The time of year that seems almost completely dedicated to the buying, wrapping and giving of gifts. This year, try dreaming of a Green Christmas by thoughtfully spoiling your loved ones without spoiling the Earth. Can’t make a sweater? Make a difference instead. Check out some of our favorite eco-friendly gift ideas and gift-giving tips to help keep the planet in your holiday planning.
| The Eco Starter Kit |  |
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Knitting your presents? This year, look for naturally dyed organic cotton and bamboo yarns or sustainably raised merino wools for your holiday season knitting projects. Check out www.organicimaginings.com for great eco-friendly options, or ask at your local yarn store. Bamboo knitting needles also make great stocking stuffers! |
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For the kids: adopt an endangered species! Shop online at WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and buy toys with a meaning and a message. Adopt an orangutan, polar bear, snow leopard, elephant, tiger, panda or many others and your dollars go toward important conservation work worldwide. Packages range from $25 to $100 and include information on the animal and what WWF is doing to help protect it and its habitat, plus a photo and a plush toy. Kids (and parents) learn about conservation and feel cool knowing that they’ve adopted their very own tiger, killer whale or penguin. Visit the WWF in Canada or the US. |
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Ecoist Bags Envy all your friends…when you are the best Santa ever and bestow upon them a gloriousness that is an Ecoist handbag. Not only are the bags hip, colorful, and made to withstand even the toughest of owners, but they are made out of repurposed and sustainable materials and are produced in fair trade, sweatshop-free environments. Need another reason? Ecoist plants a tree for every handbag sold. Thinking differently has never been so chic. |
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Used Books Books are a no-brainer gift for every occasion, since they’re so easy to tailor to every recipient. Who doesn’t like to give or get books? The down side of books is, of course, the shocking amount of virgin paper used to create them. Over 20 million trees are cut down every year for US book consumption alone. Scary! If you’re as saddened by this statistic as we are, but still want your mom to read “The Kite Runner”, buy used! Used bookstores can be found just about everywhere and are full of previously-owned tomes from every genre. Amazon.com and other online shopping websites are also great ways to find used books; just type in the title you’re looking for and choose a used copy instead of a new one. It’s easy! Buying used will save you money and will also save trees – now aren’t you thoughtful! Psst! Looking for a book? Click here for some recommended reading. |
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A solar-powered iPod?!? We’d be willing to bet that over the past few years, you’ve bought someone an iPod for the holidays. Now you can buy them a green power source to recharge it! Check out the Solio Classic Universal Hybrid Solar Charger designed to solar-charge your ipod or cell phone. This nifty gadget is made from recycled and recyclable materials, and works with iPods, cell phones and PDAs. Worried that winter darkness will stop the music? Fear not! The Solio Classic charger can soak up sunlight or plug into the wall for a quick charge. |
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U Jeans What’s better than a pair of jeans perfectly tailored to your body? Environmentally-friendly jeans designed specifically for your body! UJeans are made for you because you tell the company your exact measurements, as well as what style and wash you like. UJeans cost about $140 and are worth every penny. You can even give UJeans gift certificates to your favorite people so they can design and order their own pair of perfect pants. Gift certificates even come with a Tailor’s Tape for easy measuring. The cherry on top of this denim sundae is that they’re sustainably made! The company uses green coloring techniques such as natural enzymes and minerals rather than harsh chemicals. The raw material used in the denim has been sourced from sustainable growth cotton. To find out more about UJeans or to start designing a pair for yourself, check out their website. |
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Little Green Star tees for kids Whitney Houston once sang, “I believe that children are our future”, and we couldn’t agree more. Why not help the child in your life become green from the start? The super cute tees at Little Green Star are sustainably made from unbleached organic cotton and say things like, “Bee Green!” and “Water pollution makes me crabby.” Not only will your favorite small person look cool and informed, you can rest easy knowing that these non-toxic shirts (they use water-based ink) are making a minimal impact on the environment. An added bonus? Free shipping within the U.S. For ordering and product info, check out their website. |
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Me to We – Responsible Style Me to We is a philosophy, a movement, a book, and a social enterprise based on the works of Free the Children’s founding director Craig Kielburger and his brother Marc. Produced domestically sweatshop-free and using only 100% organic cotton and bamboo materials, this company gives 50%(!) of its profits to Free the Children for its work worldwide to alleviate poverty and empower youth. Check out their website for the complete line. |
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Reusable Shopping Tote Bag the Habit bags urge us to do just that: bag the habit. As a planet, we consume over 500 billion (that’s with a B!) plastic bags each year. Stop the madness! These chic looking bags are made the good way, from renewable resources by sweatshop free laborers, and they’re 100% recyclable at the end of their life. Bag The Habit bags are square on the bottom with medium length handles, so they closely resemble paper grocery bags. We’ve successfully piled over 20 pounds of groceries into these bags with no fear of ripping the handles or tearing the sides. Have we mentioned that they’re cute? Not only are Bag the Habit bags easy on the earth and easy on the eyes — they’re easy on your wallet too. Each bag is only $8 and is available on their website. |
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Make It Right Still can’t think of what to give your boss or brother for the Holidays? Try giving them the gift that keeps on giving to someone in need. Make It Right is an organization determined to do just that: Make it right in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward, one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans, by constructing new homes for displaced residents. The coolest part? Each of these new homes is safe, affordable, sustainable and designed by a snazzy architect. By donating to this campaign your money goes toward building and stocking these homes with the type of eco-essentials we’ve come to love. For just $5 you can buy a CFL bulb for a home. $25 buys low-VOC paint, while $100 buys a programmable thermostat and $250 buys a dual flush toilet. Want to get your friends together to donate? Your group could pay for rooftop solar panels or even the whole house! For $150,000 you could buy an entire home for someone without one. The only thing cooler than finally making things right in New Orleans is knowing that residents will not just have new homes, but will have ecofabulous ones to boot. |
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FEED 1 Bags FEED 1 bags are a product of the United Nations World Food Programme, which helps feed hungry children in school around the world through WFP’s school feeding program. The bags, which are produced fair trade, are made from organic burlap. Burlap, in case you didn’t know, is made from raw jute fibers, which are a rain-fed crop that grows best organically without fertilizers or pesticides. Fabrics made of jute fibers are carbon dioxide neutral and naturally decomposable. Jute can be grown in 4–6 months, making it a rapidly renewable resource. While this sturdy shoulder bag is a favorite of ours for it’s sustainability, we think it’s extra sexy because the proceeds from each FEED bag sold will provide a school year of meals for one child in need. How cool is that? By purchasing a FEED bag, you will be minimizing your footprint while helping to feed one of the 400 Million hungry children of the world. To buy a FEED bag, or to learn more about the program, visit their website. |
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Book Offsets Trying to find the perfect gift for the bookworm in your life? Since millions and millions of trees are cut down each year to produce books, give the gift of “book offsetting” to the gluttonous reader in your crew. Ecolibris.net helps you balance out your books (and the trees that are cut down to make them) by planting trees in developing countries. For example, for $10, ecolibris.net along with their growing partners will plant 10 trees to help offset the impact of ten books. $1 offsets 1 book. Get it? They also send you great stickers made from recycled paper, to put on the books you balance out, showing everyone your commitment to making a difference. Think about it: for a dollar per book, you can plant trees in developing nations to: a.) replace trees cut down to create books b.) Suck up carbon emitted during the book making and shipping process c.) Help stimulate the economy in a part of the world that can use some assistance. An added benefit? A unique gift for the most voracious reader in your life. Thanks to Alma Har’el for introducing us to Ecolibris! |
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Oxfam Unwrapped Oxfam works worldwide to alleviate poverty and make communities self-sufficient and sustainable. They offer a great selection of ethical and green gifts, from livestock to community training courses, clean water to whole crops, tree planting to tools. There’s a gift for everyone’s budget: $15 buys a chicken for a family to provide them with eggs and income; $22 buys a hygiene kit for use during natural disasters and a $58 goat provides milk and money for someone who needs it. Buy an HIV/AIDS women’s treatment literacy kit, or plant 50 trees for $30. Provide training on gender based violence in emergencies for $90, or commuter bicycles for $105. Feeling extra generous? Give a whole community a disaster preparedness program for $1300. Oxfam has lots of options, just go to their website, pick a gift and dedicate it to your Grandma, coworker or friend. Oxfam gives you the option to download a pdf card to print yourself on your own stash of eco-paper, or to go paperless and send an e-card, but if you prefer a traditional card, they will happily send one for you to give. In Canada or the US. |
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Unlimited Free Books Give the gift of literature by helping someone in your circle get back to the library – shame free. The library is a super-green way to keep book production down while keeping literate culture up, but we all know someone who feels that they can’t go to the library because of outstanding library fees. In fact, you might be that person. This Giftcember, give the library back to your favorite reader by paying their fine. Go to the library and quietly tell the librarian that you’d like to pay someone’s overdue book fees. Create a home-made card for your bibliophile using the receipt the library gives you for paying the fine and feel satisfied with the knowledge that you’ve helped your friend, helped the library and helped the planet. You rock! |
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Adopt A Turkey This holiday season, you can decide not to serve a turkey for a feast this year and save one instead! Since 1986, Farm Sanctuary’s annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project, has rescued over one thousand turkeys from a thankless fate at the dinner table and given thousands of people an opportunity to adopt a turkey for the holidays. For $20, you can have a piece of mind that you’ve not only let a turkey live a long, happy life, but have provided feed, bedding, and veterinary care. You even get a color photograph and an adoption certificate of the turkey you saved. Featured in this photo is Luna. |
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Give a class Feel like the holiday season is all about materialism? Here’s a gift that will do far more than sit on a shelf and look pretty: give a class and give the gift of knowledge! It can be a lesson in cooking, pottery, snowboarding, foreign language, photography, rock climbing, web design, scrap-booking, surfing, knitting, wine tasting, or anything in between. Pick the area that you know your loved one loves most, and look for courses offered at community centres, colleges and local businesses. |
Stocking Stuffers
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Cargo Plant Love lipstick Looking for a great stocking stuffer for the lady in your life? Pick up a tube of Cargo’s Plant Love lipstick. We love how the pretty shades look and wear more like lip stains than lipstick, so they last longer and hold up well under gloss. Btw, Plant Love isn’t just a great beauty product, it’s also eco-friendly! Each tube comes in a compostable lipstick case made from corn. (Yes, corn.) This revolutionary bio-plastic is not only made from a renewable resource, it’s also greenhouse-gas-neutral, which helps fight global warming. Even the box the lipstick comes in is sexy; it’s embedded with tiny flower seeds, so your favorite gal can simply moisten the carton and plant it to grow wildflowers. Great lipstick, a blooming pot of flowers and zero waste? We call that a stocking stuffer to be proud of. |
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Preserve Toothbrushes If all you want for Christmas (or whatever) is your two front teeth, be sure to take care of them by brushing regularly. Toothbrushes make fantastic stocking stuffers, and we have a favorite brush to stuff: Preserve toothbrushes are made from recycled plastic (mostly yogurt cups) and are 100% recyclable themselves. When your Preserve toothbrush is ready for retirement, the company sends you a postage-paid mailer to return it to them for recycling. Preserve converts your old toothbrush into plastic lumber, which is used for things like picnic tables in parks! For more info on Preserve toothbrushes, including where to buy them, go to the Recycline website. |
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Grow-a-Note Thank you Cards With all the gift giving that happens in December, it’s important to have a stack of thank you cards on hand to express your gratitude. Why not give someone you love a new set of cards to get them started? Grow-a-Note cards are made from recycled paper, printed with vegetable ink and have tiny seeds imbedded in the paper. The recipient of each note can read it, tear it up and plant it. Pretty wildflowers or tasty herbs will be a year-long reminder that saying “thank you” doesn’t have to mean using virgin paper or other resources. . |
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Organic Seeds Give the gift of nature! Throw a few packets of organic flower and vegetable seeds in their stocking this year and they’ll remember you all year round! Check out Seeds of Change for a plethora of choices! . |
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Glee Gum Try stuffing stockings or adorning packages with Glee Gum,, a natural gum (no synthetic plastics) made with sustainably harvested natural chicle from Central American rainforests. This super yummy gum comes in cinnamon, peppermint and tangerine flavours, and is the only gum on the market still made from chicle. Chicle is the sap from the Sapodilla (say “Sap-oh-dee-yah”) tree, which grows in rainforests in Central America. This was originally the basis for all chewing gums, until synthetic gum bases were developed. By using chicle, Glee gum supports chicleros, the workers who tap trees for chicle and also create a use for these huge trees which otherwise have economic value only as timber. Glee gum is great for tree-huggers, vegetarians and those folks allergic to gluten, as well as for anyone else who may be eyeing the mistletoe. For retail locations or to order online, check out their website. |
Tips for a greener holiday
Shop online
BYOB while shopping
Give green gifts
Buy vintage
Create your own wrapping
Avoid polystyrene shipping products
