• Could stare at this for hours: This squeegee art feels incredibly gratifying. 

• Would attend: Pie potlucks just make a lot of sense.

• We all know someone who loves candles. Keap’s expertly-crafted candles are poured-to-order in Kingston, NY in reusable tumblers, making them the perfect sustainable and thoughtful gift. Take 10% off of beautifully-scented candle gifts with code “NightIn”. *Sponsor 

• Hard yes: Boundaries help you thrive.
• A powerful ritual: Love this practical guide to building ancestral altars in your home.
• Just because: Some very beautiful mushrooms.
• Speaking of gifts: The 3 questions to ask yourself when buying the right present.
• One of each, please: Secret family cookie recipes, right this way.
• For that little cabin in the woods you daydream about purchasing: Some of the most beautiful paint colors of the year.
• Still looking for the perfect gift? We love these premium, single-serve wines from Just Enough Wines as a delicious, go-to gift. They have numerous varietals to choose from packaged in beautiful 6-packs so there’s something for everyone on your list. Use code HOLIDAY for 15% off. *Sponsor 
• Knocks the wind out of you: Listen to the audio version of this stunning and important poem about women’s bodies (here’s the IG version if you get paywalled).

Azora Zoe Paknad is the founder of Goldune, an online shop that sells sustainable goods in the most fun, quirky, and joyful way. She has the best design eye and the most thoughtful tips on how we can all live more sustainably — we caught up with her recently to get 3 of her best recommendations for our readers, below. Enjoy!

1. Consider more sustainable shopping, gifting, and even gift-wrapping this holiday season.

Gifting is so personal– I have some friends who are absolutely brilliant at remembering this one inside joke, story or comment from years ago and can give you the most thoughtful gift that’s less about stuff and more about warmth and care and kindness. But I find it really challenging to be that kind of gifter when you’re in the middle of what’s often the busiest season of the year– much less trying to make that kind of thoughtful gesture for so many people in your life at once! 

The most sustainable gifts are the ones that are going to get used, and not end up in a landfill. (Also, spending money on stuff that’s just going to get thrown away?! In this economy!? No!) My go-tos are small pantry items from a local business or specialty store, maybe paired with an apron or cookware. Back-up plan? I also like to give a copy of a book I read and loved, with a note or inscription about why it reminded me of them, or a nice candle they might not otherwise have treated themselves to.

Wrapping wise, I dreamed up this reversible wrapping paper that didn’t compromise color, joy or delight for sustainability– it’s 100% recycled, recyclable, at-home-compostable, and made in the USA by a small woman lead manufacturer. I wanted to wrap sustainably but without the kraft paper or cardboard aesthetic! Everything down to the ribbon will biodegrade on its own. (It’s not a bad gift for a holiday host, either!)

2. A trick for tamping down our desire for consumption.

I’ve noticed that my environment has such a bearing on my desire to consume. The closer I am to nature– whether spending the summer at the beach or the holidays at my parents place in the hills– the more likely I am to focus inward or on experiences than on *stuff.* Something about the bustling and going-out-to-dinner culture in NYC makes me feel like I need more stuff to keep up, or that my stuff says something about me and who I am. I can’t magically teleport to nature, so most of the time, I’m trying to separate need from want.

3. A few must-read books on sustainability.

I used to run a sustainable book club each month for Goldune, and it was one of my favorite things. (I also spent sooooo much time reading to pick which books we’d read, which is ultimately why we had to stop!).

I love telling folks to start with Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have by Tatiana Schlossberg, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis by Katharine Wilkinson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer– those are my holy trinity. Any of them would be a great place to start expanding your perspective, and I promise they’re not total downers. My focus, whether in my book club or my work, is the get some of the shame out of the sustainability conversation and to replace it with joy, curiosity or play– and these three books fit the bill.

1. When was the last time you howled with laughter? (Wallflower Chats)
2. The eternal comfort of the casserole (Men Yell At Me) 
3. The strange allure of reading other people’s diaries (The Atlantic) 
4. How did the 🍆 become our default sex symbol? (New York Times) 
5. On being vulnerable and re-entering the “soft gift era” (Refinery29)