BC Business
Gift-a-green
Feeling ambitious? From a golden handshake to a gym membership, here's what to give at the office this holiday season
1. For the co-worker with never enough time to pack a healthy lunch, curry “flavour” with Vancouver-based Gift-a-Green: these locally made holiday greeting cards double as edible miniature microgreens. $9.95
2. The early bird may catch the worm, but the Revive rollerball by Aromatherapy & Associates instantly revives, refreshes and invigorates with its own 100 per cent natural blend of grapefruit, rosemary and juniper berry. Tell your cubby mate to roll on pulse points and breathe deeply for their own early morning pick-me-up. $41.50
3. Forget “because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, doggone it, people like me”these Expression pouches streamline daily affirmations faster and more efficiently: Like a Boss; I Can and Will; and World Domination. $16, $18 and $20
4. Designed by local architect James Cheng, the swish new Owner’s Suite Collection at the Fairmont Pacific Rim rocks the ultimate music experience for the boss: one night’s stay in a suite room with a curated collection of vinyl records and turntable; VIP Live Nation concert (with VIP return car transfer); and gold lounge access with private check-in and concierge. Think of this as a collective ass-kissing from the entire office. From $3,200
5. The front lines are best helmed by someone with a happy smile and cheerful phone manner, so make the call to offer up this stainless-steel, Kate Spade Sunny Disposition Tea travel tumbler to the receptionist. $40
6. Healthy employees miss less work, so bosses, take note: the cult-fave New York-based Equinox gym brand lands in Vancouver this winter to offer personal training, barre, cycling, yoga and boxing along with a spa, juice and food bar all set against Pacific Northwest elements like bleached walnut woods, concrete floors and a fireplace for quiet contemplation. $171 a month plus cost of initiation
7. For the office rainmaker, there’s the Golden Handshake hot hand mask by Lush. Based in Vancouver, the company’s North American head office sources more than one tonne of avocados to help make its fresh goods, including this avocado-and-argan-oil hot mask with fresh cupuaçu and murumuru butters to hydrate and nourish. Never underestimate the power of a soft touch. $4.95
8. It’s either frigid cold or stifling heat, but the office temperature is hardly ever just right. Enter Obakki’s Scarves for Water program: with every sale of the unisex Twilight or Azure scarf, clean water becomes a reality in two South Sudan villages (100 per cent of net proceeds go toward drilling a well). $29
9. Canada’s first on-demand, ready-to-eat meal delivery service (in 15 minutes or less!), Vancouver-based Enroot serves up a daily menu of fresh ingredients all accessed, ordered and delivered from your smartphone, tablet or computer. From chocolate chunk caramel cookies ($2.95) to gluten-free Chermoula chicken skewer salad ($11.95), it’s the perfect platform to butter up the coworker who stays late. Or the employee you want to stay late.
10. Created and designed in part by Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes (who wanted a more affordable stand-up desk that could be easily dismantled and stored), the 100 per cent recyclable, industrial-weight cardboard Oristand is perfectly compatible with laptops, compact keyboards and workaholics too. $29