Eco Gift Guide: Experiences & Vouchers

It’s time for my final gift guide for Christmas! So far I’ve shared eco friendly & ethical gift ideas for the foodie in your life, clothing & accessories for men & women, as well as gifts for the home & garden and now it’s time for my eco gift guide: experiences & vouchers!

My family are big on experience gifts, in fact we’ve bought most of these in the past! The beauty of giving experiences & vouchers as gifts is that they often allow the receiver to do or learn something they’ve always been interested in, or go somewhere they haven’t been before, and they also don’t create any waste! I’d love to hear about any go-to experience gift ideas you have as well!

Eco Gift Guide: Experiences & Vouchers | I Spy Plum Pie

1. Zoo Pass ($90) or Animal Adventure Voucher (from $70)

A family membership to the zoo, or a voucher for one of the up-close encounters that are run at the zoos here in Melbourne (and other zoos across the country!) makes for an excellent Christmas present for the animal lover in your life. A few years ago I bought a giraffe-feeding voucher at Werribee Zoo for my then-boyfriend and it was so much fun, so I’m sure it would be very well received this Christmas too.

2. Brew Your Own Beer (from $139)

Earlier this year I did this with my dad and one of his friends and it was really fantastic. We got to choose the exact type of beer we wanted to brew, mix it all up ourselves and then came back a few weeks later to bottle our beer and take it home to enjoy. The actual brewing experience was heaps of fun plus we got delicious beer to take home at the end of it, how can you beat that! We did ours at U-Brew-It, but you can buy vouchers on Red Balloon for brewery options across Australia.

3. DIY Candle Making Class (from $109)

For the more crafty people in your life a voucher for a DIY candle making class might be more up their alley than the beer making. I love lighting a good scented candle around the home so learning to make them myself has always been on my to-do list, so I would love a voucher like this! There are lots of classes run across Australia, so best to do a search for one close to your lucky recipient (or have a look on Red Balloon).

4. Cheese Subscription (from $30)

For the cheese lover in your life what could be better than having a box of hand picked cheese delivered to their door. There are lots of cheese makers that run these subscriptions across Australia, but a couple I know of include the Bruny Island Cheese Club from Tasmania and Cornelius Cheese Club here in Melbourne. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Bruny Island and the cheese makers there a few times in the past and can vouch for how delicious they are, and I have heard excellent things about the varieties of cheeses at Cornelius as well!

5. Subscription Box (from $22)

There are a whole host of excellent subscription boxes out there these days that would make an excellent gift option, ranging from vegan goods, beauty products, health products and food. I’ve bought a few boxes from Native Box before and always enjoyed the goodies, and I have heard excellent things about Vegan Box and the Active Health Box too. You can buy one-off boxes or subscriptions for 3, 6 or 12 months, making it the gift that keeps on giving!

6. Coffee Subscription (from $75)

I purchased this last year for my dad for Christmas and he absolutely loved it. Every month for 6 months a bag of coffee beans appeared on his doorstep from a different Melbourne coffee roaster, allowing him to sample a great range of Melbourne coffees and find some new favourites. They ship all over Australia so you don’t have to be gifting it to someone in Melbourne either!

7. Cooking Class (from $60)

I love going to cooking classes and have bought vouchers for them for friends and family in the past as well which have always been well received. You can choose vouchers for their favourite cuisine, or to learn a specific skill and some of them also include purchasing the food beforehand at markets. From my experience the South Melbourne Market classes are fantastic, as are the ones at Trupp Cooking School, and the CAE always has a great selection of classes to choose from as well. If you’re not in Melbourne then here’s some others to consider!

8. Art or Walking Tour (from $40)

It’s not very often that we stop and act as tourists in our own city, but there’s so much to see! A great way to do that is with a voucher for an art or walking tour, and there are options out there focussed on architecture, street art, chocolate, ghosts, beer, laneways – you name it! These make excellent gift ideas as it’s not the kind of thing people generally buy for themselves, but they’re always enjoyable (and educational!) when you do them.

9. Wine Subscription (from $99)

I don’t think I know many people who wouldn’t love a wine subscription as a Christmas present! There are lots of different options out there, including the Vinomofo Cube of 9 bottles every 9 weeks which would be pretty excellent in my books! Or instead of signing them up for a subscription you could just select a box of wine for them to enjoy – you’d be pretty popular that’s for sure!

There we have it, my eco gift guide: experiences & vouchers. I hope you found these gift guides helpful!

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4 Comments on Eco Gift Guide: Experiences & Vouchers

  1. Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid
    December 19, 2015 at 8:49 pm (8 years ago)

    What an excellent selection – I’d be thrilled with any of these great gifts! Santa, if you’re reading this and stuck for ideas, I’d love a cooking class. Just sayin’!
    Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid recently posted…The Ultimate Rabbit Hole #49

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      December 20, 2015 at 3:04 pm (8 years ago)

      I hope Santa hears you because cooking classes are the bomb!

      Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      January 9, 2016 at 8:05 pm (8 years ago)

      It’s hard to beat cheese isn’t it!

      Reply

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