Christmas: ‘Tis the season to be SUP merry – sustainable giving, with McConks.
Christmas gifts, when you get them right, is a joy (especially SUP and stand up paddle board related presents). When you’ve bought something that makes you happy as well as making the recipient happy, you know you’ve nailed it. But if you’re anything like McConks, you probably find it a bit of a struggle every year to square the circle of buying interesting and meaningful presents and remaining sustainable and ethical.
After the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you might be a little sick of false bargains and gimmicky marketing tricks – we definitely are! So these are our tips for buying gifts that paddleboarders will love, without buying yourself a guilty conscience.
Christmas experience gifts and memories that last
Study after study, along with personal experience, have shown that the best types of Christmas present are experiences rather than things: you remember and talk about experiences for years, but material things lose their value quickly as the next best thing becomes available. And if you don’t buy an experience (maybe you’re worried about that useless loved one forgetting about the voucher, and it expiring – been there, done that!), the next best thing you can do is to buy thing that helps them get out there and make their own experiences!
Lots of our brand partners and friends are schools, guides and instructors who offer amazing experiences year round. But on the basis that you might not want to buy a gift to be used in the cold winter months, nearly all of them all also let you buy gift cards. Check out the list of providers who gift cards for experiences below.
SUP4 – SUP lessons and tuition.
GoExperience – Croatian adventure SUP and experiences.
smoc smoc – eco, waterproof dry robes.
Check out our long read on the 5 psychological reasons why experiences are the best gifts. If you’re not convinced, this article will convince you!
Buy Christmas gifts from a small company
Buying from a small company sometimes takes a bit more effort, or planning, than buying from amazon, or ebay for example. But it is so much more rewarding. Often, the personal customer service you get is way better than anything offered by a nameless, faceless multi-national. And the products are often much better as well.
We personally recommend all of the small companies in the article below, but also check out the SUPhubUK map to find your nearest SUP shop or SUP provider
At McConks we pride ourselves on being as sustainable and ethical as we can be – whether that be low impact manufacture, or organic and fairwear clothing. And that’s why you can buy with confidence from us, guilt free. If you’re interested, you can find out more about our ethical principles here, or you can read about what we do to give something back through our Go Inspire initiative here.
Floating handmade shades for SUPers
Ethical clothing for paddleboarders
All about the fins
A few more ideas of potential Christmas gifts for the stand up paddler in your life.
For the adventure paddler the following would work extremely as Christmas stocking fillers.
Kelly Kettle Stainless steel outdoor woodburning kettle
Are you ready for SUP adventure?
Ready to head our for a long day or overnight trip and want to use sustainable, minimal kit for eating and drinking? Kelly Kettle have been the world leader in wood burning kettles and fires for decades. If you want the four S’s – sustainability, simplicity, speed and stowability, this is the only answer!
Adventure SUP | McConks stainless steel mug
Perfect stocking filler for the paddleboarder who has everything!
Journey Xstream filter water bottle | never run out of water on your SUP expedition
Fill your bottle up from the river, and drink it. Simple as that.
The filter has been tested to perform as well as day 1 at the end of it’s life (1000l). And then replace the filter for less than £30. That’s just 30p per litre. A lot cheaper and more sustainable than plastic water bottles.
Water filter – Xstream Straw and hand pump
Why stick your face into the river to take a drink? This handpump allows you to pump river water into clean water. So you can pump straight into your water bottle, or your Kelly Kettle/saucepan.
Lifecycle of 1000 litres, and then you can just replace the filter. Safe AND sustainable
McConks Balance Board | by daddyboards
Life is better on the river | Ceramic mug
If you’re still having a head scratching time finding the right Christmas gift then why not the McConks elves do the work for you? Get in touch to find out how we can help.