Hyattsville 2.0 v10 - Green Shopping Guide

Look, it's bad enough that you bought a gift for someone who really does not need anything (a donation somewhere wasn't good enough?) but do you have to wrap it wrapping paper?

Get some newspaper and wrap it. Take a marker and draw on it. Be creative. Then, just recycle the newspaper like you would have anyway. Get a reusable bag and put the gift in it and give that as the gift rather than wrapping it.

Seriously, we need to end the cycle of giving gifts for the sake of giving gifts and put the spirit back in giving. If someone is offended because you made a donation on their behalf, they deserve a smack in the head.

For kids, yea, they are already conditioned to expect gifts (really, like they need any more stuff?) But put aside $10 or $20 and make them sit down with you and donate it to a charity. Folks, we have to break the cycle!

If you have to buy something, check out the list below. I checked the links and I am pretty sure they all work.  Add some of your favorites to the comments section.  Add you green gift ideas!  

13 Green Gifts for Home Renovator

Gift Cards

• The LivClean Carbon Offset Gift Card is probably the most unique and one of the greenest gifts you can give this holiday season. It is not only great for your loved ones and friends, it is also a gift for the planet. For more info visit livclean.ca.

Carbon Offsets

• Another great green gift is LivClean Carbon Offsets. By visiting livclean.ca you can purchase carbon offset plans that make the perfect green gift for family and friends, helping them become carbon neutral. Each plant comes with a certificate and cool promo items that let them show their new carbon neutral status.

• Mr. Ellie Pooh – A favorite at the “Greenfest” this year, this company sells recycled elephant “Poo Paper” products. Visit their online store to purchase some great paper products and save elephants in Sri Lanka. Basically, by buying this paper you create a market for elephant dung, which elephants produce while alive (this is key). The idea is that people in Sri Lanka can make a living off of elephant poo rather than killing the elephants for their hide, tusks or meat.

• Seed Embedded Paper - This paper has seeds in it that will actually grow! Done reading the note, just bury it under some dirt and have flowers! They have both paper and greeting cards for any occasion.

Donation Type Stuff

• Tree Seedlings. What can be better than planting a tree for someone that will be there for their entire lifetime and maybe more? Not only will it last generations, but there’s that whole photosynthesis thing! If one tree is not enough, try going to www.plant-trees.org “where $45 will get 400 trees planted. There are dozens of websites like this and they are mostly non-profit which gives you a tax write off as well.

• Donation – Before you buy that gift, think about it. Do they really need more stuff? Is this something that a few weeks, months or years from now the person will really remember? Don’t buy gifts for the sake of buying gifts. Put some meaning behind it. 

• How about certificates to a night out? Free babysitting? Dinner and dancing? How about donations to your favorite charity? You can ask for the same. The donation can buy food, water, trees, healthcare for pets, shelter for the homeless and much, much more. Make a difference with your money and put some thought behind your gift. Not sure who to give to or if the charity is legit? Check out Charity Navigator.

Household Items

• Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL’s) – These are those “curly q” bulbs that maybe you have seen and hopefully own. These bulbs have come a long way in shape (they are much smaller now), efficiency, style, color and light type. What used to be a “hospital white” has turned into a nice soft white just like the incandescent bulbs you have been using all those years. An added bonus is that they are cheaper now--under $2--and will save you about $50 in energy costs. How? The “60 watt” CFL only uses 13 watts of energy. Plus, they last as long as 10 years!

• LED Lights - Costco has double and triple packs, both regular bulb and candelabra.

• Rain Barrels - Why let that rain water go to waste? Get yourself a rain barrell! Good for the enviroment, good for your plants. Lots of colors and options!

• Reusable Grocery Bags - You can get them at any store and they are usually very cheap. A donation to the World Wildlife Fund gets you a bunch of really nice ones you can use or give away. 

• Eco-Clothes – You have a lot of choices. You can buy clothes made from hemp, from recycled plastic, from other recycled clothes, from “fair trade” materials and the list goes on and on. You may want to try www.ecolution.com, a company with a very wide variety of hemp clothing. Another great site is www.clothesmadefromscrap.com.

• Speaking of clothes, why not pick up a nice sweater to wear around the house? For each degree you lower your thermostat, you save about 3 percent in energy costs. Using less energy is a GOOD THING. Want to go a step further? Replace that ridiculous thermostat that came with the house with a programmable thermostat. These are cheap and can be picked up at Target, Home Depot or just about any other hardware store and are a piece of cake to install.

• Eco-Backpacks and Computer Bags - full line of backpacks, computer bags, baby bags and lots more. All made from 98 percent recycled material.

• Solar Powered Backpack? - Check out this line! A little on the high side price wise but really cool. Charge up your cell phone, PDA, Gameboy and more while you walk/bike to school/work.

Entertainment

• Books, DVD’s - Heres some “green” suggestions:
  • Fast Food Nation
  • SuperSize Me by Morgan Spurlock (DVD),
  • Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the Two-Way Street of Global Warming by Dave Reay
  • You Can Prevent Global Warming (and Save Money!): 51 Easy Ways by Jeffrey Langholz,
  • The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery,
  • Global Warming: The Signs and the Science
  • An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore
  • A great CD Compilation of wonderful Folk Music
  • Blessed Unrest - environmentalist Paul Hawken (Natural Capitalism) reveals an encouraging worldwide movement for change ($25).
  • Worldchanging - a big, fat, full-color reference book with reviews of environmental resources and tons of eco-ideas ($38).
  • A Slice of Organic Life - how to live an organic lifestyle, with an emphasis on food preparation; foreword by famed veggie chef Alice Waters ($25).
  • Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - bestseller Barbara Kingsolver (The Poisonwood Bible, The Bean Trees) goes local, moving her family to a farm and producing most of her own food ($19).
  • Plenty - a memoir about what happens when two people decide to eat only food produced within a 100-mile radius for a year ($17).
  • Ignition - a collection of personal essays by writers, scholars, and activists who have worked to stop global warming ($15)

• Bicycle with helmet and lock – In case you have not been following the news, there are too many cars on the road and they are not good for the environment. Why not buy your sweetheart a new bike (with helmet and lock!) so that they can ride their bike to the metro and/or for recreation? It’s great exercise and makes a difference.

• How do you present your present? Wrapping paper sure does look pretty, but what happens to it after the holidays? Thrown away hopefully in the paper recycling, but most likely in the trash. Why not use a bag that can be used over (and over) again? How about newspaper? Just take out a couple magic markers and draw some funky designs on it and Voila! I can tell you from experience that kids don’t care about wrapping paper. Be creative, have fun, use less!

• Co-op America has a list of green gift giving ideas and 10 ways to help reduce waste:

• What about some healthy hemp foods? Everyone eats and appreciates some 'luxury' healthy and nutritious hemp food treats. Buy 'em from the USA, Australia, UK and Europe all from one place.

• The Holiday Green Gift Catalog

• The National Green Pages

• The Center for a New American Dream also has a holiday gift guide:

• And they also have a Conscious Consumer Holiday Shopping Guide with tips and info on alternative gift fairs

• The Environmental Defense has a green gift-giving guide full of tips and eco-friendly products

• The Sierra Club has a great list updated every year - be sure to read the comments section

• The 2011 Green Gift Guide is here!

• Ad Busters Buy Nothing Day Campaign

• 10 Things You Should Never Buy New