My Gift List

1. Winter Sweater, Cardigan or Coat
It's just begun in my hometown and I'm starting to feel its bite. So give something like that someone will need. A good, solid peice of clothing will keep your friend warm for years to come and helpt soften the bang of their utility bill.

2. Gifting Charity
Make an agreement with your circle of friends today and give time or money to those in need like your local food shelter, homeless shelter, and children's home. You can also gift to charities tackling global problems like The Red Cross, Save Darfur, and the Aids Fund.

3. Digital Cards or Gift
Like many of my generation, getting a letter or digital surprise from a friend perks up most days especially work days. Someecards is my favorite site and there is one snarky, foolish and hilarious card for any occasion. I've thought of this concept: The Twelve Cards of Christmakah (inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas and The OC, really). Alone, they mean nothing. But when well thought out and selected as a set, they can communicate much more about the depth of your affections for the recepient.

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The Anti-Gift List
Josh Peterson of Planet Green composed an anti-gift list for his readers. He admonishes the gifting of:

1. Christmas Ornament
Random, who does that?

2. Snow Globes
I say it might be better to build one with your child so they can keep that memory and reminder for a significant time.

3. Gift Baskets
Agreed. I never open them, really or use the special mustard, cheese, meats, etc. 

4. Gag Gifts
Save it for April Fool's day or a trip to Spencer's Gifts any other day.

5. Ultraviolet Toothbrush Sanitizers
Agreed. Quite a waste when you're supposed to rotate your toothbrushes out every three months. Do you want to fixate on what's going in your mouth every morning?

6. Collectible Quarters in Display Case
Really peeps. If they feel compelled, people will collect on their own.

7. Gift Cards
Yeah, gifting a card is like throwing a large net or trolling the ocean floor. Thinking about who the person is and giving a gift tailored to their personalities makes a larger statement of affection than an indiscrimate piece of plastic.

8. Jar full of Notes/ Quoe of the Day Calender
Agreed. The former is a jar full of trash. Just ping your friend or send them a Someecards. You can choose very specific topics relevant to your friend's current status.

9. Paperweights
Yup, a rock would be just as good and more cost-effective.

10. Motivational Gifts
Sarcasm, humor, and self-awareness will carry someone through a bad period than chirpy optimism.

11. Virtual Movie Glasses
Alright. We don't spend every day at an IMAX. Why gift this? 

12. Keepsakes
I received a graduate keepsake from a family member. I think it was a metal-plated column of some sort engraved with my year of graduation. It remained in its box. It couldn't really compete with my college diploma. Keepsakes are space eaters.

13. Mail-Order Fruit
I completely support shopping for my produce locally. Get to know your local varieties. Although, I would gladly accept Harry and David's peaches. Truly some of the juiciest, delicious peaches I've ever eaten. 

14. Cigars
Agreed. I'm not a fat cat nor do I know any. We're all hoping to get by this recession.

15. Leaf Blowers
May we recommend a rake?

In 1977, a new variable was introduced to the retail market: plastic shopping bags. The inventors and marketers of plastic bags thought they could fill a vacuum by marketing plastic bags as the solution to the problem of paper bag production: having to cut down trees. This threw the old paper bag into a funk.

Plastic bags became one of those pyrrhic victories. It won over paper but lost in helping us achieve the original goal of sustainability. Both plastic and paper came hand in hand with the single-use principle. They were convenient and easy to throw away. Such disposability has resulted in urban landscapes strewn with random plastic trash. Beyond the land, our oceans are filled with similar consumer trash. In the Northern Pacific Gyre, an area twice the size of Texasis filled with plastic. Its name, the Eastern Garbage Patch, is a lovely evocation of our postmodern era of unintended consequences and recovery. Visualize this last half century’s legacy as a whirlpool of plastic junk.

Plastic bags are also petroleum products and have all the associated problems of fossil fuels. The most immediate is the environmental and health impacts from extracting crude oil, the production of plastic and finally, its longevity. A single fragment of plastic can last for four hundred to one thousand years. As it degrades, its chemicals leak into the ecosystem and up the food chain.

Additionally, plastics have varying degrees of recyclability. More...

Many people can't afford a new car and many banks still hesitate to loan out money. So if you do have a well-used car, take some time to watch EcoDriving USA's video. They also provide tips for conserving gas while driving and maintaining your vehicle into a greener machine. And yes, you can find Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger greeting you on the homepage. Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado has also joined this campaign.
These vehicle fuel economy practices help. But it's only one way of being more eco-conscious. It will become a commercial standard one day for cars to exceed the 30 mpg average. In the meantime, live, walk, ride or take public transportation to work. There are many ways to enjoy life, not just when we're speeding along.