I Can’t Remember

“Black Thursday” was a day when the stock market crashed, millions of millions were lost, and people’s retirement funds and even some of their lives were ruined. So gee, why is the biggest shopping day of the year called “Black Friday”? Feel free to draw the parallels here.

For those of you who haven’t spent your paycheck through next July but still want to, consider gifts that might help the world, or at least hurt less.

First, see my suggestions about green holiday gifts.

And consider these ideas:

Heifer International buys cute little farm animals for cute little impoverished children around the world, helping them and their families get out of poverty. You buy an flock of ducks for a kid in China for $20 (which provide pest control for rice fields and a source of protein and income from eggs) and give it in honor of your sister-in-law, and she gets less junk to dust and that good feeling you get when you help others, as well as a cute mental picture of some cute kid trying to keep track of ducks in a rice paddy. There are animals and gifts of all sizes, all the way up to the $5000 Ark that provides 15 , you guessed it, pairs of animals.

Oxfarm International has a similar program called “Oxfarm Unwrapped” because “Choosing gifts for some people can be quite an ordeal” Isn’t that the truth! You can plant 50 trees for $30, or provide school uniforms for needy kids for $20, or sheep for families for $45–and that’s just in the U.S.

Give donations in people’s names to charities.
Book lover? Try Room to Read. Animal lover? Donate to the Humane Society or buy a gift through their site. Nature lover? Donate to the Sierra Club or buy a fabulous gift from the National Wildlife Federation.
Be creative, everyone loves something.

Or pledge to Buy Handmade.
Or Buy Local, Organic, Fair Made.

Whatever you do, avoid the mall. Those people are just trying to ruin you and the earth.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, enviro, gift ideas, holiday, shopping

The winter holidays are about shopping and getting stuff, right?

At least that is what people who sell stuff would have us believe!

Remember: don’t trust anyone who acts like they’re doing you a favor and then charges you!

Not only is there a magazine about shopping, called “Lucky“–as in “gee, aren’t I so lucky to be buying a collection of ads so I can then know what the people who want my money want me to buy and how much it’ll cost me!”
but there is also blogs about shopping, like ShoppingAddicted. At least they admit that shopping for some is an addiction, similar to a gambling addition in it’s self-destructive pattern. And the first step is admitting you have a problem.

I’m serious, here! I could not be more appalled!

Want to get your friend or relative the “perfect” present?
Make sure it’s consumable, because if it takes up any space at all it could end up costing them big.

Check out Paul Graham’s assessment on how much “stuff” is costing us to store and upkeep–to the point that stuff isn’t even valuable anymore, and how those who grew up poor are still hoarding in a misguided attempt to be rich:
Stuff
And MSN’s late cover if the same topic:
The hidden costs of too much stuff

Some people try to make “eco-friendly’ complicated, expensive, or “alternative.” In truth, it’s just a matter of combining common sense and frugality. Take the Holidays, for example. Most of us will spend way too much money, be stressed out, and end up hauling 12 bags of trash to the curb the next day. Not very friendly to yourself or nature. So here are some tips to make the holidays even easier for both of you.

Decorations: the “disposable” ones inevitably fall apart before the season is over, causing you more headaches. Just buy a couple sturdy nice ones that you love and reuse them every year. Resist the urge to buy junk every year. Give away to charity (in November!) all those tangled strings of light. Buy the minimum you need—and make them LEDs. Less time figuring out which ones are the ones you want to use this year, and less energy use, which is easier on the planet and your pocket book.

Gifts: the thought really should be all that counts, because even when you spend hours finding the “perfect” gift, you still can’t predict how well it will be received. Give things that get used up, like food or perfume, or a gift certificate to a restaurant or tickets to an event. You know they’ll use it, and it won’t end up in the landfill or their hall closet when it breaks.
For kids this means finger paints, play dough, art supplies, and stickers. They like these best anyways. When you feel you must buy a toy, buy something with the least amount of packaging: it’s easier on the environment, your back, and the parent’s patience. The blinky-light, vibrating, noisemaker in the flashy packaging needs a parent with tools to unwrap it, batteries to operate, and gets old quickly—except for that one sound button which the child will push over and over because it drives mom nuts!
A heirloom-quality small wooden toy, puzzle, game, or blocks will cost the same, not annoy anyone, pollute less, and will be played with again and again. And it won’t require batteries. Speaking of which, rechargeable AAs and a battery charger would be a fabulous gift for any parent on your list. If this seems too practical, throw in a gift certificate to a movie theater or a video store.

Food: have you ever actually run out of food at the holiday dinner? Neither have I. Don’t buy so much, and the less-packaging rule applies here too! The more packaging food is in, the more chance that it’s bad for you. If you want “convenience food,” order sides (or the main course!) from a local deli or grocers—you can’t get more “convenient” than that. Ask at the Farmer’s market for local meat for your main course: it’ll taste better fresher, and generate less pollution from shipping.

Technorati Tags: decorations, Eco-friendly, environment, Food, gift ideas, Holidays

Halloween is sometimes the only time you see some of your neighbors. They’re busy, they live in their cars, whatever. But they come to your door for treats on Halloween night. Are you the “green” house? Or are you just like everybody else?

The treats you hand out to little kids shouldn’t be “tricked” with pesticides and preservatives, so buy all-natural, organic candy. Buy fair-trade to make sure that your candy is produced by people who work for a living wage.
Chocolate is often harvested under non-sustainable agricultural practices (slash and burn, anyone?) save our rainforests and buy sustainably harvested chocolates, like those from Endangered Species Chocolate. (bonus: fair-trade and gives money to support wildlife, too!)
Read the rest of this entry »

An Eco-Friendly Halloween at http://earth-byte.com/a-fair-trade-halloween/

Eco-Friendly Halloween at http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/10/02/eco-friendly-halloween/

Green Halloween at http://www.greenhalloween.org/content.php?page=host

Green Halloween at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53322.asp

Technorati Tags: eco, environment, Halloween, web

The costumes you buy at the store for your children often come with masks that are off-gassing toxic chemicals. (for info, see: Darth Vader, Dora the Explorer … or Dioxins? ) So if you buy these, make sure to not use the masks. Be wary of “Halloween makeup” also, especially with little children. Use your own make-up instead.

Of course, it’s friendlier to the environment if you don’t go out and buy these costumes!
For kids, the best costumes are found in Dad’s closet anyway! Be careful that nothing is a tripping hazard, and let them put together something. Dress them up as doctors, lawyers, mechanics, construction workers, waiters, pirates, gangsters, Napoleon, it all depends on what Dad (or Mom!) has in his closet!
Some of the best suggestions I found here.

Technorati Tags: costumes, eco, environment, Halloween