To be having buyers remorse for gifts for office employees

[TowerRavenSeven]

I work in a non profit charity office, was hired a little over two months ago. The company is progressive and really tries to cut down on waste, plastic, etc. There are 12 of us, ranging from 22 - 50 for context.

I got for each one of my co-workers a roll (cut to size) beeswax fabric that you use instead of plastic wrap on bowls, etc. I use it and haven’t used plastic wrap in a year, and it really does a good job and you just wipe it clean between uses. It has a decorative label explaining what it is and how to use it, the fabrics are solid red, green and navy. Each one was about £12.

I’m now rethinking this gift. Would you think this an odd gift? It’s either this or nice chocolates. I use mine all the time and would think maybe it’s something that would be handy but you wouldn’t buy yourself so would be a good gift (Or at least not an awful gift)

Yabu = You’d think this gift odd
Yanbu = You’d think this gift a bit unconventional but a nice idea

I've just gone and ordered these off eBay for my friend, brilliant idea , and there's loads of different patterns too. I'd be pleased to receive these anyway

@mathanxiety The are opposed because of things like wing clipping and the health impact it has on the bees from having their honey substituted with sugar. The ones I know are also against the environmental impact of over populating and a decline in bumble bees and that over 90% is exported. There could be more issues

I would love your gift much more than chocolate or toiletries.

Are your colleagues all women??

I really want to try these. I would LOVE to receive them as a gift. I think it's a really thoughtful, practical gift. You'll really need to pick something else for your vegan colleague though.

Do only women wrap food? Is a Christmas gift frenzy a female only thing?
My dd as mentioned above wants a set of these. Her flatmates have them, one is male. They don't have enough plates to cover bowls, unless they have got round to going to the charity shop to buy some!

(A lot of wine is unsuitable for vegans or vegetarians...)

Heavens, OneDay10 - why would their sex matter? We all eat.

What we know now is:

there are eleven other people in the office

the OP is not in the UK

her co-workers do traditionally exchange gifts

the approx UK price of the item was around £7.00

some of us find both the gift and the gifting weird.

I think your gift idea is perfect! I'd be delighted.

TBH I’d think this was a really crap, disappointing gift. Give me a £3 box of chocolates any day. But going by the poll results I’m clearly in the minority.

I'm assuming that in a not for profit organisation people would be 'right on' (1980s term). So would be fine with wraps.
I'm glad I never worked anywhere were this was a thing; I worked somewhere where we had a kitty for sherry the week before Christmas at teabreak, and liqueur chocolates on Christmas Eve.

Id think you were very generous and if they are all eco conscious anyway i bet they alreasy know how expensive sive beeswax wraps are anyway.

To be fair, i would never use them (i don’t use clingfilm either, don’t really get what its useful for).
But i could find somebody who would like them and give them away, unlike the usual plastic tat that ends up in the bin

I'm with the minority, it seems - this is a lovely, worthy gift, but there are a lot of people in my circle, who have never used clingfilm anyway (though I admit that this may be because I was brought up by "Good Life" style old-school environmentalists, so possibly very self-selecting, since we're also the sort that wouldn't dream of using tissues for environmental reasons...)

1 have a personal rule of gifting for colleagues that is, in essence, choose something that's easy to regift (when you don't really know a person's likes/dislikes/home etc): for me, this wouldn't seem an appropriate gift unless I knew someone actually wanted it. That said, I work mainly with people who've been vegan for 20+ yesrs, so it would be pretty unlikely anyway

I'm a vegan and whilst I agree with reducing the use of cling film etc, I'd be embarrassed to receive this because I couldn't use it and would struggle to refuse it without causing offence. If you know someone is vegan pleased don't give them this.

Would you accept it and pass it on to someone? Buying small office gifts is a minefield!

ffswhatnext then they are determined to see the cloud and not the silver lining and contrarily hankering for an ideal world that does not exist and probably cannot ever again. The fact remains that without bees we are all sunk, vegans included.

There are also vegan 'wax' bowl cover options, fwiw.

Thanks everyone. I am going to give them, uncut - I was going to try cutting them but if I cut them basically everyone would get one big one and two small ones which is basically a set anyway. I appreciate All the responses because I really did want to get a general opinion.

I spoke to the ‘vegan’ today and he said he was bringing vegetarian, not vegan, enchiladas to the potluck tomorrow - so I think he will be cool with it. When I met him he had only been there three weeks and is young (21 or 22) and he said he was’ trying’ to eat more vegan but I think he is overwhelmed at work and hardly has time to cook anything! So maybe he is vegetarian now and will go vegan later, but since he’s bringing vegetarian I’m assuming he’s eating it too (at least right now) and I think he will be ok with the beeswax. Thanks all.

I, personally, would love one as a gift. Go for it!

I think it's a nice gesture.

So much more original than generic choc/wine option....

I’d love this as a gift, I’ve been so interested in trying them.

Good for you. 🎄

You are never going to find the perfect gift for everyone - and as the responses to this thread show, most non-miseries people would be really happy with this gift.

For those who use these, what are they like for wrapping freshly baked bread? I love to bake bread but find I need to wrap it in a lot of cling film or it just doesn't keep at all. If beeswax wraps make a nice tight seal I may just have to invest in some large ones for my loaves.

I'd love that