Looking to show your appreciation for your loved ones as the year comes to a close? We’ve updated our holiday guide of gift ideas that show how much you care, and support our local businesses and nonprofits. In fact, we even made a separate post to highlight the amazing nonprofits that went solar this year.
These organizations are offsetting their carbon footprint with clean energy and making a difference in their communities. In Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, you can find everything from local chocolates to conservation memberships and more for the people in your life.
Your loved ones will be thrilled at the thoughtfulness of the gift, and appreciate that it’s coming from a sustainable local business that’s supporting our planet! (If you have a favorite ReVision solar-powered local business that we’ve missed here, please let us know and we’ll add it!)
Give a gift that can’t be wrapped in a box! There are fun family memories to be made here that won’t clutter your home or a landfill but will fill hearts with happiness.
Aikido of Maine – Portland, Maine Appalachian Mountain Club - New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts Atlantic Gymnastics – New Hampshire (Locations in Portsmouth and Dover) Bayside Bowl – Portland, Maine Capitol Center for the Arts – Concord, New Hampshire Casco Bay Arena – Falmouth, Maine Causeway Club – Southwest Harbor, Maine Children’s Museum of NH – Dover, New Hampshire Ellsworth Tennis Center – Ellsworth, Maine Evo Rock & Fitness – Portland, Maine Harris Dairy Farm and XC Skiing - Dayton, Maine Hidden Valley Campground – Derry, New Hampshire Maine Historical Society – Portland, Maine MerriHill Tree Farm – Merrimac, Massachusetts Nansen Ski Club – Milan, New Hampshire North Country Rivers – Bingham, Maine Palace Theatre – Manchester, New Hampshire Pleasant Mountain Ski Area – Bridgton, Maine Pocasset Golf Club - Pocasset, Massachusetts Riverside Golf – Portland, Maine Saddleback Mountain - Sandy River, Maine Salt Pump Climbing Co. - Scarborough, Maine Stone Church – Newmarket, New Hampshire Take Flight Aerial Adventure Course – Kittery, Maine Taylor River Farm – Hampton Falls, New Hampshire Thompson's Point - Portland, Maine Tupelo Music Hall – Derry, New Hampshire Wolfe’s Neck Center – Freeport, Maine
Know someone who’s got the winter blues already? You can get them in the holiday spirit with the promise of fresh summertime vegetables. Follow this link to check our list of local CSA’s for farm shares. You can typically sign up in late winter/early spring, but a nice homemade certificate for the cost of a share, along with the promise that summer will come again is sure to warm their heart!
List of Solar-Powered CSAs and Farm Stands
A great way to show how much you appreciate those special people in your life is to make a donation in their name to a local nonprofit. All of the nonprofits listed below use solar energy, accept donations, and rely on the generosity of their supporters to keep up with the amazing work they do supporting our communities and opening up opportunities for the future, into the New Year and beyond.
317 Main Community Music Center - Yarmouth, Maine Adaptive Outdoor Education - Brunswick, Maine Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences – East Boothbay, Maine Boothbay Region YMCA – Boothbay Harbor, Maine Boys and Girls Club of Manchester – Manchester, New Hampshire Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine – Maine (Locations in Portland and South Portland) Bread & Roses – Lawrence, Massachusetts Camp Glen Brook - Marlborough, New Hampshire Chewonki Foundation – Wiscasset, Maine Claremont Soup Kitchen – Claremont, New Hampshire Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust - Damariscotta, Maine Cross Roads House – Portsmouth, New Hampshire Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine – Maine (Locations in Auburn and Hampden) Good Will-Hinckley – Hinckley, Maine Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland – Portland, Maine Herring Gut Learning Center – St. George, Maine Hundred Nights Shelter - Keene, New Hampshire Islesboro Island Trust – Islesboro, Maine Keene Housing Kids Collaborative – Keene, New Hampshire Kieve-Wavus Education – Nobleboro, Maine Maine Audubon - Falmouth, Maine (and other locations) Mass Audubon - Boston, Belmont (and other locations) MacDowell – Peterborough, New Hampshire Midcoast Habitat for Humanity – Rockport, Maine Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program – Brunswick, Maine Monadnock Humane Society – Swanzey, New Hampshire Nashua PAL – Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter – Nashua, New Hampshire NHSPCA – Stratham, New Hampshire North Conway Community Center - North Conway, New Hampshire ORIS - Dunbarton, New Hampshire Prescott Farm - Laconia, New Hampshire The Rocks (Society for the Protection of NH Forests) - Bethlehem, New Hampshire Riding to the Top – Windham, Maine Saco Food Pantry – Saco, Maine The Gathering Place – Brunswick, Maine Waterfall Arts - Belfast, Maine YWCA Cambridge – Cambridge, Massachusetts
You can’t go wrong with a gift that can be eaten (or sipped from a warm mug while watching the sun rise over snowy treetops and gleaming solar panels). For chocolate lovers, coffee addicts, even the cheese enthusiasts in your life, take a look at these local businesses making tasty solar-powered edibles, in many cases with local, sustainable ingredients. Best of all buying locally means minimizing as much as possible the carbon footprint to get that gift to you. They’ll be so happy they may even share.
Bay End Farm - Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts Bangor Beer - Bangor, Maine Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm - Bedford, Massachusetts Bissell Brothers Brewing - Portland and Milo, Maine Blasty Bough Brewing Company - Epsom, New Hampshire Blue Hill Co-Op – Blue Hill, Maine Canty Cow Creamery - Turner, Maine Carpe Diem Coffee – North Berwick, Maine Carrabassett Coffee - Kingfield, Maine GrandyOrganics – Hiram, Maine Harbor Candy Shop – Ogunquit, Maine Hermit Woods Winery – Meredith, New Hampshire Kennebec Cheesery – Sidney, Maine Mayfair Farm – Harrisville, New Hampshire Mere Point Oyster Company - Brunswick, Maine Monadnock Food Co-Op - Keene, New Hampshire Nonesuch River Brewing - Scarborough, Maine Ragged Coast Chocolates – Westbrook, Maine Rising Tide Co-Op - Damariscotta, Maine Royal River Natural Foods - Freeport, Maine Scratch Baking Co. – South Portland, Maine Shaw Farm - Dracut, Massachusetts Split Rock Distilling – Newcastle, Maine Spring Day Creamery – Durham, Maine Throwback Brewery – North Hampton, New Hampshire White Heron Tea – Portsmouth, New Hampshire Wicked Joe Organic Coffees – Topsham, Maine Winnipesaukee Chocolates – Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
Or give the gift of food, but with the added bonus of not having to clean up the kitchen! Try a gift card to one of these restaurants for delicious local food and drink. You’ll find some classic New England fare, alongside farm-to-table dining and brewing. Enjoy!
Bob’s Clam Hut – Kittery, Maine Buck’s Naked BBQ – Freeport, Maine Craignair Inn - Spruce Head, Maine Deep Water Brewing/Arborvine Restaurant – Blue Hill, Maine Gritty McDuff’s – Freeport, Maine Luke's Lobster - Portland, Maine Saltwater Grille – South Portland, Maine School House 1913 – Harpswell, Maine Thurston’s Lobster Pound – Bernard, Maine Woodstock Inn and Brewery – North Woodstock, New Hampshire
From locally-made jewelry to responsibly sourced clothes, to yarn for those who like to make their own, these are great gifts that you can wrap in a box – with recycled paper of course! You’ll even find tree-free holiday cards here so you can wish everyone you know Happy Holidays and a Sunny New Year without worrying about deforestation.
Andy’s Agway – Dayton, Maine Ashley Furniture – New Hampshire (Locations in Manchester and Amherst) Badger Balm – Gilsum, New Hampshire Billy Sweet Chimney Sweep – N. Andover, Massachusetts Caravan Beads – Portland, Maine Cool as a Moose – Maine (Locations in Portland, Brunswick and Bar Harbor) Fedco Seeds – Clinton, Maine Geiger/Farmers’ Almanac – Lewiston, Maine Halcyon Yarn – Bath, Maine Harrisville Designs - Harrisville, New Hampshire Huston and Company – Kennebunkport, Maine Longfellow’s Greenhouses – Manchester, Maine Mad Oyster Studios - Somerville, Massachusetts Maine Art Hill – Kennebunk, Maine Mainely Tubs – Scarborough, Maine Mexicali Blues – Maine (Locations in Bangor, Newcastle, Freeport, Raymond, and Portland) Modernist Pantry – Eliot, Maine Morningstar Stone and Tile – Topsham, Maine Peace Fleece – Harrisville, New Hampshire Robert Mathews Custom Shoemaker – Deerfield, NH Scenic Nursery – Raymond, New Hampshire Shaw Contemporary Jewelry – Northeast Harbor, Maine Tree Free Greetings – Keene, New Hampshire Treeline & Tide – Freeport, Maine Triple Mountain – Hiram, Maine Wentworth Greenhouse - Rollinsford, New Hampshire Van Burkem Nursery - Deerfield, New Hampshire
These inns throughout Maine and New Hampshire are all cutting carbon emissions with solar. Take your family on a solar-powered vacation!
Beachmere Inn – Ogunquit, Maine Blake House Bed & Breakfast – Jackson, New Hampshire Boothbay Harbor Inn – Boothbay Harbor, Maine Camden Riverhouse Hotel – Camden, Maine Carlson’s Lodge – Twin Mountain, New Hampshire Craignair Inn - Spruce Head, Maine Cranmore Inn – North Conway, New Hampshire Graylag Nature Preserve – Pittsfield, New Hampshire Hyatt Place – Portland, Maine Maple Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast – Hallowell, Maine Migis Lodge – South Casco, Maine Mountain Club on Loon - Lincoln, New Hampshire Paradise Park Resort – Old Orchard Beach, Maine The Inn at Sharon/Foxboro – Sharon, Massachusetts The Sunset Hill House – Sugar Hill, New Hampshire Sunapee Stays - Sunapee, New Hampshire Tugboat Inn – Boothbay Harbor, Maine Weatherby’s – Grand Lake Stream, Maine White House Inn – Bangor, Maine
If there’s someone in your life that loves learning, nature, or conservation, why not give a membership to one of these amazing nonprofits? They’re helping keep our forests green, our oceans blue, and sharing their knowledge with others. Share that amazing gift with your loved ones!
Appalachian Mountain Club – ME, NH & MA AVA Gallery and Art Center – Lebanon, New Hampshire Claremont MakerSpace – Claremont, New Hampshire Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens – Boothbay, Maine Cathance River Education Alliance (CREA) – Topsham, Maine Great Works Regional Land Trust – Ogunquit, Maine Maine Audubon – Falmouth, Maine Mass Audubon/Drumlin Farm – Lincoln, Massachusetts Midcoast Conservancy – Edgecomb, Maine Natural Resources Council of Maine – Augusta, Maine The Nature Conservancy – ME, NH & MA Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve – Wells, Maine Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute – Falmouth, Massachusetts
We hope you’ll be able to use this guide to find earth-friendly gifts for everyone on your list. Happy (and sunny!) Holidays from the ReVision Team!
