Green Living
Green Work
Green Christmas Gift Ideas 
Christmas is a great time for giving, but is also a great time for waste and excesses. More and more are seeing this as dated and are planning for a terrific, warm and festive, but green Xmas 2007. Please join us.
Here are GreenQuest's top-twelve ideas as a green twist to The Twelve Days of Christmas.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....
| 1 | Nothing! Just reciprocate with friends & family in donating your time and resources to the local needy or charities. | |
| 2 | Give a subscription or membership to an organisation or charity. If you have a friend who cares for ethical buying like you, a good gift would be a subscription to ethiscore.org or another green on-line magazine. | |
| 3 | Swap Clothes and donate everything you do not need (and dare not give to neighbours!) to the needy. | |
| 4 | For the stressed, give gift vouchers to a spa or yoga course. | |
| 5 | Buy natural soap and green cosmetics! PlantLove, a botanical lipstick packaged in a 100% biodegradable tube. |  |
| 6 | Give green Hampers (wicker basket), or deliver gifts with cloth carrier bags. |  |
| 7 | Plant a live Christmas tree where you can see it from your living room. It can be decorated and lit up with fairy lights (LED bulbs if you can) |  |
| 8 | Organic Directory (UK), or Local Harvest (USA) for farmers' markets, greengrocers and food co-ops in your area. | |
| 9 | For Gardeners, buy organic seeds, or a manual garden tool, or a potted plant | |
| 10 | For chocolate lovers, try Organic Green & Black's |  |
| 11 | Visit Hippy Shopper's gift guide | |
| 12 | Decorate your house (& others') with beeswax candles, and pine cones, ivy and holly from your own garden or local hedgerows or farmers' market. And for fairy lights, get LED bulbs. |  |
Share your own green stocking stuffer ideas here!
For environmentally-friendly gifts for that special occasion, click here.
Check-out our own shopping links by clicking here.
Avoid.....
- sending heavily packaged presents overseas. You may end up sending a Made-in-China toy to Asia! And what about those CO2 emissions on the plane! Why not buy an overseas membership/subscription?
- gifts with excess packaging.
- kids gifts that are likely to be discarded after only a few uses.
- plastic. There are many greener alternatives.
- alkaline batteries and the plastic toys that need them. Try ratchet-handle torches, solar-powered calculators etc.
- travelling hours to get to a bigger city! Keep it local, please.
- toxic liquids.
Eco-Friendly Tips for Cards and Gift Wrapping
Xmas Cards
- Send e-cards or create a personalized holiday e-newsletter. Share your news, photos, favorite quotes and “healthy living green tips” by e-mail
- Make your own holiday cards. Buy recycled paper blank cards, a fun stamper, and a soy-based ink pad
- Buy green cards that support environmental causes
- Support NativeEnergy. Each holiday card purchased fights global warming
- Send a New Dream Holiday e-card
- Send a World Wildlife Fund e-card to support conservation
- Send a Holiday e-card from Care2
Xmas Gift Wrapping
- Use pages from comics to wrap! Or if you cannot avoid it, buy recycled wrapping paper
- Use brown paper or cloth bags
- Gift baskets/hampers require no wrapping and the basket can be reused
- Use (non-plastic) jars, containers, tins that are reusable
- Wrap gifts in a scarf
- Put gifts in a large cloth bag and let people reach in and choose present
- Use natural raffia or natural yarn instead of bows
- Remember to save your gift wrap & bows to use next year
I’m dreaming of a Green Christmas…
Xmas Gift for Mother Earth?
All of the above will help, but why not do something for the Earth at Christmas time?
- During the year, plant a sapling xmas tree against your hedge that you can decorate each December: no need for one indoors!
- Set bird houses and feeders in trees in view of your windows.
- Celebrate Christmas at a central location for all: think about reducing petrol emissions when having get-togethers.
- Try to get all your family to follow above tips for green gifts and wrapping.
- Last but not least, how about making a household Green New Year’s Resolution? Try out our hitlist, set yourselves targets and tick each one as it gets done. That will reduce your carbon footprint, save you money and give you a tonic that even beats a hot toddy!
