Giving Gifts Built to Last
Interested in thoughtful, sustainable giving this holiday season? We have a few suggestions...
Dear Friends,
December, somehow, is already here—and next Friday, our final post of 2024 will be coming your way. After that, we’ll be taking our regular holiday hiatus from publishing until January. In the meantime, we wanted to offer some sustainable suggestions for your holiday shopping:
Buy directly from independent craftspeople, such as those you’ll find in our free, online Artisans’ Directory. Not only will you find countless unique, handmade items, and gift certificates for workshops and classes, but you’ll also be supporting small, artisan-based businesses.
If there’s tech gear on your list (isn’t there always?), please consider purchasing refurbished and/or repairable devices. You’ll find helpful advice in the annual Fixed for the Holidays shopping guide, published by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, including which devices make good refurbished gifts and where to buy them. The guide also warns about new tech products that are not designed to last (e.g., Apple AirPods 4, like previous versions, rely on glued-in, disposable batteries that can’t be replaced by the user). To learn more about the right-to-repair movement, I humbly recommend our issue on The Art of Repair, which can be found in our free archives.
“Buying refurbished could cut the environmental impact of gifting a new smartphone by up to 91 percent.” - U.S. PIRG Education Fund
Gift an experience: A class or workshop from a renowned U.S. Folk School would no doubt be appreciated by the serious maker. Our free community resource guide includes some of the best options, all in one place.
And last but not least, a year’s subscription to Craftsmanship, which is all-digital, would make a great gift that lasts well beyond the holiday season:
We’re working on some exciting new offerings to share with you in 2025, so please stay tuned. We always welcome your thoughts and suggestions, which you can offer in a comment, by tagging us in Substack Notes, or via email. Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for supporting our work with a paid subscription if you can, and for being such a loyal part of the Craftsmanship community.
Wishing you a joyous and peaceful holiday season,
Todd Oppenheimer
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Craftsmanship Magazine
ICYMI…
Read: “Chef Nephi Craig: Decolonizing Recovery through Native Foodways,” written by Carrie A. Back
Chef Nephi Craig leveraged his twin passions—cooking and Native American food "sovereignty"—to heal from substance abuse. Now he's using his experience, and his kitchen, to help others in recovery.
🎙️ Listen: “Hunt, Gather, Cook,” with Hank Shaw
Chef Hank Shaw, author of five cookbooks and a James Beard Award-winning chef, has spent 25 years learning to hunt wild game—and then transforming his kills into haute cuisine. Tune in to our latest episode of The Secrets of Mastery to hear more about his passion for “nose-to-tail” cooking.
Craftsmanship Magazine focuses on master artisans and innovators whose work informs our quest: to create a world built to last. In addition to our Substack offerings, you’ll find a rich archive of feature stories, podcasts, photo essays, and documentary shorts on our free website—along with community resources like our Artisans’ Directory, our guide to U.S.-based craft & folk schools, and much more.