10 Waste-Free (and Free) Ways to Celebrate Mother's Day

Plant 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.

Get an Energy Audit

This may not seem like the most obvious present for mom, but it’s a great one that keeps on giving, and not just within your four walls, either.

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 great recipes for a Mother's Day brunch.

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.

Treat Mom to an Organic Bubble Bath

Really, what could be better? Well...a glass of filtered tap water plus a glass of biodynamic wine perched on the ledge, her favorite publication, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Think big and plan a volunteer vacation.

Give Mom an Experience Gift

If your mom isn’t the sort of person who will accept clean gutters as a present, support local businesses and purchase a true gift that won’t ever up in a landfill. What mom doesn’t want to go see a play, go to yoga or get a massage?