A globe with a ribbon on it

It’s time to look at how gift giving spares a thought for loved ones but not the planet

Father’s Day, graduation ceremonies, weddings and birthdays…they all have two things in common: they’re coming up over the next few months and they involve gifts.

So, what will dads get this June, a pair of socks? Ties they will never wear? A mug with a cheesy message on it about them being the best?

Yes, granted, everyone does love socks, but have you ever considered how damaging generic and seemingly half-hearted gifts can be to the environment and their ethical implications?

As part of the Environment Campaign, we've collated the latest planet-friendly gift giving advice from Loughborough University experts Dr Kerri Akiwowo, a Lecturer in Textiles, and Dr Petros Vourvachis, whose research looks at corporate social responsibility and environmental accounting.

Click on the links below to get more information on each of the topics:

Let’s tackle fashion waste and be more clothing conscious

A pile of clothes.

Clothing has always been a popular gift choice but fashion waste is a real issue. According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), around £140m worth of clothing goes into landfill each year and clothing has the fourth largest environmental impact after housing, transport and food.

As a designer, maker, researcher, educator and mother, Dr Akiwowo says she has, in more recent years, felt an increased sense of environmental responsibility towards the work she produces and the things she buys.

From listing materials to avoid and opt for, to explaining the ‘slow-clothing movement’ and how to get involved, Dr Akiwowo has shared her top tips to help ensure gifts – for any occasion – are more planet-friendly.

She said: “As my awareness and understanding of the negative impact of our purchasing habits, material choices and consumer behaviours have developed, so too have my thoughts, attitudes and actions.

“On a consumer level, we each contribute to the lifecycle of our clothes. We are therefore empowered to make environmentally-driven choices about how we acquire, purchase, use and care for these items.”

Read more here.

The questions we need to be asking ourselves about ethical gift giving

A selection of presents.

A benefit of gift giving is that it arguably contributes to social wellbeing; we feel good buying gifts for those we care about and we also value receiving them too. We just need to consider the dangers of overdoing the exchanging of presents, says Dr Vourvachis.

The School of Business and Economics academic looks at a range of issues presented by gift giving and explores important questions such as ‘who is responsible for ensuring we can be more ethical in our gift giving?’ and ‘how can we ensure gifts are ethical?’. The Sustainability team also share a few ideas of what an ethical gift could be.

Dr Vourvachis said: “From an environmental point of view, there are detrimental impacts as a result of consuming potentially scarce resources to produce gifts which can directly and indirectly contribute to climate change.

“People need to consider the ethical implications. Can we guarantee the product was not produced by incriminating human rights such as child labour and bribery?

“We should also consider the ethics behind consumption too. Consider the marketing tactics and psychology used by organisations to encourage people to over-consume, and the stress people feel to buy more and more presents, and to make sure they are the right ones too.”

Read more here.

To keep up-to-date with the research published as part of the Environment campaign, click the Focus on: Environment section on the Media Centre.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 19/68

Loughborough University is equipped with a live in-house broadcast unit via the Globelynx network. To arrange an interview with one of our experts please contact the press office on 01509 223491. Bookings can be made online via www.globelynx.com

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2019 QS World University Rankings, University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019 and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2019, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

Categories