Turn Holiday Blues into Green Thoughtfulness

Don’t let the mass consumerism of the holidays get you down. Photo: sskies

Streets jammed with cars on their way to the mall. Wads of wrapping paper strewn across the living room floor. Cheap plastic gizmos that break in a week. These seasonal scenes are enough to make any environmentalist lose holiday cheer. Fortunately, whether you’re shopping for grandma and grandpa, your niece and nephew, teachers or co-workers, or other friends and relatives, you can find gifts you’ll feel good about giving.

Homemade gifts are often the most eco-friendly and inexpensive. Gifts of time, like offering to shovel snow, design a webpage, or babysit, create no waste and are highly appreciated. If you are crafty, unleash your creativity and make your own jewelry, ornaments, or clothing. Old and new photos are great for putting in scrapbooks, homemade calendars, or collages. Display your creations in a repurposed frame from the thrift store to eliminate the extra energy and materials that would go into making a new one.

If you’re unwilling to share your artistic prowess with co-workers, clients, and others, consider a thoughtful gift purchase with a low eco-impact. Remember, it’s important not just to support organizations that are socially and environmentally responsible, but to do this in a way that also reduces your own eco-footprint. Walk or bike to stores or farmers markets to browse locally made gift items and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. Do your own “windows” shopping online to cut back on multiple trips to the mall.

Alternatively, consider making a donation to a favorite charity in someone’s honor. Heifer International helps consumers give gifts of sheep, rabbits, geese, and other livestock to families in the developing world to provide a sustainable source of food, clothing, and income. Or support endangered species by symbolically “adopting” an animal through the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). For donations of $50 or more, the conservation group sends you a plush likeness of the animal, so this makes a great gift for kids, too. Other “alternative” gifts for young people, from infants to teenagers, can be found at Progressive Kid, an online store for earth-friendly clothing, educational toys, and more.

Of course, a subscription to award-winning World Watch magazine makes a great gift that will last all year, as do other Worldwatch Institute publications on topics from sustainable seafood to renewable energy. Also check out A Greater Gift, a nonprofit program that sells fair trade handicrafts and foods online and in stores across the United States. The Green Guide, an online consumer magazine, has an excellent “green” gift list that includes all-natural bath and beauty products, organic wines, and ecologically responsible jewelry. Or visit Shift Media’s Shift Your Gift website, an online shopping resource with offerings in categories such as apparel & accessories, health & beauty, home, kids & pets, tasty stuff, and tech. Five percent of each sale is donated to the nonprofit partner of your choice (yes, Worldwatch is a partner!).

If you’re the type who just prefers to give cash or a gift certificate, consider a new way to let your money benefit humanity first: make a loan in honor of a friend or relative through Kiva, a nonprofit microfinance organization. You can lend as little as $25 dollars to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world, helping hard-working people lift themselves out of poverty. The loans are very low-risk (to date, 100 percent of Kiva lenders have been repaid), and when you lend as a gift to a friend or relative, that person collects the repayment, establishing a direct relationship with the entrepreneur. When the loan is paid back, your named “giftee” can then choose to keep the money or cycle it back to Kiva as another loan.

This story was produced by Eye on Earth, a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and the blue moon fund. View the complete archive of Eye on Earth stories, or contact Staff Writer Alana Herro at aherro [AT] worldwatch [DOT] org with your questions, comments, and story ideas.