Reviewing the entries for the Yes to Green for 2009 giveaway one resolution really caught my eye: Sewart’s (@nrohtrawets) idea of giving birthday gifts to people he knows to offset the carbon output by their cars seemed like a great idea.

It’s fun getting gag gifts for and from friends but what good are those items? You probably won’t use them and they were needlessly made and wasted and will most likely clog up a landfill. For 2009 I am going to be giving charitable gifts.

Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays most occasions that call for gift giving don’t always require gifts. Remember that really dumb thing someone got you for your birthday? A friend bought me some stupid road sign replica pertaining to our social drinking habit together. That has been collecting dust on a shelf for over a year now. Waste not, want not.

Here’s 2 great ideas for charitable gift giving:

Carbon Offset

Carbon fund is an excellent way to offset someone carbon using lifestyle. On their site they have an easy way to buy carbon credits based on the person’s lifestyle. Instead of using a complicated calculator that asks for information you don’t know they have basics like offset for an individual or offset for their mid sized car (vs. hybrid or suv.) You can also choose to offset a home or air travel based on size and distance respectively.

Or get them a carbon offset gift card in any amount. Find more information at http://www.carbonfund.org/.

Animal Adoption to Save the Animals

Have an animal love in your life - or do you want to teach a child you know the benefits of donations? Make a donation to the World Wildlife Fund to make a symbolic adoption of an animal of you choosing.

• For a $25 donation the WWF will send you a certificate and photo of the animal
• For $50 you will receive a stuffed animal of the critter you choose and a photo and certificate
• Higher donations vary by the animal but sometimes include a family stuffed animal or a large 30” stuffed animal in a gift box

If you just want to donate to help the WWF contribute to the well being of wild animals on Earth you can do that too, they even have an option to not receive a gift to maximize the use of your donation. We know charitable giving isn’t about what you receive in return but the gifts in return options make it a perfect birthday present for a child or someone particularly interested in a specific species. Learn more at http://www.worldwildlife.org/.

Panda photo by Simply LA via flickr used under the creative commons

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Carbon Offset and Animal Adoption - Charitable Giving

I stopped at Walgreens earlier this week to pick up a prescription and found all the holiday gift packs on sale. Amongst them a green product that caught my eye.

I snagged a 5 brush set of EcoTools makeup brushes and bamboo holder for $5 usd in a post-holiday gift set sale. I’ve been using the brushes ever since and I love them.
Even when not on a super duper clearance EcoTools’ makeup brushes and bath products are really affordable. The powder brush is only 7.99 usd, the blush brush 6.99 usd and the eye shading brush only 3.99 usd.

I’ve use cheap drug store makeup brushes in the past and those end up in the trash quickly. I also own a number of MAC brushes that I adore and would highly recommend to any woman looking to play up her makeup a bit.

Even beauty blogs picked up on these great brushes earlier this year noting, as I did, that the brushes were not like those other synthetic brushes you’ve used before.

This earth-friendly brush set is packed with the 5 high-quality brushes you need to look beautiful.

What makes EcoTools Makeup Brushes green??

• Bamboo handle has a low impact on the earth’s resources as it is a highly sustainable plant that can grow up to 4 feet daily
• Synthetic taklon bristles are made from soft and pliable synthetic hair and are 100% cruelty free.
• Sleek ferrule (silver band that holds bristles) is made from recycled aluminum.
• EcoTools utilize resources that minimize the negative impact on the environment
• EcoTools (a product of Paris Presents) is part of the 1% for the Planet program

They often come in very un-green, PVC packaging and while noted in last months’ post on treehuger the company states they use the acid-free PVC packaging with plant-based inks intending the consumer will use it to protect the brush or a great case to use when traveling or on-the-go.
You can get a set of 5 brushes inside a natural cotton and hemp case. Which might be more along your green lines of ‘reusable packaging’ standards.
The gift set I purchased with the bamboo cup came in recyclable plastic and cardboard - so maybe in the future we will see this company use greener packaging solutions and let us buy a vinyl case on our terms only.

I can’t fault a company for not going 100% with their products or product lines. As far as I’m concerned it’s always better to start getting green then wait till it’s convenient to go 100% green. Do what you can - to go as green as you can - now!

More Info

• Learn more about ecoTools
• Buy ecoTools at Walgreens
• Buy ecoTools at Target

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Eco Makeup Brushes - EcoTools

Over the past few days I, @greenbehavior on Twitter, have been reaching out about green gift giving and green gift wrapping and I wanted to share the responses with you.

What Green Gifts are You Giving this Holiday Season

@leeanthro1, of soy is the new black, said:

@sunny4257, of creative interests, said:

@saveessentials, of Save Essentials, said:

Wrapping for the holidays: what are/were your green efforts?

@BeautyWriter, of Simple Ways to Save, said:

@TreesInstead, of Trees Instead - Memorial Trees, said:

@drflower, of Dr Flower’s Essentials, said:

@MJSchrader, of MJ Schrader, said:

@paigepresley said:

This feed comes from Green Behavior The specific article's link is: Green Holiday Wrapping via Twitter