Sustainable living

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25 Great, Consumer-Less Gift Ideas

by Annie Berthold-Bond, Care2.com Producer, Green Living Channels

 

One of the very best things we can do for the Earth is simply to

preserve natural resources by consuming less, but this does not at

all mean that we must forgo gift giving.

 

Here are some wonderful, simple gift ideas that help to sustain the

Earth, an act of friendship toward all living things, not just the

single recipient of the gift.

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/342

Giving experiences you can share, rather than material goods, saves

resources. And you can also simply give a gift of yourself. The key

to giving a gift of yourself is to know the wants and needs of the

person to whom you are giving the gift. Equally important, don't

underestimate your own special skills and talents. One valuable

aspect of giving a gift of yourself is that it is the perfect

solution for those who " have everything. "

 

Give a Gift of Yourself or Your Time

* make homemade bread and deliver it every week for a month

* collect family recipes and compile in a wooden recipe box

* make one dinner a week for a month that you deliver

* offer baby-sitting time

* offer a monthly lunch date with an elderly relative or friend

* offer free lessons in a sport in which you excel

* weed a friend's garden

* offer your talents, such as photography, financial planing, or

hairstyling

* offer yourself as a willing cheerful worker for a day

* put together a photo album

* make a video of people the gift recipient loves

* offer to do a chore for a month that a family member dislikes

 

Give a Green Gift that Isn't a Thing

* give tickets to concerts

* give tickets to sporting events

* give a pair of weekend tickets to a ski area

* give frequent flyer miles

* give a museum pass or membership

* give an experience (a day kayaking)

* provide a gift certificate for a lesson (tennis, swimming, drums,

for example)

* provide a gift certificate for a dinner for two

* donate something in the name of a friend or relative, in a subject

area of interest to them (such as for Literacy Training, or to

protect the Rainforest)

* give a gift certificate to a used book store

* give a plant or a tree

* join a Guardian Ad Litem Program for volunteers who go to court on

behalf of children's best interests in cases of abuse or neglect.

http://www.flcourts.org/osca/divisions/family/guardianadlitem.html

 

Give a Gift for the Earth

Giving a membership to a nonprofit organization that does hands-on

work to protect a part of the Earth's ecosystem is giving a gift that

gives a gift. Not only do you enrich the life of the person to whom

you give the gift, but you help organizations that are trying to make

a difference.

0oo00o0o0o0oo00o0o0less Bush, more trees0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The difficult place that the U.S. is in can not be diminished by waging

more wars. The violence done in our name generates more violence

and hatred against us. The solution arises from changing our attitudes

about other people. We need to stop the theft of their resources and

labor and begin to treat others with respect and dignity. RossCannon