Have A Greener Holiday Season

Reader Contribution by Justine Patton
1 / 2
2 / 2

In The Herb Companion‘s latest “List of Likes,” we highlighted a few gifts that keep giving long after you’ve taken your holiday decorations down for the year. Today, I wanted to tell you a little more about one organization we mentioned, The Nature Conservancy and its Green Gift Monday.

On November 28, The Nature Conservancy is urging people everywhere to give a gift that benefits the planet on its Green Gift Monday. That could mean making your own gift, donating to a cause, or giving an eco-friendly gift. Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas The Nature Conservancy provides:

• Give the gift of conservation. Have a family member you just don’t know what to get, no matter how many times you go shopping for them? Not to worry. Rather than buy them something they probably don’t need or want, give them a more meaningful gift. On The Nature Conservancy’s website, you can adopt an acre in Africa, plant trees in Brazil, or protect sea turtles all over the world. These are truly gifts that keep giving. 

This holiday season, make an effort to use gift bags that can be reused,
rather than wrapping paper to wrap gifts.
Photo by artg33k/Courtesy
Flickr

• Make your own gifts. Do-it-yourself projects seem to have taken the blogging world by storm lately, and for good reason. Making your own gifts, rather than purchasing them from a store, shows you put some thought and effort into your present. Also, making the gift is often just as fun as giving it. Creating a gift often involves recycling items, turning your gift into a fun, eco-friendly project. On its website, The Nature Conservancy features an “Up-cycled Tie Wreath” as an inexpensive, beautiful gift you can construct from items around your home. But your options certainly don’t end there. The Internet provides a plethora of DIY websites just waiting to inspire you. Check out Pinterest’s DIY & Crafts section of the website, or simply Google “DIY gifts.” You’re sure to find the perfect gift for that special someone.

• Add donations to your favorite charity to your holiday list. You know those ugly sweaters your grandma inevitably gives you every single holiday season? Save Grams the trouble this year, and simply ask her to donate to your favorite charity instead. Then, those sweaters won’t rot in the back of your closet, and Grandma’s money goes to a good cause.

For more tips on how to have a greener holiday season, visit the Nature Conservancy’s website

  • Published on Nov 9, 2011
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
Online Store Logo
Need Help? Call 1-800-456-6018
Free health and natural beauty tips from Mother Earth News!