# Eco-friendly return gifts: what is actually plastic-free Source: https://www.celebrationgifting.in/blog/eco-friendly-return-gifts Published: 2026-10-22 Publisher: Celebration Gifting (https://www.celebrationgifting.in) > The most honest eco-friendly return gifts are ones made mainly of wood, glass, steel or metal, packed in a paper bag, that a child will keep using. A glass water bottle with a colouring book, or a wooden noughts and crosses game, fits a ₹150 pack. Caps, sleeves and small parts may still be plastic. ## Key takeaways - 23 of our 173 products are wooden, glass, steel or metal by name or description; 9 of them cost ₹125 or less. - Our ₹25 printed bags and the customised theme bag are paper. - Glass bottles sit in coloured sleeves with caps that aren't glass, and BPA-free still means plastic. - A gift that gets used beats a 'green' one that gets binned: parents reorder bottles, stationery, paint kits and books, while puzzles get thrown away. Eco-friendly return gifts are easy to promise and hard to deliver, so here is the honest version. Much of our catalogue is plastic: toys, pens, pouches and lunch boxes. A smaller set of products is made mainly of wood, glass, steel or metal, and our printed bags are paper. This guide lists those products, says which parts are still plastic, and explains why the greenest gift is often simply the one that gets used. To build a pack as you read, open [Build Your Pack set to ₹150](/buildyourpack/150). ## Which eco-friendly return gifts do we sell? In the Celebration Gifting catalogue on 7 October 2026, 23 of our 173 products are wooden, glass, steel or metal by name or description, and 9 of those cost ₹125 or less, so they fit a ₹150 pack with a ₹25 bag. | Material | Products | Fit a ₹150 pack | |---|---|---| | Wood | Wooden piggybank, wooden noughts and crosses, wooden car pen stand, wooden mini tangram, wooden intelligence puzzle | Noughts and crosses, car pen stand, mini tangram | | Glass | Nice, rabbit and cactus glass water bottles, slub glass sipper with straw | All four | | Steel | Small steel mug, steel travel tumbler, steel tumbler, steel lunch box, dual drinking cup, five steel water bottles | Small steel mug | | Metal | House, cycle and big metal piggybanks, metal pencil box | Metal pencil box | The engraved rabbit water bottle is the same glass bottle as the plain one, with a name on its sleeve. ## Are our gift bags plastic? No. Our nine ₹25 printed bags and the customised theme bag are paper, 8 by 10 inches. The premium transparent and semi-transparent bags are see-through, so choose a printed or customised bag if you want paper. ## Which parts are still plastic? Some, and we'd rather say so. From our own product photos: - **Glass bottles** sit in a coloured sleeve with a cap and carry loop that aren't glass. The body you drink from is glass. - **The slub glass sipper** is a glass cup with a lid, a sleeve band and a straw. - **The small steel mug** has a coloured outer finish and a lid. - **Wooden games and piggybanks** are painted, and the noughts and crosses pieces are painted wood. - **The metal pencil box** comes with a pencil, an eraser and a sharpener, which are not metal. None of these is plastic-free down to the last part. All of them are reusable, which is where most of the benefit lies: one glass bottle used every school day replaces a lot of disposable ones. ## Is BPA-free the same as plastic-free? No. BPA-free means the plastic doesn't contain bisphenol A; it is still plastic. Four of our products are labelled BPA-free: the plastic lunch box, the burger lunch box, the pineapple lunch box and the spiral reusable straw. They are reusable, which helps, but we don't list them as plastic-free. ## Why does a gift that gets used matter more? Because a wooden toy in the bin is still waste. Based on Celebration Gifting orders, water bottles, stationery, paint kits and books are what parents reorder most and children use most often, while puzzles are what gets thrown away. So a glass bottle used for a year does more good than a wooden puzzle used once, even though the puzzle sounds greener. If you want a puzzle anyway, the wooden mini tangram is small and inexpensive enough to add as an extra rather than make it the main gift. ## What fits in a ₹150 eco-friendly pack? A ₹150 pack holds up to ₹125 of products and a ₹25 paper bag. Each pairing below fits; we checked the totals against catalogue prices on 7 October 2026. Colouring books are paper, which makes them an easy partner. | Pairing | Main material | |---|---| | Nice glass water bottle and a big colouring book | Glass and paper | | Rabbit glass water bottle and a pocket colouring book | Glass and paper | | Wooden noughts and crosses and a pocket colouring book | Wood and paper | | Wooden car pen stand and a pocket colouring book | Wood and paper | | Metal pencil box, with pencil, eraser and sharpener | Metal | | Small steel mug | Steel | For older children, a steel water bottle lasts longer than glass, though our steel bottles need a pack budget above ₹250. ## Which eco-friendly gifts suit younger children? Glass can break if it is dropped, so for toddlers and preschoolers choose a colouring book in a paper bag, or the wooden noughts and crosses for children old enough to play it. Keep glass bottles for school-age children, who carry a bottle every day anyway. ## What should the thank-you card say? Every pack includes a printed thank-you card, and our team confirms its message with you on WhatsApp after you order. Keep it to 160 characters, such as "Thank you for coming! Use this bottle every day and say no to plastic ones. Love, Tara". ## Which combos are mostly wood and glass? These two combos are built mostly from wood and glass. The Popular Picks Pack, tagged Bestseller on our site, pairs a wooden piggybank with a rabbit glass water bottle. The XOXO Play Hamper has a cactus glass water bottle, a wooden noughts and crosses game, a wooden car pen stand and stickers. **Return gift combo:** [Popular Picks Pack](https://www.celebrationgifting.in/combos/pupular-picks), ₹255 per pack **Return gift combo:** [XOXO Play Hamper](https://www.celebrationgifting.in/combos/xoxo-play-hamper), ₹330 per pack Both come in a Happy Birthday bag, which is paper. For gifts that keep children busy without screens, see our guide to [screen-free return gifts](/blog/screen-free-return-gifts). ## Quick answers ### What are eco-friendly return gifts for kids? Gifts made mainly of wood, glass, steel or metal that a child will keep using, such as a glass water bottle, a wooden noughts and crosses game or a metal pencil box, packed in a paper bag. ### Are your gift bags plastic? No. Our ₹25 printed bags and the customised theme bag are paper. ### Are glass water bottles completely plastic-free? No. The bottle is glass, but it sits in a coloured sleeve with a cap and carry loop that aren't glass. It is still a reusable bottle that replaces disposable ones. ### Is BPA-free plastic eco-friendly? BPA-free means the plastic doesn't contain bisphenol A. It is still plastic. Our BPA-free lunch boxes and straw are reusable, which helps, but they are not plastic-free. ### What is the most eco-friendly return gift? The one that gets used for months. Based on our orders, parents reorder water bottles, stationery, paint kits and books most, while puzzles are what gets thrown away. --- Celebration Gifting is an India-based return gift company that builds personalised birthday return gift packs for kids, from ₹150 per child, delivered across India.