Birthday haul: minimalist and sustainable

Last week was my birthday and as I'm trying to reduce the amount that I own and live more sustainable I wanted to bear this in mind when people asked me what I wanted as presents.  Some of the presents were gifts that people have given me without asking, but others are things that I asked for specifically.

The first was the scarf from Jura made up of the Jura tartan I showed in my holiday haul earlier this year.  I really liked the design of this, the fact that it was made using colours (and dries from local plants) seen in the surrounding landscape of Jura in winter, and that it was all locally made.  You can only buy this when you are actually on the island so I like the fact that it would be rare that you would find someone else with the same scarf.  My parents had brought it for me as a present, but I've been wearing it since it was brought.

My notebook (of the electronic variety) had recently died and I am needing something I can use to type up the SVQ coursework which goes with the traineeship I am doing at the moment.  I had been looking at other notebooks and laptops, but decided that a tablet would be more convenient and much easier to carry around.  Rather than buying a new one I decided to get a second hand tablet as this would mean not producing anymore carbon or using up resources that are coming scarce.  After looking at a few (and reading the reviews) I decided to get the Hudl 2 from Entertainment Exchange.  Even though Tescos doesn't make these tablets anymore a lot of people have said that this is a good product so I thought it was worth giving it a go - so far I've been very pleased.  I was going to buy this myself, but my partner asked if I wanted it for my birthday so he got it for me instead.  

I have a friend who now lives in Canada and every year we send each other products, usually with some local chocolates.  We never usually request anything from each other so it's always a suprise. This year she sent me a build your own Buxom palette and Buxom eyeshadows in Champagne Buzz, Spoiled Sexy, Hot or Yacht, Big Spender, Cashmere Craving, and Gold Status which can be slotted into the palette.  She also sent me a Sephora Rouge Mat lipstick in Wanted!  Buxom is cruelty free (though not it's parent company) but unfortunately the Sephora Collection is not.  However I still appreciate the gift as the colours are right up my alley.

The last present was a gift from my work colleagues and is possibly my favourite.  We're all waiting for our first pay to come through so all gifts have been quite 'home made' this month.  As we're building upland paths this is a particularly apt gift and they did manage to find a particularly 'nice' rock (we've been saying that quite a lot these last couple of weeks).  I do really appreciate the thought and effort, especially as they would have had to carry this off the hill and it is quite a bit heavy.