Eight gift ideas for the office Secret Santa
With the end of year fast approaching, we’ve compiled a selection of gift ideas for every colleague and every budget.
In brief
- Now is a good time to start thinking about gift ideas for the end-of-year office gift exchange.
- The gifts below range in price from under $10 to under $70.
- Consider an environmentally friendly gift such as native plants or seeds, a book or even a low-cost tech gadget.
Under $10
1. Organic cotton string bag
Set your colleague up for environmentally friendly fruit and vegetable shopping with this two-pack of string bags, one small and one large. They are reusable, washable and priced at just A$6.50 in Australia and NZ$7 in New Zealand.
2. Succulent
Even your least green-thumbed colleague will appreciate a hardy succulent. Succulents are associated with resilience, strength and perseverance due to their ability to thrive in harsh environments. You can buy one for less than $10 in both New Zealand and Australia – and, for a few extra dollars, you could transfer it to an inexpensive ceramic pot.
Under $20
3. Shampoo bar
Help your workmate reduce their plastic bottle consumption with a natural shampoo bar. Check out this Anihana Manuka honey and almond shampoo bar in New Zealand, a solid shampoo bar from the Australian Natural Soap Company or the Ethique range, available in both countries.
4. Bee-friendly wildflower seeds
A gift for both your colleague and the bees, these Bee Blend NZ Seed Bombs contain seeds ready to germinate – just ‘throw and grow’, no planting required. On the other side of the Tasman, these Australian Wildflower Seed Bombs for Native Pollinators work well in both open gardens or pots and provide food for native bees and butterflies.
Under $30
5. Have a laugh
Truth can be stranger than fiction as this Ladybird-style picture book about meetings illustrates. The Ladybird Book of the Meeting by Joel Morris shines some hilarious truths on corporate life. Plan ahead and order it from your local bookstore.
6. Citronella candle
Everyone loves summer, including bugs and mosquitos. Make your workmate less tasty to the critters with this Therapy Garden Citronella Candle from The Aromatherapy Company or this Moontree Outdoor Mosquito Pillar Candle made with an essential oil blend of tea tree, citronella and lavender.
Under $40
7. Business or personal development book
What’s better than the gift of books when you’re about to go on holiday? Consider Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear, which has remained on bestseller lists in both Australia and New Zealand since its release in 2018.
Alternatively, a best book of the year according to The Economist and the Financial Times, How Big Things Get Done offers wonderful stories about projects from the beloved Sydney Opera House to a Californian high-speed rail project that is years overdue and billions of dollars over budget. Both wise and entertaining, it investigates what distinguishes the triumphs from the failures, identifies the errors that lead projects to fail and offers research-based principles that help you succeed with yours.
Under $70
8. Portable power bank
With hybrid working and holidays coming up, you never know when you’re going to need a power boost. Give your workmate a wireless power bank such as the Belkin BoostCharge, which offers up to 40 hours of extra life to an iPhone.
