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How You Can Give Better Holiday Gifts AND Be More Environmentally Friendly
It's the holiday shopping season, and Grinning Planet would like to point out that the holiday phrase "Ho, ho, ho!" also relates to being green--it's the Jolly Green Giant's tagline. Well, OK, that doesn't exactly get us to the "eco-friendly" meaning of being green. But when shopping for holiday gifts, there are a number of ways we can be environmentally friendly.
All manufactured items, including gifts, require material and energy to be produced, and production and transportation of the items results in some level of pollution. Here are a couple of ways to make sure those resources aren't a waste:
1) Useful Gifts -- One of the best ways to ensure the resources related to your gift don't get wasted is to make sure your gift doesn't end up gathering dust in a closet. While "surprises" can be nice, giving someone a gift out of the blue without any clue whether they'll truly like it or use it may get you one of those half-hearted "Um, oh, cool, thanks" responses. A different approach is to ask your giftees for wish lists, which works especially well within families, where social protocols and rituals can be more easily adjusted. This lessens the surprise factor but guarantees that you're giving a gift that the person will use.
2) Drawing Names -- As families and circles of friends grow, the number of gifts being exchanged can increase rapidly. Rather than each person within a group giving a gift to every other member of the group, names can be drawn so that each person gives gifts to only one or two people. This reduces the overall amount of resources related to presents and will reduce your holiday stress level. It may be too late this year to implement such a strategy, but if you'd like to try it next year, suggesting the change to your family/friends just after this holiday season will give people time to think about it and adjust to the idea.
Regardless of how you arrange your gift giving, choosing environmentally friendly products will be better for the planet than buying everyone an economy sized bottle of cloying cologne or some other non-green item. When looking at items claiming to be green, the US Federal Trade Commission advises that shoppers look for quantitative or specific claims, rather than general claims like "green," "eco-friendly," or "environmentally safe," which are open to interpretation. Better descriptions are things like "made from organic cotton," "made from 50% recycled materials," or "manufactured without animal testing."
Here are a few categories of gifts that would be more eco-friendly than some others:
1) Organic -- A gift basket of food is a typical holiday gift that's even better if at least part of the basket is filled with organic yummies. If you know someone who is
a coffee lover, they will flip over the bag of organic gourmet coffee you give them. Organic flowers are available, as are flower arrangements that are not organic but whose growers minimize their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic cotton clothing and bedding are also making rapid gains in popularity.
2) Fair trade -- Buying fair-trade items--items typically made by indigenous peoples--often helps the creators sustain themselves without resorting to environmentally unwise practices such as clearcutting forests. Whether it's art, coffee, chocolate, soaps, or carpets, buying items labeled "fair trade" lets you avoid purchasing gifts that were produced by companies that use exploitative labor practices.
3) Recycled -- These days, lots of things are made out of recycled materials--from works of art to clothing. A great holiday gift might be some of the very cool clothes they now make from recycled cotton. Some eco-friendly clothing even includes 50% fibers from recycled plastic bottles.
4) Honorary Gifts -- How much stuff does anyone really need? Once we reach a certain age, getting more "stuff" is as much a storage problem as anything else. Donating money to a person's favorite charity or cause in their name is a nice substitute.
To some extent, a nice holiday get-together with family and friends, full of good cheer and warm conversation, is as good a gift as many of us really need. But for the instances where a gift is appropriate, here's a good starting point for your eco-friendly shopping: Grinning Planet's Green Products and Services page ( http://www.grinningplanet.com/5005/green-products-services.htm ).
(Disclaimer: Grinning Planet does not receive any commission from the companies listed on the Green Products and Services page.)
Finally, we'd like to put in a word for our dear departed Uncle Freeman. When cash got short, he still never skimped on the Christmas gifts--he just sent them C.O.D.
For jokes, cartoons, and more great environmental information, visit http://www.grinningplanet.com .
© 2003 by GrinningPlanet.com
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in
print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Must
be published complete with no changes. A courtesy copy of your
publication would be appreciated.
About the Author
Mark is a writer, financial analyst, web developer, environmentalist, and, as necessary, chef and janitor. Grinning Planet is an expression of Mark's enthusiasm for all things humorous and green, as well as a psychotic desire to work himself half-to-death. Hobbies include health foods, music, getting frustrated over politics, and occasionally lecturing the TV set on how uncreative it is.
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| Department of Energy - Homepage |
| Governmental department whose mission is to advance energy technology and promote related innovation in the United States. |
| www.energy.gov |
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| Department of Energy - Page not found! |
| US Department of Energy information for consumers, business, and communities. Links to many energy pages of the DOE. |
| www.energy.gov |
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| www.energyquest.ca.gov |
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| Detailed guide explains what energy is and where it comes from. |
| www.energyquest.ca.gov |
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| Features various sections about energy including what it is and the forms it comes in. Find out how humans use energy through quizzes and a 'fun facts' ... |
| www.eia.doe.gov |
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| Energy Information Administration - EIA - Official Energy ... |
| Section of the US Department of Energy (DOE) providing statistics, data, analysis on resources, supply, production, consumption for all energy sources. |
| www.eia.doe.gov |
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| Energy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Free encyclopedia article explaining the scientific notion of energy. Includes units of measure, energy transformation concepts, types of energy, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Department of Energy - Homepage |
| U.S. Department of Energy Awards Contract for Management and Operation of Ames ... The Energy Star label is the government's seal of energy efficiency. ... |
| www.doe.gov |
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| Home : ENERGY STAR |
| US EPA Energy Star programs and products help save the environment and save consumers money by using less energy through advanced design or construction. |
| www.energystar.gov |
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| National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Home Page |
| Facility of the US Department of Energy (DOE) for renewable energy and energy efficiency research, development and deployment. |
| www.nrel.gov |
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| Welcome to the European Commission's "Energy" website ... A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy ... |
| ec.europa.eu |
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| DTI - Energy - Introduction |
| The DTI’s Energy Group deals with energy-related matters, ... UK energy statistics are provided, including production, consumption and prices. ... |
| www.dti.gov.uk |
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| U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Home Page |
| US Department of Energy web site for information on energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. |
| www.eere.energy.gov |
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| Provides an overview of President Bush's energy policies. |
| www.whitehouse.gov |
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| International Energy Agency |
| Energy Security, Growth and Sustainability through Co-operation and Outreach. |
| www.iea.org |
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| energywatch: Home Page |
| Independent gas and electricity consumer watchdog, providing help to domestic, commercial or industrial energy (gas and electricity) consumers. |
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| Details of one of Australia's largest and oldest gas and electricity supply companies. Includes information on accounts, energy saving tips, appliance sales ... |
| www.energy.com.au |
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| U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources |
| Has jurisdiction over energy policy, regulation, and research. Also deals with energy and mineral conservation, ports used for energy transport, irrigation, ... |
| energy.senate.gov |
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| bloomberg energy prices |
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| Energy Bulletin |
| A clearinghouse of information concerning the peak in global energy such as oil and gas. |
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