ALT-5 How to Green your Gifts
The best way to give an environmentally aware gift is to not buy an object to give the person. You can either make a gift by hand or get the person a gift certificate for a service such as a massage or entertainment such as a gift certificate to a movie theater.
If you really want to get green and you know the receiver will appreciate the meaning behind it, you can forgo getting the person anything at all, and instead donate to an environmental charity in their name. There are also services available on-line through which you can buy a third world family something like a goat or a bee hive starter kit in your recipient's name. Many of these programs help the local environment in the third world and reduce waste locally because you are not actually buying something that needs to be wrapped and will eventually end up in the landfill.
If you're not willing to go that far, you can use green wrapping for your gift instead. Attractive cloth gift bags can be purchased fairly inexpensively and can be used over and over again. You can also be creative and make the wrapping of your gift part of the gift itself!
Some people make record bowls by melting an old vinyl record album in the oven and then shaping it over a bowl. (Be sure it's an album that isn't a collector's item or valuable first!) You can put the gift inside of the bowl and cover with recyclable paper. You could also buy a nice basket that the recipient could reuse. If you're really crafty, think about knitting or crocheting a bag out of yarn or making the person a canvas bag they can use for shopping later on.
For mass gift giving holidays, try to arrange a gift giving name draw with your family or group of friends. Each person pulls a name out of a hat and only buys a gift under a certain collar amount for their recipient. That way you keep more waste out of the landfill and spend less time driving around burning gas looking for presents for everyone. Remember, even if you buy online, it takes energy to transport those gifts to you.
Keep in mind when giving green gifts that not everyone is going to be excited about getting a certificate saying that they've purchased a goat for a third world family. It's important to keep your audience in mind. If you think that your recipient isn't open to the goat idea, stick with reducing waste by purchasing a gift certificate for a service or using reusable containers as gift wrap.
