You could stick with Ubuntu but not use Unity. The official alternatives are:
Edubuntu - Ubuntu for Education
Kubuntu - Ubuntu with the KDE desktop environment
Mythbuntu - Designed for creating a home theatre PC with MythTV
UbuntuStudio - Designed for multimedia editing and creation
Xubuntu - Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop environment
Lubuntu - Ubuntu that uses LXDE
There are other derivatives too, if not "official" Canonical. Have a look at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DerivativeTeam/Derivatives
If you want to move away from Ubuntu, but retain the Debian type there is: Debian...and others