What is your Christmas gift budget really buying?
The short answer: a business can cut its Christmas impact by choosing gifts that arrive in cardboard and paper, get used up rather than stored, travel fewer miles, and come from suppliers who are open about what's in them.
The scale of it
UK organisations typically spend between £50 and £200 per employee on gifts each year [1]. A fair share of it goes on branded merchandise: mugs, pens, tote bags, gadgets with a logo.
Where does it come from? The industry's own figures say 88% of promotional products are imported from China [2]. That's a US-led industry figure rather than a UK count, so read it as a guide to the trade.
Then there's what happens after. Around 114,000 tonnes of plastic packaging is binned rather than recycled over a UK Christmas [3], and an estimated 115 million presents go unwanted, wasting £2.2 billion [4]. Those are whole-Christmas figures, not just business ones, but business gifts are part of the same pile.
Nobody decides to fill a landfill. It happens the way a path gets worn across a lawn: thousands of small, hurried choices, none of them meant to matter. The same works in reverse, which makes this an easy place for a business to start.
Here are five questions worth asking before the order goes in.
1. What will the gift be wrapped in?
Ask for cardboard and paper, and ask before you pay. Cellophane, plastic trays and foam inserts are looked at for ten seconds and last for centuries. Cardboard and paper do the same job.
2. Will it actually get used?
Choose something people use up. A gift that lives in a drawer is already waste, it just hasn't reached the bin yet. Soap and deodorant do their job, run out, and leave nothing to store or throw away. A digital gift card goes one better: no card, no wrapping, and people choose what they'll actually use.
3. How far has it travelled?
Shorter journeys usually mean less fuel. A gift from UK suppliers, posted from the UK, travels fewer miles than one that's crossed a few oceans first. I can't give you a carbon figure, because honest numbers depend on the whole chain. But shorter is usually better, and the money stays here.
4. What's in it?
Your staff and clients put it on their skin, so the ingredients matter. Our soaps and deodorants are 100% natural, palm oil free and vegan, with the ingredients listed in full.
5. Who are you buying from?
Every pound is a vote. We're a small independent business, and plastic reduction has been the mission since day one. We started plastic-free, and as we grew the range we aimed to use as little plastic as possible. We're a Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Champion, and believed to be the first business in Bolton to be awarded it.
Does one gift change anything?
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. But a company that makes the same sensible swap for every member of staff and every client is no longer making one gift. It's making hundreds, every year.
Buying for a team or clients?
Get in touch and we'll sort it. Choose digital gift cards in any amount, emailed straight to each person, or boxed gifts if you order by 1 November. Gift cards can be ordered up to 14 December. First-time business orders get 10% off. Email James at james@smellymen.co.uk.
Questions people ask
How can a business reduce its environmental impact at Christmas?
Choose gifts with cardboard or paper packaging, pick items that get used up rather than stored, buy from UK suppliers to shorten the journey, and check the ingredients. Small choices repeated across every staff and client gift add up.
Are consumable gifts better than keepsakes?
Often, yes. A gift that's used up leaves nothing to store or discard. A keepsake that ends up in a drawer is waste that hasn't been thrown away yet.
What do Smelly Men corporate gifts come in?
Cardboard cartons and cardboard push-up deodorant tubes, with paper labels, kraft tape and shredded paper fill. Digital gift cards need no packaging at all.
Is everything you sell plastic free?
We're a Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Champion, and our soaps and deodorants come in cardboard and paper. Our beard oil and shave serum are in glass bottles with a plastic-lined bamboo lid and a rubber dropper bulb.
Are your products natural?
Our soaps and deodorants are 100% natural, palm oil free and vegan. Our shave serum is 100% natural and our beard oil is natural too.
Can my business order in bulk?
Yes. The easiest way is digital gift cards, emailed to each recipient, who then choose their own products. For boxed gifts, get in touch by 1 November and we'll quote you. First-time business orders get 10% off.