There's no better time than this financially challenged, politically confusing shopping season to check your list twice and consider: do you own your stuff or does your stuff own you? Think about it. One less gift can save about 200 kg of natural resources (the equivalent of two, queen-sized mattresses) and keep the same amount of material out of the waste stream.
Now is also a great time to pause and reflect, spend quality time with family and friends and, if you're going to buy, buy less, buy used and buy local.
Our Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter, is here to help (as usual...) with these great green gifting ideas:
Offer your skills.
Whether it's a year's worth of once-a-week babysitting or a promise to rake leaves, we all have something we can do for someone on our gift list that's worth more than just another inanimate object. And making homemade coupons is fun and crafty – make 'em out of seed paper (PDF - see above)!
Beware of toxic toys.
If they must have stuff, at least make sure it's not going to hurt them (or the planet). Select locally-made goods from companies that consider the whole life of their products – what's in it, how it's made, and what happens to it when it doesn't work any more.
Reap the rewards.
Go outside (PDF). Breathe the air that you're helping to clean up, look at the sky, and admire the natural abundance. Go for a walk in the woods, skate on a frozen pond. Think about how we are all connected to the planet that sustains us. It's free and off-the-grid! And you deserve it. We all do. (Cue music…)
To read more visit: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/newsletters/dec08_greengifting/
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