Holiday shopping can feel monotonous and even burdensome, but the season of the spirit is outside of shopping malls and forced intimacy at large family gatherings. If the lines at the mall kept you home on Black Friday, consider some of these healthy, alternative gift ideas for your loved ones (and people whom you are required to offer a wintertime-gift tribute of some kind).

House plants
Easy to care for, beautiful, and beneficial for health, houseplants make an excellent present for someone you care about. They can be purchased online or in some grocery and greenhouse stores.

Local shopping picks: Willy Street Co-op and the Madison Greenhouse Store.
Online: Felly’s Flowers fellys.net.

Coconut Oil
Organic raw coconut oil has hundreds of uses. Include a list of potential uses along with a jar, and give your loved ones the great gift of healthy fat! Some uses include: butter substitute, coffee creamer, oil pulling, skin conditioner, lubricant, make your own toothpaste, shave lotion.

Local shopping picks: Woodman’s and Trader Joes.
Online: Tropical Traditions

The Gift of Uninterrupted Listening
A single year of Pandora ONE is $36. That removes every obnoxious advertisement waiting to blare over the speakers at the most inopportune moments.

Online: pandora.com

Audiobooks
Are your friends and family former bookworms who no longer can find time to read? Audiobooks can be listened to while doing laundry, washing dishes, on road trips, and waiting for and riding on the bus. Audible.com offers thousands of titles and a subscription service for literary listeners.

Thrift-store Shopping Spree
With only $20 in your pocket, you can really pop some tags at a second-hand store. Treat your bestie to all they desire, for $20 or less. That’s enough for three outfits, or an entire collection of plates, mugs, bowls, cups and with spare change left over for a gravy boat! Many stores also offer gift certificates.

Local picks: Rethreads, Upshift, St. Vincent de Paul, Plato’s Closet.