Eco Chick is three years old! To celebrate her growing up (there are over 900 posts!) as well as the launch of my book, based on the blog, The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green, called for a kid’s themed party of course!

Eco Chick Founder and Editor, Starre Vartan, with Eco Chick Writer Kim Jordan Allen

I didn’t know how I was going to pull it together, but in just two days, the fabulous Kate McGregor, owner of Kaight, my favorite ecoboutique, and Arina Vikdorchik (AKA Arina Greenaholic for her eco party-planning fabulousness) offered me a venue, and some extra time and hands to help, and I HAD to go for it!

Kate McGregor and friend, and party guests!

I will, of course, be FOREVER indebted to Kate McGregegor of Kaight, for not only helping me dress fabulously, as well as GREENly but giving me such an amazing space to have my party. Thank you, thank you, thank you Kate! You are an honorary Eco Chick!

Singer/songwriter LiliAna Rose and art director for The Daily Green, Gloria Dawson

Soon, 360 vodka and Wolaver’s organic beer (both of which I buy, drink at home and serve when I entertain!) hopped on board as sponsors, which made me very happy since I consider them ‘my’ fave brands. Natura organic wines joined in with a delicious Sauvignon Blanc donation, and though I’d hadn’t heard of them yet, I was so glad they came to my party (with their wine!).

Ama the Bartender, and one of the many pooch attendees

Thanks soooo much to 360, Wolaver’s and Natura! A party without booze is no party at all (unless it’s a tea party, but this wasn’t).

Starre Vartan and Seth Leitman, author of Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, and Tiffany, Tatiana Gelfand and friend.

I am SO proud to say that all my food sponsors come from AMAZING women-owned businesses! Babycakes, which couldn’t be MORE local (it is about 3/4 of a block around the corner from Kaight) made up pretty purple and green vegan cupcakes, vegan and gluten-free banana bread, and brownie bites. They were so amazingly tasty I walked around with the box at one point but was just mostly eating them myself, hee hee. (I am NOT the kind of girl to skip eating awesome treats at my own party!) Babycakes was founded by the retro-cool Erin McKenna- thanks to Erin and her nice-as-could-be staff!

Brian Clark Howard, editor at The Daily Green, AKA DJ SocialPyramid

One of my favorite snacks, Laura’s Wholesome Junkfood, also supplied sweet vegan treats (their oatmeal raisin bitelettes are my fave low-guilt dessert when I’m at home of an evening). Laura’s is such a cool company, started by a doctor (named Laura!) who started her own good-for-you food biz. Thanks Dr. Laura!

Bonnie Hulkower and Emma Grady of Treehugger, and Boho Magazine‘s assistant editor Ashley Kittelsen and Boho fashion editor Margo Helliwell

SweetRiot, whose founder, Sarah Endline, I met years ago at NYC GreenDrinks holiday party, gave us lots of their directly-sourced, fair-trade, dark chocolate covered cocoa nibs in lovely martini glasses (I was so afraid there wouldn’t be enough chocolate!). And they were even nice enough to give me extras to take home after the party in their cute (recyclable, and original art-covered) tins. Thanks Sarah!

Guest, Elizabeth Harrington of Greenopia, and freelance writer Beatrice Aranow

Continuing with the women’s-owned theme, publisher and ecofabulista Gina LaMorte gave us a stack of Boho Magazines for our goody bags (My book is reviewed in the current issue-yay!!); the bags themselves were donated by Whole Foods (where I shop so much I feel like I practically earned those free bags, haha!). The bags are the cool new reusable Sheryl Crowe shoppers and so pretty! John Masters Organics, who makes my fave new haircare products, offered up samples for the goody bags (thanks!)

Arina Vikdorchik and Starre Vartan

I couldn’t have done this without the dogged persistence and unflagging energy of Arina Vikdorchik, who pulled all the nonsense together and made it make sense. Some unvarnished PR- use Arina next time you want to plan a party, green or not!!!

From left to right, Glenn Michael Gordon, Brook Wilensky-Lanford, Christina Rumpf and Rachel Carter, all of Columbia University’s MFA writing program.

From left to right, a friend, Josh Garrett-Davis, and Rob Verger, Columbia nonfiction MFAers

Thanks too, to all of you who came, including the incredibly supportive and loving cast of characters (I mean colleagues!) from Columbia’s University’s School of the Arts nonfiction (and fiction too!) writing program, my agent, Mary Ann Naples (didn’t get a snap of her, darn!!) of The Creative Culture, my publicity team, Emily Fry and Stephen Lee of St. Martin’s (who do a lot with very little!), Brian Clark Howard, my friend, DJ, proofreader for the book, and URTH Guy, my amazing girlfriend Cara Joy, who started off her day at her farm in Vermont gathering eggs and ended up at a book and blog party in the LES, and was indispensible the day-of, helping everything get done, and of course, Danelle Marqui Brown and Kim Jordan Allen, long-time Eco Chick writers, supporters, and fabulous, amazing, inspiring women all-around.

Shane McQuade, CEO of Voltaic systems and Margaret Lydecker, founder of NYC Greendrinks, and Meiling Chen, ecofashion designer

A big shout-out to my friends and colleagues at Greenopia, who are mostly on the West Coast, and whose NYC guidebook (and online listings) are indespensible for navigating this growing green world.

Arina Vikdorchik and Danelle Marqui Brown, Eco Chick writer

Starre Vartan, Michelle Legro, producer and host of Storyville and nonfiction MFA student at Columbia U. and James Yeh, fiction MFA student at Columbia.

Two people who could not attend but to whom I owe debts of gratitude are Dan “Mobius” Sieradski, Eco Chick’s webmaster, who’s single-handedly kept the site running all these years, and my Dad, who has supported the site since its inception, given me great ideas on how to promote it, and encouraged me to keep going with my ideas and aspirations.

Emily Fry and Stephen Lee of St. Martin’s, and Michael Schwarz, writer and animal advocate

Party Guests and a Pooch, and Starre Vartan and ecofashion designer Christine Marchuska in one of her own designs

Party Guests!

You know, there was a time, when I was a teenager, that I used to love Neutrogena products. I had the idea that they were cleaner, purer and better for my skin and hair than other drugstore brands. I definitely fell for their shampoo that was supposed to clean all the other shampoos from your hair (I’m not sure if it worked but I always bought it!).

Though I know Neutrogena hasn’t really gone the natural and organic route, the impression of them being at least somewhat more ecofriendly has always stayed with me. Not anymore! They are now selling motorized hunks of plastic that will inevitably be just another piece of junk that will end up in a landfill. Do we really need a battery-powered face scrubber in the world?

These days I use an all natural soap (LOVE handmade Copa Soaps which have just a recycled paper ribbon for packaging) to wash my face and it’s never been better. Shame on you Neutrogena! There’s a climate crisis going on and you’re manufacturing more plastic, plastic-coated packaging, making batteries, and shipping it all over the world for what? Not to mentions I’m sure the ‘cleanser’ is full of chemicals.

AND IT GETS WORSE!! The Wave Power Cleanser uses disposable pads! So you have to buy more overpackaged, disposable pads if you want to keep using the damn thing.

Not to be mean, but I hope this is a giant fail for Neutrogena: Ladies, Don’t Buy It! I’m thinking of starting a letter-writing campaign to Neutrogena because I’m so pissed off.

Fast forward to the present. What’s happened? It seems that everywhere I go, I’m bombarded with completely useless and unnecessary stuff. Yesterday, someone tried to sell me a 14-inch pencil–the “Jumbo Jotter.” I’ll admit I was tempted, and I imagined myself sauntering into Monday’s 3:00 meeting, only to whip out my enormous pencil and start taking notes like it was just another day at the office. My colleagues would laugh, we’d all have a good chuckle, but then some persnickety associate would point out the obvious: I had wasted $9.95 and a tree in Paraguay for a D-list joke.

The problem with useless products is threefold. First, they squander natural resources (energy, raw materials, mineral deposits and infomercial star Anthony Sullivan’s precious time). Secondly, they clog up landfills and, thirdly, they throw us into a Samsara-like cycle of never ending consumption.

Take for example, the Toastmaster Electric Can Opener – Model TCO2 (white). Yes, of course this gadget could be a godsend for the arthritic and handicapped. For the rest of us, however, it’s just another gateway to misery.

1. Lift blade assembly.
2. Place can against positioning bar guide and metal wheel.
3. Press button until can opening process is complete.

We press the button and eat our spam with little worry. Then the tragedy sets in. A few weeks go by and a rubber tire forms around our recently slim midsection. A double chin appears. Is that arm flab? Manual can opening burns calories. The lack of physical activity has atrophied our muscles.

Hence useless gadget number two: the Sauna Belt (note this product was recently recalled for safety reasons). This girdle of a device claims to heat the belly, increasing body temperature, so to literally melt away excess pounds. As it happens, the only thing the Sauna Belt is really good for is repelling members of the opposite sex and scorching its clientele. Burned and fat, what are we to do? Sharper Image’s personal air conditioner provides comfort in times of distress. Just place the battery operated metal collar around your neck and you’ll enjoy the blissful blow of cool air and water vapor on your face.

My point is that it never ends. As we’re buying up all of this “stuff,” we’re wasting money, polluting the earth and adding another piece of junk to our already overcrowded lives. To offset the havoc we purchase yet another useless product and on and on it goes.

Yes, it’s a cruel cruel world out there. And if for a moment a gigantic pencil, fuzzy toilet seat cover or fat burning belt will make it seem all the more bearable, then purchase away. But at least try to buy used.

Behold the gallery . . .
Top Ten Most Useless and Unnecessary Pieces of Crap

The Auto-Adjusting Wrench
Put the monkey wrench to shame. No need to sweat and waste your energy spinning the thumbwheel manually. Instead, just press “power” and the Auto-Adjusting Wrench will mechanically close in on that nut like a python closing in on its prey. Of course, once adjusted you’ll have to turn the wrench yourself, but at least you got the hard part out of the way.

The Banana Holder
Not to be confused with the “Banana Hammock.” Seriously though, what happens when you are down to one banana? How does that Banana stay safe?

Oh, of course! Silly me! Just put it in a Plastic Banana Guard.

The Plastic Banana Guard

The Battery-Powered Spinning Bottle
Jeez, kids today! They have it so easy. Back in my day (insert rambling aged voice here) we actually had to rotate the bottle. Can you imagine? Whirling it by hand to facilitate a painful make-out session or seven minutes in heaven. What torture. We really were living in the dark ages.

The Fuzzy Toilet Seat Cover
Aside from serving absolutely no purpose whatsoever, the furry toilet seat is gross. I mean, why on earth would I want a carpet on my toilet? I don’t want to get into graphic detail here, but stray tagnuts and winnets . . . before you know it you’ve got a dingleberry garden.

The Paper Weight
If by divine intervention a gust of wind blazeth through your windowless cubicle, be sure to protect thy papers with a 4 ounce paperweight.

The Mechanized Egg Cracker
The line of crap destined to fill up your kitchen is seemingly endless. Exhibit A: the egg cracker, a plastic device with which you . . . crack an egg. God forbid we need to knock on the side of a bowl. How, one wonders, has humanity ever survived without a mechanized egg cracker?

The Baby Wipes Warmer
The baby industry capitalizes on the deepest fears of new and nervous parents. Certainly your baby will be uncomfortable, unhappy and will hate you for life if you do not wipe its bum with a warm wipey. This particular model ensures that it won’t dehydrate the wipes, “as leading wipe warmers tend to do.” You know what else won’t dry out the wipes? Not using a wipe warmer.

The Melon Wedger
Need I point out that most kitchens have a knife?

The Leaf Blower
What good is a rake when you can happily puff leaves into your neighbor’s yard with a gas powered leaf blower? Yeah, blowers hemorrhage fossil fuel, but then again nothing’s more satisfying than chasing down that last recalcitrant leaf and blasting it into oblivion.

For “Top 10 Most Useless Items of Crapola” and more from Olivia Zaleski check out her weekly column, “Enviro-mental: Going Green without Going Crazy” on the Huffington Post.

Of course all teenagers and college students hate their parents a little bit (or a lot, depending on the hormones), as it’s part of forging one’s own identity. Isn’t it the American way to hold your parents in contempt until you’re at least 25, and then become them?

But these kids are going to have good reason for their anger, and I predict a revolution when these tiny tots grow to understand the legacy their parents have left them. They will inherit a planet-wide environmental mess, and it might not be impossible to fix, but it’s going to take the best minds of their age (plus their offspring), lots of money, and a singular desperation to fix what’s wrong before it’s too late. What these kids face in the coming years will make the mistakes my generation has been left with: Rockefeller drug laws, repeated pointless wars in the Middle East, and lack of marriage rights for homosexuals, seem like quaint oopsies in comparison. They’ll be figuring out how to handle the planet-altering effects of massive droughts (hey, it’s already happening) and global warming has barely gotten underway), disintegration of ecological webs as species disappear during the current mass extinction, and human migration due to the effects of global warming, not to mention changes we can’t even foresee yet.

Well, you say, each generation has to pick up after the one prior to it in one way or another; what gives those kids in diapers more permission than anyone else to let us have it? The answer is that we know what we’re doing to the environment and we still continue to do it.

Not only that, but Americans use more resources than almost anyone else, so the bulk of blame falls on us. There is no reason anyone under 50 should choose not to recycle, yet most of the places I’ve worked don’t have a serious program to deal with office waste. We are all aware of how much CO2 is spewed into the atmosphere every time we fly (about ½ a ton for a domestic flight), yet we hop on last-minute getaway jaunts like they’re going out of style. I could go on, but we all know our eco-sins.

The truth is, faced with the information-packed movies The Eleventh Hour and An Inconvenient Truth, coupled with the constant natterings, warnings and protestations of hundreds of green bloggers like me and the mainstream media alike, (2007 was The Year of the Green for glossy mags), the environment still places near the bottom of the concerns of voters according to a USA Today/Gallup poll.

What to do? If you’re a parent, an aunt, uncle, godfather, stepmother, or any permutation of the above, or even hope to have kids one day, start thinking less about what piece of junk to buy the kids in your life, and start thinking about what your real legacy to them will be.

To get you started thinking about the issues, why not write a note to your sure-to-be-angry descendants, and tell them exactly what you did — or didn’t do — to try to give them a healthy, sustainable world. Check out The DeSmogBlog’s 100 Year Letter Project where the adults of today write to their heirs. Andrew Revkin, one of the top science/environment journalists for The New York Times, covered this ingenious combination of the personal with the global on DotEarth, the Times’ enviroblog and he got some great responses in the comments section.

Before you pop that tyke into the back seat of the new SUV you bought for “safety” reasons, or purchase that plastic learning cube for him in hopes it will eventually get him into Stanford, take a step back and think 50 years down the line, and what he will write to his grandchildren about you.

Originally published in The Huffington Post 

Who doesn’t love vodka? There are some great ones out there that are organic and/or sustainable. Check out my reviews of 360 vodka and Reyka, which are both good bets. I’ve also enjoyed Square One at more than a couple of green events I’ve attended in the last year. It’s delicious and made from 100% organic rye. If your local liquor store doesn’t carry it, ask them to stock it, or check here.

For the Obsessive-Compulsive Worried Mom’s Kids

Oompa toys are classy and so very adorable so they will fit in with “grown-up” decor from modern to antique. Blocks and playsets are made from wood, not plastic, a healthier, more eco-friendly (and less tacky) choice. Besides the wooden toys, there are super-mod sustainable easels and organic stuffed animals. So cute I kinda want some of these playthings!

For the Essentialist Dad

My Dad’s been a minimalist for years, eschewing anything that isn’t utilitarian; you know, he’s one of those people who’s living room looks a bit like an art gallery with barely a chotchke in sight. He’s also a surfer and loves the ocean as much as I love the mountains, so this year I’m going to give him a Starfish from Oceana, which is an organization that works to protect marine ecosystems. Of course I’m not buying a real starfish, but a symbolic one, which comes with a cute cookie cutter in the shape of a starfish (there are 15 other animals you can buy, each with it’s own cutter). A sugar cookie recipe is included from celebrity chef Warren Brown of eco-friendly bakery CakeLove in DC.

For the Ex Who’s Still a Good Friend

A laptop case from Act2Greensmart is a great gift for someone that deserves a something they can really use. This one is the only one I’ve found that’s 100% recycled as its made from recycled plastic bottles.

For the Vegan Chef

They’ll love you forever if you show up with some vegan marshmellow (technically ricemellow) or hot chocolate mix, both of which are hard-to-find items when you’re totally a totally animal-free eater.

For the Back-to-the-Lander

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook is a comprehensive, illustrated, and detailed new book that gets into the nitty gritty details of how to live an off-the-grid lifestyle. Topics include water collection and storage, soil care, sections on geothermal, wind and solar power, toilet systems, stoves, chicken- and beekeeping and more. Fun reading even if your idea of getting back to nature is sipping a soy latte at the corner cafe al fresco.

For the Design Whore

The Green Glass Company makes this gorgeous, gorgeous glassware, all by recycling wine bottles!

With the machinery Bobby and Kobus custom engineered and built (only one of its kind in the world), The Green Glass Company added a ‘twist’ to its original goblet design. Producing two separate drinking glasses from one bottle without any waste glass was the challenge. The result was separating the bottle into two pieces, creating a tumbler from the bottom portion of the bottle and a goblet from the top portion of the bottle.

For the Green Tech-head

The Hymini is just so damn cool. This little device (it’s about the size of my hand) converts either solar power or wind power into stored charge that you can then connect to your iPod or cell phone for instant energy. Use the wind-converter while you’re riding your bike, on a boat, or just out the window on a breezy day. Use the little solar panel when it’s….sunny! Either way, in about an hour you’ll get enough for two hours of playback on a device. The energy can be stored for about two weeks, so you can collect free energy now and use it whenever. You can also stick it into the wall to grab a charge from conventional power sources. The Hymini has a cool little LED light and it’s cute too!

For the Spa Junkie

There’s a lot of great eco-friendly bath stuff out there. I should know as it’s one of my jobs to keep up on this stuff. But when you’re talking luxury, and you also want some seriously sustainable suds, Maile Kauai makes quite the impressive combo. Most ingredients are organic, and essential oils are wild harvested (meaning they are culled from uncultivated lands without overharvesting). In a handmade box you’ll get (to give) a whole home-spa set including a soy candle, Body Lather, Mango Butter Bun and Body Cream. Choose your Hawaiian-inspired aromatherapy with options of Pikake, Plumeria, Gardenia or Coconut Vanilla.

Back in the beginning of December, I mentioned that a new online-only wedding magazine would be debuting in January. Well, Portovert is up and running, and it looks like they have some great content going on in their premiere issue!

If you are getting married, or know someone who is, check it out as there are some great features, like “5 Ways to Be Greener” during your nuptuals, and “Perfectly Zen” with tips for stress reducers prior to the Big Day. And don’t forget to check out their resources page, which they’ll be adding to as time goes on.

I attended the magazine’s launch party last week and there was all sorts of mainstream media there covering it (and eating awesome organic munchies, along with organic wine and vodka- Yum!). The wedding industry is so insanely waste-producing in so many ways that it’s great to see a publication dedicated to going green. Just think, if your average to-be-married couple just did half their wedding in an eco-concious way I’m sure they would save money (I say spend it on the Honeymoon!) and use fewer resources.

My Top 5 Wedding Planet- and Pocket- Savers

1. Request stuff you actually need and will use for wedding presents (duh!). If you are requesting linens, go organic (there are soooo many companies that offer organic sheets and towels now, in gorgeous colors and prints that rival anything you’d find in a department store or Pottery Barn). If you do need cookware, go for the good stuff that will last you a lifetime (I’m still using pots my grandmother got at her second wedding in the 60′s). If you are already pretty set with stuff, ask friends to give to your favorite charity/animal advocacy group/women’s shelter/environmental organization.

2. If you travel for your Honeymoon, buy carbon offsets for your plane trip (Mental note: that would be a great gift!) and stay at one of the many eco-lodges around the world. A honeymoon is a great excuse to go somewhere exotic….just don’t get so blissed out with your honey that your forget the gorgeous planet that you’re enjoying!

3. Consider only serving organic food or organic alcohol at your reception. If you can afford it, do both. If you have a summer or fall wedding, you should be able to find the bulk of the food at the farmer’s market. Going local will be delicious, cheaper, healthier and better for the planet. Using locally-grown flowers to decorate is also cheaper and Earth-friendly.

4. Skip the goody bags filled with junk-nobody needs. it. Or try giving away seed packets or soap– something that won’t end up in a landfill.

5. If you are going to get a diamond ring and gold or platinum band, look for certified non-conflict gems (ask the jeweler to see the paperwork, they’re obliged to show them to you) and recycled metals, or better yet, go vintage! (For Eco Chick’s coverage of diamonds, click here and here.)

Right after Christmas I always start thinking about how I need a serious cleanse from all the holiday eating and drinking, not to mention all the junk clogging up my brain from seeing people I haven’t seen in so long, travelling all over the East Coast and generally ignoring healthy routines and work. Unlike many Hipper Than Thou writers and other media folks, I love me some good New Year’s resolutions. The cold bare branches of January offer a clean slate- one that I’m in dire need of! Every year I try to lower my impact on the environment, so here is the section of the resolutions to do with the beautiful Earth I so love:

90% of my clothing purchases must be reduced, reused, and/or recycled.
-I love clothes, and before 2006, (and before Jill Danyelle’s amazing blog fiftyRX3, which enlightened me tremendously) I figured that I would just ignore the environmental impact of my clothes, since so much of my life was eco-friendly. Now I have no excuse, with whole brick-and-mortar and online stores dedicated to ecofashion, crafting, and vintage clothes.

Offset CO2 from travelling; make carbon credit purchases part of travel budget.
-Last year I barely travelled at all (for me); this year I will be spending around 2 months on the road, and I will be taking some long flights. I want to visit my Dad in Australia, for example. I can’t NOT fly, but I can buy some credits for my journeys. Credits can be bought from sites like Uniglobe or Carbon Planet, which support alternative energy sources like wind power. Or you could pay to have a tree planted for every flight at Treeflights.

Line dry my washing as often as humanly possible.
-A few months ago I wrote this article for E Magazine about line drying clothes instead of using the dryer. In it, I wrote:

“Six to 10 percent of residential energy use goes towards the electric dryer. If Americans, or even just New Englanders, would use the clothesline or wooden drying racks, the savings would be enough to close several power plants.”

Put ALL my electronic devices on a power strip so I can shut them off and stop energy vampires from wasting electricity.
-OK, the last time I wrote about this, I put power strips in about half the places in my house where it is applicable. This month I’m going to finish the job!

Volunteer somewhere on a regular basis.
-I’ve mostly worked for non-profits, so I figured I didn’t need to also do volunteer work. Now that I’m a full-time student again, I need to do something to give back concretely. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I’ll report back on what I find. I’ll probably start with Volunteer Match, which Ann wrote about back in June.

A HAPPY (AND GREEN) NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

Let me sum it up:
Cost of Christmas Spending:..(numbers from 2004)

Household Appliances

• $1 500 million on household electrical goods
• Before ever being plugged in, 780 000 tonnes of pollution
• 1 155 000 megatonnes of material used to produce them
• 10 000 megaliters of water used
• Taking up a grand total of 52 000 hectares of land

Clothes

• Every dollar that an australian spends on clothes is on average 0.4 kilograms of material, 1/2 a kilo of greenhouse pollution, 20 liters of water and 3.4 square metres of land disturbed
• $1 565 million spent on clothes
• 600 000 tonnes of material flow
• 720 000 tones of greenhouse pollutions
• 38 000 megalitres of water
• Coming to a total of 500 000 hectares of disturbed land…

Alcohol!

• $900 million spent on alcohol
• 600 000 tonnes of material flow
• 290 000 tonnes of greehouse pollution
• 42 000 magalitres of water, or 42 gigalitres, enought to fill 42 000 Olympic pools
• With a land impact of 88 000 hectares

Confectionary

• Every dollar spent on junk food is apx 0.5 kg of pollution, 30 litres of water, 1.0 square metre of land distruption and 0.7kg of material
• $123 million spent on confectionaries
• 90 000 tonnes of material flow
• 65 000 tonnes of greehouse pollutions
• 4 000 megalitres of water
• 10 000 hectars of disturbed land
• Spending $30 on confectionary is consuming 20 kg of materials, 940 litres of water, 26 squared metres of land and creates 16kg of greenhouse gasses!

Books and Magazines

• $612 spent on books and mags
• 430 000 tonnes of greenhouse pollutions – equivalent of a year’s pollution from 85 000 cars
• 416 000 tonnes of materials
• 40 000 hectares of land is disturbed for this conusumtion
• 6 000 megalitres of water

What counts as those environmental impacts? Water usage is based on the water extracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers – mostly for irrigation purposes. Land disturbance is the degree and amount that is altered from its natural state. Greenhouse pollutions measure the C02 and other GHGs that are emitted into the atmosphere and material flow is the measures of all masses extracted from the earth including timber and livestock.

Reading this makes me feel even less guilty about not getting anyone anything for christmas. I was planning on going shopping today and buying a shirt for myself from H&M because I’m pretty much addicted, but I’ll be rethinking that game. Clothes and alcohol are my two weaknesses on this list – but I can certainly stop with the alcohol… Clothes will be a bit tougher, but I’m sure I can manage.

I’ll continue to urge people to try not to give into the consumerist based patterns of the season. …If celebrating christmas is a must for you and your family – do it wisely. Kids don’t need iPods when they’re 10. They don’t need them when they’re 19 either (guilty as charged, I have one)… what they need is some family time and love. I also urge everyone to check out all the posts that the other girls have made on organic shopping and the links at the side. Also, Grist Magazine has a really great eco-shoppers guide.

I’m a last-minute gift-buyer, and proud of it! (Because I’m tired at being annoyed with myself. So I’m embracing my late-shopping tendencies). The last few years I usually haven’t started shopping until around the 15th, and that date is coming up quickly. So here’s my exhaustive list for gifts that won’t take too much time to get but won’t rip a whole in the atmosphere or poison a town’s water supply either.

(Don’t forget that gifts of time or experiences–a nice dinner, babysitting for a harried new parent, or a free closet organizing– can be the best and cheapest gifts of all; I especially like giving a dinner out, so I can enjoy it too!)

Sometimes you need to give something in a (recycled) box, tied with a (reused) ribbon. Here are my choices for Gifts You Can Put in a Box Under the Tree:

Pangaya has a green gift guide for easy picking and choosing of lovely eco-fashionista duds. Have all your selections shipped directly to gift recipients so you don’t have to. Double-shipping- having gifts shipped to you, then shipping them to recipients, should BE AVOIDED at all costs! Just think of all the fossil fuel needed to ship something twice….(There is free shipping on all orders through 12/17/06. Also, check out the Pangaya blog– there are great discounts and specials every day advertised there.)

The t-shirts at Intention Creations are based on the concepts discussed in “The Secret”, “What the Bleep”, “Ask and It is Given” and a number of other
resources.

Get a solar panel, organic cotton baby toys, or recycled yoga mats at Gaiam (shipping is only $4.95 for all orders.)

Whole Foods (only in Cali) is selling windpower credits on cards.

At Do Great Stuff, you can buy from a lot of mainstream online stores and your commission will go to the non-profit of your choice (perfect for if you’re buying new books or that gadget your Dad really, really wants, and promises to use forever).

The site explains it this way:

Online merchants pay commissions to websites that bring them customers. When you shop at any store in the Do Great Stuff online shopping center, your purchases generate commissions. Most of the commissions we collect go to help non-profit organizations selected by our members. The rest of the commissions are used to pay our overhead, keep our site operational and hopefully someday generate some profits, which would allow us to donate even more money to worthy causes.

For each merchant, we clearly post on our site how much commission will go to the charity of your choice and 100% of that posted amount will go to charity.

The National Wildlife Federation has a whole catalog of gifts that you can browse through, but I really like the pewter ornaments (see above), because for every one you buy, a tree is planted.

Some ideas for Giving a Good Feeling:

I’m adopting a Blue Footed Booby for my Dad, cause he can relate to these guys.

The World Wildlife Fund has an animal-adoption program. When you donate money to your (or your giftee’s) fave animal, they get an adoption certificate, a color photo and an information card about the animal. For donations of $50 or more, you get a plush toy of the animal (and let me just warn you, these are ridiculously cute toys!!).

Greenpeace is just doing some kick-ass work lately. They continue to be a really activist-based group who is out there giving grief to whale hunters and clear-cutters. They are one of the leaders behind the campaign to get Apple and other electronics manufacturers to clean up their act and make their products recyclable (with 1 million iPods selling every week, there’s good reason why).

Give a gift of time or money to your local animal shelter or environmental organization in someone else’s name. Often smaller groups struggle to make ends meet and make important contributions to the land you live on and the water you drink (and save the stray animals in your streets!) Remember, a regular donation monthly (even if it’s just 10 bucks) is better than a one-time donation, and it’s easier on your wallet. Many groups have a set-up so you can automatically debit your checking account on a regular basis.

If you’re not sure where your local animal shelter is, go on Petfinder and put your zip code in; rescue groups and shelter names in your area will come right up.

If you don’t like any of my suggestions, Lime has written a great article, Giving Gone Green that gives some more ideas and advice!

The Center for a New American Dream also has gift ideas and some sound ideas for beating holiday stress.

As a person dealing with a newly discovered gluten allergy, I totally need to rant about how in love I am with LÄRABARS. Not only are they a super tasty snack, but they’re healthy and full of great ingredients.

Each LÄRABAR (there are currently 6 flavors) contains 1 1/2 servings of fruit (!) and no added sugar. All ingredients are unprocessed + raw, non-gmo, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan and kosher! The current flavors are apple pie, banana cookie, cashew cookie, cherry pie, chocolate coconut, pecan pie, cocoa mole (my personal fav), ginger snap, cinnamon roll and lemon bar.

The idea for LÄRABARS was conceived in 2000 by founder and CEO, Lara Merriken on a hike in the Rocky Mountains. Merriken’s goal was to:

Combine wholesome ingredients such as fruits and nuts to create a food product that’s tasty, healthy and convenient.

Merriken, a former college volleyball player, avid runner and hiker wanted to find a healthier energy-bar alternative and spent 3 years mixing fruits and nuts in her food processor before selling her first shipment to health food stores in Colorado.

Merriken’s company, Humm Foods Inc. can be summed up in the company’s philosophy:

Our company name comes from an ancient belief that food falls into two categories:

BECKONING FOODS
which beckon consumption again and again, sapping the body of energy without any real health benefits, Today, they’re called “junk foods.”

HUMM FOODS
on the other hand, resonate with energy in a whole, natural state. When consumed, they cause you to feel vibrant and alive.

You can expect an unmistakable urge to humm after every LÄRABAR and Maya Bar you eat.

Let the humming begin!

Humm Foods Inc. also produces Maya bars, all organic fair trade certified chocolate bars. Each bar contains only 6 ingredients and are vegan; kosher; non-gmo; 90% raw; and free of dairy, gluten and soy. Maya bars come in chocolate, chocolate coffee, chocolate mint, and chocolate orange. AND each bar is under 190 calories — these definitely need to find their way into my stocking!