When was the last time you felt confident when giving someone a gift?
Sustainability and being ethically conscious have been on the rise these past years, which can make gifting even harder when on a budget, as there are now more things to consider when buying someone a gift.
Is it to their taste?
Will they use it?
Is it tainted by unethical working conditions or trade?
If these are questions you struggle with when buying a gift, you’ll love Good Things, an online ethical and sustainable shop for gifts that have a positive impact.
Read on to learn about why this business was founded, and for our top sustainable gift ideas.
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Learn about Lucy Willoughby, Founder of Good Things
I think it's empowering to feel like we can all make choices that make difference. Taking action and doing things together with other people can feel really positive, that's a powerful thing to do.
We spoke to Lucy Willoughby, Hatch graduate and founder of Good Things, to learn more about the founding of her business and her time on one of our programmes.
The Founding of Good Things
After five years in the charity sector, Lucy decided to go travelling to work on different projects around the world.
One of these trips was to Costa Rica, where she was working on a government project to collect data on sea turtles. It was here that Lucy was confronted with the bleak reality of plastic pollution.
“Seeing plastic wash up.. Seeing the toothbrushes and other normal household items washed up to shore made me really think about my choices and the impact they were having.“
On the second trip, to Tanzania, Lucy came across a social enterprise that had a workshop to teach people beautiful handicraft skills like weaving and woodwork.
It was here that she came up with the idea of facilitating the international distribution of products from amazing social enterprises around the world
The need to facilitate non-plastic alternatives for the sustainable consumer was enforced when Lucy came back to the UK and started looking for sustainable gifts for her friends’ new babies.
“Everything was pink and blue and plastic, and I just I just felt like, this wasn’t what I wanted to buy. That wasn’t how I wanted to spend my money.“
Lucy founded Good Things to make the search for sustainable gifts easier for all of us. A place where people could easily make responsible choices through their gifting.
“85% of people give a gift and they’re not actually sure that the person is going to like it. So [with Good Things] at least you know you’re supporting positive things.“
Lucy Willoughby's Hatch Programme Highlight
During her time on the Hatch Accelerator programme, Lucy felt a massive confidence boost with her access to experts’ knowledge and a structure for learning practical things to grow her business.
The highlight of the programme, however, was the peer network she built.
Running her business in Devon, Lucy often felt isolated, so being on the Hatch programme facilitated he growing a network of like-minded business founders, which continues to be extremely beneficial.
“I think when you’re working by yourself, it’s really valuable to just check in with someone and see how things are going.
“There’s so much you have to understand and learn, so often just speaking to other people and sharing information is really helpful.
“And that in turn creates a kind of community where you can do collective learning regularly. You know, share information or challenges, and learn from eachother.“
Not based in London?
Sustainable Gift Ideas from Good Things
"I feel like with gifts you want to bless people, right? So it would be nice to not think too much about the potential negative impact it could have."
Panicked about what to buy for a loved one?
We’ve all been there. To help you out, see below for our top good gift picks.
Read their descriptions to see what positive impact you will have with each purchase!
Sustainable Gift Ideas for Masculine People
Your dads, brothers, masc friends and lovers are bound to love these.
Not what you were looking for?
Check out Good Things’ Gift Collection for Masculine People.
Sustainable Gift Ideas for Feminine People
Your mums, sisters, femme friends and lovers will love you forever if you get them one of these.
Not what you were looking for?
Sustainable Gift Ideas for Babies
Your friends and family with babies will love you for thinking of the environment with these gifts.
Looking for something a little older?
Check out Good Things’ Gift Collections by Age.
