsibilities. Some of the eco-friendly gifts available include clothing, camping gear, and climbing equipment.
Eco-friendly gifts for home cooks
Open Funk came to fruition in a kitchen surrounded by broken blenders as two friends tried to get to the bottom of the e-waste problem in kitchen appliances. The founders were frustrated by appliances breaking within months of purchase and wanted to do something about it, which is how re:Mix, a circular blender that can be customised to fit your own glass jars, was born. This clever gadget is made from locally sourced materials, sustainable, and made to be repaired, not thrown out.
Gift the joy of carefree periods
Pourprées is a young French brand founded by two sisters, Iris and Agathe. Pourprées offers healthy and 100 percent fairly-produced products for a carefree period. Pourprées’ motto is to consume less and to consume better, offering period products that are made from organic cotton and are Standard 100 by OEKO-TEXⓇ certified.
Social impact gifts to spice up your life
Conflictfood founders Salem and Gernot have made it their mission to empower and connect farmers from conflict regions around the world with ethical shoppers. The pair travel and seek out local specialities, like coffee, tea, and spices, and establish a partnership-based collaboration directly with the farmers. The items are packaged in Berlin and include information about the conflict from the region the item is produced.
Clothing made for a lifetime
This clothing label is empowering women to “wear their values”, offering business suits made from biodegradable materials. With the aim of designing for a world beyond waste, this label is creating items that provide valuable nutrients to regenerate the soil. Lotta Ludwigson aims to end fast fashion, one elegant suit and knitwear item at a time.
Interested in learning more about becoming a member of our community? We finally have free spots to welcome new members to join our coworking space and collaborative community.