For the Neohippie Homebody: Eco-Chick’s Holiday Gift Guide #3

Our beloved and well-used (judging from the numbers of views and shares from past years) gift guide is BACK! As you know, we like our gifts to bring a smile to the faces of friends and families—and help small-business owners, local makers, and people who live and work in places who have a lot less than we do.

All the products below are fair-trade, ethical, locally made, eco-friendly, low-impact, or (most likely) some combination of the previous.

And if you are still looking for that perfect (ethical) thing for that special someone, our recent list of 8 great ethical boutiques is a great place to start—and so is our Resources page. Happy shopping!

Our third guide: For the NeoHippie Homebody!

(Check out our other holiday gift guides for Scent Obsessives and Wood Lovers!)

I have been testing out my Ruggables rug for six months now (I have the Chevron in grey and white), and can attest to its awesomeness—so can my cat, Josephine, as you can see above! Not only as a high-quality rug in its own right but (for reals), you can wash it in a regular washer. Which I did. And it came out beautifully clean.

How is this possible? The rug comes in two pieces—the top piece attaches very securely to the bottom rug pad and you only wash the top part. I washed with regular detergent and hung it dry outside in the sun. Voila! Clean rug, DIY. Genius.

Gudrun Sjoden is a Swedish ecofashion powerhouse, and while I adore her clothing, I’m just as big a fan of her home designs, which are scattered throughout my apartment in California. I love her throw rugs and especially the newest designs in her “Norway” collection, two of which are shown above—the Oda rug and transparent curtain.

Did you know that this year marks Lava Lamp‘s 50th anniversary? It’s crazy they’ve been around that long, but it’s true, and despite the company’s long history, I had never had one—until now. Now I know why they are still so popular and beloved.

Lava Lamp sent me a 14.5″ Classic lamp with pink wax and purple liquid, and I really LOVE it. I never thought I would enjoy it as much as I do, but it’s a great evening light (I plug it in on the long winter nights and it’s a joy of color and movement) and somehow, very calming. At $16.99 (for the 14.5″ size—there are many sizes available), it’s the perfect gift that will be enjoyed for years.

The AromaSense Showerhead is a game changer. I’ve had chlorine-filtering showerheads before, but this one not only filters chlorine (typically used to kill bacteria in most urban water supplies), it adds both Vitamin C (awesome for skin—think of all the C-packed skin treatments you’ve seen) and aromatherapy to your shower.

I tried out the Opus showerhead, which includes filters for chlorine, rust, dust and contaminants, the Vitamin C addition, and negatively ionizes the water. On top of that it reduces water flow by 25%, conserving water, but also optimizes water pressure so that even though you’re using less water, it feels like more—engineering! Oh, and it adds a lovely aromatherapy element to your shower too.

Baskets from Basket Basket come in a huge variety of basketness. From Madagascar, Morocco and Ghana, these pieces are perfect for carrying and storing a huge variety of things; I keep my socks and underwear in baskets for easy access, and use them for farmer’s market shopping and general toting of stuff around. Baskets are made from natural and sustainable materials and the owners of the company work directly with the weavers of the baskets, ensuring they earn a fair wage for their work.

Under the Canopy makes beautiful organic cotton sheets and towels that are available at Macy’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond. I’m especially enamored of the beautiful “Adventurer” bedding set, which would be a lovely and useful gift for the college student, new home- or apartment owner, or someone you know would never buy themselves a healthy bedding set.

See our full article on Under the Canopy here.