Is it me or does it feel like just yesterday the web was spinning with the latest and greatest green gifts? A few months into the New Year, I hope most of us have recovered from our holiday consumption hangovers, because the idea of philanthropic gift giving didn’t disappear with the end of 2009. In fact, the trend is still going strong, which bodes well for those of us who care about conscious shopping. Whether you need a quick housewarming present or a fashionable piece of jewelry for your best friend’s birthday, these gifts promise to do everything from …

Tags: charity , design , embedded charity , fashion , gifts , shopping

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Who’s on your gift list? This year, spread the holiday spirit of giving beyond your family, friends and coworkers to people, animals and places in need. With these green gift ideas, your money can go towards preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, bringing food to Darfur refugees, helping struggling artisans of Bangladesh, supporting pandas and much more.

Sponsor a Wild Place in honor of a loved one through the Sierra Club. Here’s how it works: choose from 10 national parks, and your gift …

Tags: artisans , charitable , donation , eco friendly , environment , gifts , green , lifestyle , organic , recycled , renewable , sustainable

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I’m  so over the annual mandatory retail blitz which prompts us to purchase scads of presents no one needs (and few can afford).

Enough is enough. Necessity is one thing; waste is another. Be an angel and give material items only to the needy. Give kisses,  homemade jam and DIY potpourri to your family, teachers, bosses, employees and friends. Stick to eco for everything else.

Here is my festive round up of gifts both you and Santa can live without:

A new cell phone

…

Tags: buying , calendars , cell phones , china , Chocolage , chocolate , Christmas , coffee , consumption , Dalmatians , diamonds , DIY crafts , fair trade , fashion , gift baskets , gifts , Gourmet , holiday , iPhones , ornaments , personal mugs , plastic toys , recycle , rescue pets , retail , reuse , saving , sustainable , toxic , Uggs

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Spread the holiday cheer and hold your moral ground with these gifts

Tags: agriculture , cell , charger , coffee , CSA , eco , fair trade , gadgets , gifts , giving , GPS , green , holiday , ipod , PET , retail , reusable , shopping , solar , tumblers , vegetarian , zipcar

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Don’t be hating on Scrooge. There might have been some green blood flowing through that iniquitous heart of steel.

True, Ebenezer was a clueless curmudgeon, hardened by celibacy and tortured by a dysfunctional relationship with money. An abusive boss and cynical social recluse, he shunned the caroler’s tin cup and community connection, holing up in his work space and bed chamber, destined to die unloved and alone.

In short, he acted like an ass – an ass with some weird-ass dreams. That’s what you get for eating kidney pie before bed, you …

Tags: America , birthdays , buying , Christmas , corporate greed , eco , frugality , gifts , green , holidays , Life in the Green Lane , love , money , parties , profits , recession , retail , saving , Scrooge , sex , spending , wages , workers , workforce

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While we generally avoid traditional paper gift wrap these days, a Berkeley MBA and mom has developed a line of more responsible coverage for those gifts: reusable, recycled bags.

Josie Gaillard’s Living Ethos made its debut in San Francisco this summer in selected boutiques. Now, the versatile and vivacious eco-chic wrap is available on the web.

What makes this attractive paper one to chase?

The sustainable gift bags come in 30 varied prints that are as attractive as upholstery fabrics. But instead of being assembled …

Tags: anniversaries , birthdays , Conserve , eco friendly. gifts , gifts , occasions , paper , PET bottles , plastic , recycle , resuse , showers , sustainable , weddings , wrapping paper

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Having trouble convincing your dad to go green? Then treat him to an eco-friendly Father’s Day gift and show him how much fun it can be!

Ease him off his battery dependency one step at a time with the solar radio from Uncommon Goods, which can be recharged by the sun or its built-in hand crank. Now, if only you could update his taste in music as well.

Who wouldn’t be fascinated by a gagdet that runs solely on H2O? The water-powered clock from Think Geek utilizes simple technology to transform electrons from water molecules into energy.

The solar …

Tags: eco friendly , Father's Day , gifts , recycled , solar power

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I grew up thinking it was completely normal to slather my skin with products featuring a complex, unpronounceable list of ingredients. Most of us probably never even thought twice about it.

But awareness is rising and many of us just aren’t tolerating toxins anymore. Smart entrepreneurs are stepping up to fulfill the growing need for skincare made of completely natural (and often edible) ingredients. If you like to feed your skin only the finest, add Naya Organics to the menu.

Stemming from a literal interpretation of the “…

Tags: body , gift , gifts , natural , Naya Organics , organic , salt , skin , skincare

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My grandest fantasy as a young girl included leading a life like Chris Evert or Gabriella Sabatini, which for an 8-year-old mostly meant wearing cute tennis skirts and being on TV. Although I have a great tennis game today (if I do say so myself), playing pro quickly lost its allure as my life took its creative twists and turns.

One of those turns found me thinking about opening a small store in my hometown, filled with luxurious handmade, artsy and hard to find stuff. Then the online shopping trend …

Tags: artisan , design , eco decor , gifts , home decor , Radici , shopping , UK

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