Have an Eco-Friendly Holiday
Gift giving tips with a conscience.
Ordering Online: Sitting at your computer, there’s one less car driving around shopping, using up gas and polluting the air. Ordering online also reduces landfill waste – as a paper catalogue is not longer necessary. If you are still receiving an onslaught of holiday catalogs, remove yourself from these lists.
Eco-Friendly Business: You can also feel good that you have the option to consciously support the small business operator in your town or across the country. Many of these companies also donate a portion of their proceeds to charity. The Happy Hippie Website is chuck full of eco-business listings (or see Shop Directory on the right hand side.)
Donate as a Gift: Or, if you’d like to by pass the fruitcake & cheesy shirts this year, why not consider donating to a charity or non-profit organization in the name of your gift receivee? It’s a thoughtful gift that would be appreciated by many.
Sites such as charitableway.com, helping.org make it easy to select a local or national charity. Or, perhaps you’d like to donate a tree in someone’s name . You can buy 10 trees for as little as $10. Visit American Forest Org. ( http://www.amfor.org/ ) The WWF.org has adorable and unique stuffed animals that are sent when a donation of $50 or more has been made. Proceeds go to protect Endangered Species.
Steps in donating a gift online:
1. Determine the kind of charity that would be most appropriate for the person receiving the tribute or gift. 2. Research charities in that category, using Google or an online charity-listing site. 3. Select the charity you want to send a donation to in the name of another person as a tribute or gift. 4. Read the donation instructions if making an online donation, making sure you fill out the gift or tribute fields. 5. Ask the charity to send the recipient a card telling them that a donation has been made. (Oftentimes, the donation amount is withheld; you can always choose to do so.)
Talk with your family and Group Donate
If you sincerely dread the holidays because you haven’t a clue what to get family members, and you always end up socks and cheese graters as gifts, then why not discuss all donating money to an organization of your choice. A joint donation not only relieves you of the holiday hassle, but it benefits those who are TRULY in need of help.Make Something!
Making something by hand for friends and family is such a great way to give something meaningful. If you grow organic veges in your yard, maybe make some loaves of homemade zucchini bread, or can some jam or chutney. Or, make some organic herbal vinegars in funky glass bottles. People ALWAYS appreciate handmade/homemade items over store bought. Not feeling artistic? Contact one of the many small business owners on Happy Hippie to see if they can make you something special (ie, hemp jewelry, rare glass beaded necklaces, tie dye jeans, etc!)Have a peaceful holiday.
Hippie Staff
