‘T is time to think of Holiday gifts, green Holiday gifts. This year, focus on practical and useful, recyclable and/or recycled, fair-trade and environmentally-friendly gifts. Difficult, and expensive will you say? Not at all. We have selected our favorite 10 green gift ideas for a greener Holiday celebration, all under $30.

 

1.    Freak-o-monster bags

It is very easy to put a stop to the waste and environmental harm that disposable, grocery plastic bags represent : always have a reusable bag with you, in your purse or on your key chain. These little bags are compact, handmade from machine-washable polyester, foldable into an attached pouch and hook-able onto a key chain or belt.  Six original models are available, from cute cats and dogs to funky looking monsters. Available at reusablebags for about $15.

 

2.    Recyclable Puzzles

Puzzles are a wonderful way to relax and spend time alone or with loved ones. These 500-piece puzzles are made of 100% recycled material AND are recyclable, too: the pieces can be planted in soil to grow over sixteen species of wildflowers. 3 different models (eagle, panda bear and ocean life), available in our store for about $10.

 

 

3.    Green Board Games

When the weather keeps us indoors, board games are a fun way to spend time and reconnect with friends and family members. These board games all have an environmental theme, and are made of recycled materials, of course. The Green Game is an entertaining, enlightening and sometimes alarming way to examine the ecological facts and myths that face us today. Earthopoly is a game celebrating Earth, Monopoly style, while Camp Board Game is a game where both children & adults can play & learn fun facts about the great outdoors. All available in our store. 

 

4.    Green Books

If you are looking for an environmentally- informative gift for a bookworm, go for books such as No Impact Man, by Collin Beavan, who narrates his one-year adventure with his family producing no trash, buying no packaged-products, using no elevators, no subway, no air-conditioning, no television… Or give Yann Arthus Bertrand’s Home, a stunning visual odyssey paired with an informative text that calls for the protection of our planet. Both available in our store for $16.50 and $12.71.

5.    Solar-powered Toys

 

Kids (and kids at heart) love making things with their own hands. The Solar Car comes with everything you need to build a cool solar race car, and requires no glue, no nails, no tape and (best of all) no batteries. There is also the 6-in-1 Robot Kit, an educational Solar Kit that comes with one solar module and one gear box, and 21 snap-together plastic parts to make 6 different models: a windmill, a revolving plane, an airboat, a plane, a car, and a solar puppy. Available in our store for $22.95 and $16.95.

 

 

6.    Fair-Trade Jewels

Jewels always make a great, thoughtful and useful gift. While it is important to give gifts that leave as little impact on our environment as possible, it is also important to make sure the people who created these gifts worked under fair labor laws and received fair wages. Ten Thousand Villages offers a very wide variety of unique, original artisan-made jewels (and more) for under $30.

 

7.    Bullet Pens

We all need to write, but let’s do so without polluting our planet. Instead of disposable, plastic pens, how about ones made from a .375 H&H Magnum shell? Inside the brass case is a superior pen known as the Fisher Space Pen, a writing utensil designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of space and also write at every angle, even upside down. The pen itself costs $25 and the refills $5 each. Available at uncommongoods.

 

8.    Green T-shirts With A Cause

We never have too many T-shirts, as they are always useful. And an organic cotton T-shirt that also helps support an environmental    or social cause makes two gifts in one. The Rain Forest Site store has a nice selection of women’s and men’s T-shirts under $30, and as low as $15 (who said organic was expensive?). For the purchase of each T-shirt, they will preserve a certain area of rain forest land, making your gift truly eco-conscious.  Visit thehungersite to find the perfect one!

 

9.    Environmental magazine subscriptions or donations

Maybe the person you are shopping for doesn’t want “stuff”. So subscribe them to an environmental magazine, such as the Sierra Club, or make them members of an environmental charity, such as the NRDC or make a donation in their name to a non-profit organization like GoodPlanet or Gifts That Give More. Keeping up-to-date with the many environmental issues that face us is crucial to the survival of our planet and the human kind, and memberships and donations enable these wonderful organizations to protect our planet.

 

10.    Green Holiday Cards

If your gift is a homemade creation (such as baked goods) or a simple gift card from an eco-conscious store and you need a nice holiday card or tag to accompany it, opt for a plantable one! Botanical Paperworks has a wide selection of such amazing, 100% post-consumer waste cards embedded with seeds that will grow a colorful pant or tree once you recycle them into the soil. Available at Botanical Paperworks and some nature stores.

 

And Don't Forget the Wrapping

To be green all the way, keep away from plastic gift boxes and make sure that your wrapping paper is made of recycled paper (most of the time, it comes from virgin paper stock, unless specified on the packaging). Colorful pages from a catalogue or magazine or well-chosen newspaper comics can make good wrapping paper, too. Another, eco-friendly alternative is to use a nice piece of organic cloth to wrap the gift in and to use a string of wool or natural raffia ribbon to secure it in place: no paper, no tape, no waste!

Happy Green Holidays!