Seven waste-free (and free) ways to celebrate Mother's Day

By Alexandra Zissu
More from The Daily Green News blog

Author Alexandra Zissu offers some thoughtful, out-of-the-box Mother's Day gift ideas that your mom won't soon forget. Zissu writes the Ask an Organic Mom blog on The Daily Green and is the author most recently of The Conscious Kitchen.


plant a garden
plant a garden

Plant Mom a garden
We all want to be growing vegetables, and now's the time to be planting. But time isn't on our side.

Source the organic soil and the food-safe materials for the raised beds, drop some hints so she can unknowingly help pick the seeds before you plant, and make it happen.

Really let the kids help; they're great gardener's helpers.

The Daily Green has all the tips and information you need to start your first garden.

Photo: Frank Van Delft / Getty Images





mother's day brunch
mother's day brunch


Make dinner for Mom
A busy lifestyle can mean family dinners are few and far between, so make mom an IOU to recommit to having more family meals. If dinner doesn't work, make breakfast on weekends.

Make it happen by cooking and freezing a few meals in advance.

Stumped? Try these one of The Daily Green's delicious recipes.

Photo: Laura Doss / Corbis




home improvement
home improvement

Tackle Mom's to-do list
Doing those lists of things that never get done - yearly pillow laundering, filing, fixing the hook that fell off the wall in the entryway, cleaning the gutters - may not be the most obvious gift, but it will be such a weight off.

It's environmentally innocuous (use VOC-free paint if you're doing touch-ups!) and basically free.

If a home-energy efficiency upgrade is on her to-do list, then go the extra mile and gather information for her federal tax credit, too.

Photo: Maria Teijeiro / Getty Images





family hike
family hike


Take a surprise local trip
Pack a picnic of Mom's favorite sustainable goods and whisk her off to a local organic winery, take her on a hike, or hitch a ride on public transportation to a museum - all as a family.

Photo: Sam Edwards / Getty Images






tree planting
tree planting

Adopt a tree or donate to a great cause
There are many organizations like Heifer International, Oceana, and The Nature Conservancy that offer families the opportunity to give Mom the gift of conservation.

See more creative charitable gifts.

Photo: VisionsofAmerica / Joe Sohm / Getty Images






breakfast in bed
breakfast in bed


Serve Mom breakfast in bed
You don't have to buy anything other than what's already in the fridge to make this low-impact treat for mom. It's a guaranteed pleaser.

Try these 10 healthy breakfast options.

Photo: Christopher Robbins / Getty Images






family volunteering
family volunteering


Volunteer as a family
Find a way to spend the day together while making a difference - plant at a community garden, spring clean or paint at an organization that needs help (maybe for kids who don't have mothers), work at a soup kitchen, or anything else along these lines.

Or think big and plan a volunteer vacation.

Photo: Image Source / Getty Images




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