Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas? I think not. If you plan early and do a little research, green alternatives aren’t hard to find; there’s something eco-friendly out there for everyone on your list.

Top 10 Green Gifts

1. Homemade Bodycare Products

For the: makeup lover, spa junkie, or anyone who could use a little pampering

Why it’s Green: There are tons of natural beauty products out there, but why not kick it up a notch and make your own? You can make this present as green as you want it to be!

Generally, homemade products are free from toxins and dangerous ingredients because you use pure, simple ingredients like essential oils and skin care oils like almond, olive or grapeseed. Using baking tools you already have at home, plus some simple ingredients, you can create countless products. You can also clean and re-use glass packaging from old bodycare products (which saves money and packaging) and use organic and local ingredients whenever possible.

Why they’ll love it: You can personalize these products to make something perfect for that special someone. Use essential oils to create their favourite scents (such as rose, citrus or vanilla) and keep in mind their skin type (oily, dry) to create a unique product that they can’t find on the shelf. There are tons of great recipes online.

2. Tools to Refuse Plastic

For the: friend who’s always on-the-go

Why it’s Green: Saving non-recyclable, toxic food containers and wrappers from contaminating our environment and ending up in the oceans—how can this not be green? I’m not just talking about stainless steel water bottles and travel mugs here: everything from chopsticks, cutlery, stainless steel drinking straws, cloth napkins and glass or stainless steel food containers are a must if you’re always on-the-go and don’t have time for a sit-down meal with real cutlery and dishes. If you’re armed with these tools on hand, you can easily refuse the disposable plastic that’s always forced on consumers.

Why they’ll love it: Now that they’re becoming more popular, stainless steel water bottles and travel mugs come in stylish designs that will please even the most reluctant environmentalist-in-training.

3. Refillable Pen

For the: student, business professional or creative writer

Why it’s Green: Instead of throwing out hundreds of pens and wasting plastic, investing in one reusable high-quality pen that will last forever is significantly better for the environment.

Why they’ll love it: Not only is this gift environmentally-friendly, a serious writer or student will appreciate how much more professional and beautiful a high-quality pen looks.

4. Natural Rubber Yoga Mat

For the: yoga and fitness enthusiast

Why it’s Green: With yoga becoming so popular, we should re-evaluate the typical yoga mats being used. Regular yoga mats are made from PVC, a toxic plastic that has been labelled a carcinogen. Available online, natural rubber yoga mats are the natural alternative to synthetic mats. They’re plastic-free, non-toxic and biodegradable and they work just as well as their PVC cousins. 

Why they’ll love it: Chances are, anyone who practises yoga is doing so as part of an overall healthy lifestyle. Knowing that you’re breathing in toxins during Downward Facing Dog isn’t a pleasant idea.

5. Hot Air Popper

For the: foodie

Why it’s Green: Did you know that microwave popcorn bags are lined with toxic non-stick coatings? Yes, even organic microwave popcorn. Plus, the vast majority of microwave popcorn is genetically modified and loaded with trans fat and salt. The hot air popper is an old idea that is ready for a comeback. Depending on which kind you get, they can be a little pricey, but avoiding toxins is well worth the investment. Plus, they’re so much more fun to use.

Why they’ll love it: Everyone loves popcorn! Pair it with some organic hot cocoa and a movie, and you’ve got the perfect remedy for a cold winter night.

6. Gardening Supplies

For the: friend with a green thumb

Why it’s Green: Growing your own food is one of the greenest (and healthiest) things you can do. Help out your favourite gardener by giving stylish gardening gloves, hand-held tools, beautiful ceramic pots, a watering can and other supplies from you local gardening/landscaping store.

Why they’ll love it: Sure it’s not the season yet, but we can dream about the sunshine, can’t we?

7. Hemp Clothing

For the: fashionista

Why it’s Green: Organic cotton and bamboo are great, but you’ve got to hand it to hemp as the winner of the best eco-friendly fabric. It’s durable, comfortable, naturally resistant to mold and mildew, and doesn’t require chemicals to grow compared to cotton. It’s even strong enough to act as a vegetarian alternative for wallets, purses, bags, belts and shoes.

Why they’ll love it: It’s fashionable! They’ll have no idea it’s hemp until they look at the tag. Check out The Hempest (http://store.hempest.com/catalog/) for some great pieces.

8. Indoor Plants

For the: homeowner

Why it’s Green: Unlike some gifts where you’re looking for a “better” alternative, plants are perfectly environmentally-friendly on their own! Not only do they add oxygen to the air, but they clean the air of indoor toxins too. For a sophisticated look, choose a bamboo plant, an exotic palm or a cactus. For the more traditional friend, flowers or ivy work well. Small evergreens are also perfect for this time of year.

Why they’ll love it: They’ll make any room look stylish and cheerful. There are lots of varieties that need virtually no water, so it’s not too much to care for them. Plus, they can be transferred outdoors if they ever get too big.

9. Gift Certificate for a yoga lesson, photography workshop, cooking class, etc…

For the: friend who has everything or the friend who refuses material gifts

Why it’s Green: There’s nothing being produced, shipped or wasted here because it’s all about the experience instead of a material object.

Why they’ll love it: They can do something they love, and you can do something together. There are countless possibilities: a craft, sport or dance they’ve always wanted to try, a massage, an event they’ve been hinting about, an annual pass to a museum…

10. Make-it-yourself Birdhouse and Birdfeeder

For the: family with young kids

Why it’s Green: Birdhouses can teach kids to love nature and care for animals at an early age. Plus, songbirds are in danger these days due to hungry neighbourhood cats, so they need all the help they can get!

Why they’ll love it: Putting it together is a fun project that can be done as a family and watching winter birds take refuge in your backyard is definitely rewarding. Plus, the kids can spend some time outdoors instead of in front of the TV. If you decorate it, make sure you use natural, non-toxic paints!

Top 10 Stocking Stuffers

1. Take a trip to your local health food store and fill cloth gift bags with organic chocolate-covered fruit and nuts.
2. Organic and Fair Trade Certified bulk tea and coffee are stocking stuffer classics with an eco-friendly twist!
3. Natural beeswax or soy based candles are an eco-friendly alternative to paraffin-based candles with synthetic (and toxic) fragrances.
4. Give small, medium and large lightweight drawstring cloth bags for produce and bulk food to the shopper in the family. While many people have swapped their plastic bags for reusable ones, produce and bulk bags are often overlooked. Washable, organic cotton or hemp bags are best.
5. Organic cotton or hemp facial washcloths are a perfect companion to any natural bodycare products.
6. Warm and cozy hats, scarves, socks and mittens made from organic cotton or non-dyed wool are perfect for the cold days (preferably from local vendors at craft fairs).
7. Homemade natural and organic foods are so much better than store-bought! Give away jams and preserves (in bpa-free glass jars), cookies and baked goods and organic hot cocoa mix.
8. Packets of organic vegetable or flower seeds will keep until spring when they can be planted.
9. For the student, recycled pencils, notebooks and other environmentally-friendly supplies are useful and stylish.
10. Make some homemade lip balms (see above for more information). Try a combination of peppermint and vanilla essential oils for a lip balm that smells and tastes like candy canes!

Top Places to go shopping

Skip the big box stores and find something unique and environmentally friendly:

1. Winter farmers’ markets and craft sales: you’ll find one-of-a-kind gifts and local creations, and you’ll get to meet the people behind the products.
2. Local artisan shops and boutiques: like farmer’s markets and craft sales, you’ll find unique pieces of artwork that are locally made.
3. Your local health food store: find specialty and organic foods, preferably with minimal packaging.
4. Online: if you’re looking for something specific or don’t have many environmentally-friendly alternatives nearby, there are tons of green companies online that ship right to your door.

Wait! What about wrapping paper?

This isn’t as tough as it seems. My favourite (and free!) choice is newspaper, especially from the comics section. If you don’t have a subscription, there are tons of free dailies around that get recycled (or thrown out) every day. Snag some and re-use them.

If you’re really trying to impress and newsprint won’t cut it for Grandma, reusable cloth bags of all sizes work well to wrap gifts. Opt for real fabrics (cotton or hemp) instead of reusable bags that look like cloth but are really made from synthetic materials and more plastic.

As far as bows go, skip the cheap plastic ribbon. Reuse what you have and when you run out, use hemp twine, which can be saved and reused for gardening in the spring!

Breakfast: good for you and the planet!

Many teens either skip breakfast or grab something starchy and sugary on the way to school. However, from a nutritional point of view, breakfast is the most important part of the day. The solution? A fast and easy breakfast smoothie. You can make your own with protein powder, yogurt and frozen berries, or try Vega smoothie mixes. They have protein for energy, plus all your vitamins and minerals to start the day right. Vega compared its Whole Food Optimizer to a “traditional North American breakfast” including hashbrowns, eggs and bacon, and a “light North American breakfast” including yogurt, cereal and banana. According to the Vega website, there are 38 times more greenhouse gas emissions created by traditional breakfast and 10 times more greenhouse gases created by the light breakfast compared to Vega. Thus, switching to Vega for a year would be equivalent to turning off a 60 watt light bulb for 12,500 hours, or 521 consecutive days (Source: http://sequelnaturals.com/).

Transportation

If no school bus is provided for your school, consider car-free ways of getting to and from class every day. Walk, bike, or create a “walking school bus”, where a group of children walk to school supervised by one or more adult. It’s safer in numbers, easy on the planet, good physical activity and simple for parents, who can take turns supervising. Visit http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/ for more details. If all else fails, carpool or take transit.

Waste-Free Lunch

• Use stainless steel water bottles instead of plastic disposable ones. As I’ve mentioned before, stainless steel is non-toxic, durable, easy to clean and does not rust. Green Bottle (http://www.greenbottleonline.com/) has plenty of fun designs kids will love to brag about to their classmates. They come in 12 oz, 20 oz and 25 oz sizes with a variety of lids including sport tops.
• Look for non-toxic, BPA free Tupperware such as Preserve. Some companies like By Nature and Bento Box Systems offer complete lunch sets for kids including cloth napkins, reusable bags and storage containers. Nubius Organics sells toxin-free reusable cutlery made from bamboo.

Clothes

For back to school clothing shopping, thrift stores are the way to go. Treasure hunting at second hand stores can be just as much fun as showing off the new fashions. It’s amazing to see how many designer labels and never-worn items there are. Plus, kids and teens love having unique pieces that’ll be the envy of all their friends.

For new clothes, even the biggest stores such as Roots Canada, H & M and The Gap are jumping on the organic cotton bandwagon for kids clothes. It’s never been easier to find eco-friendly clothing close to home and at reasonable prices. Just make sure the percentage of organic fibre is high—be wary of 10% organic cotton/90% polyester blends! Bamboo, hemp and soy are other great earth-friendly fabrics.

Supplies

• Before school starts, sort through supplies from the previous years and keep whatever possible. You’ll be saving money in the process.
• Refillable pens and pencils are a smart alternative to disposables. Or, if you prefer, Earthzone pencils are made out of 100% post consumer recycled newspapers—no wood used!
• Paints should be water, not oil based.
• From binders to notebooks, avoid PVC plastic, instead opting for cardboard and paper. In all your paper purchases, look for recycled and non-chlorine bleached options. Remember that unless it says “Post-consumer waste” it may be scrap paper that never left the factory. Try Ecojot Notebooks—they come in cute, stylish patterns and are 100%  post-consumer recycled. For printer paper, most big brand retailers offer recycled options as well. Along the same lines, reduce before you re-use—don’t print rough copies of assignments unless absolutely necessary.
• Backpacks should ideally be made from all-natural materials, such as durable hemp. Otherwise, check out PVC free options at http://www.nubiusorganics.com.

At-School Projects

Environmental class projects don’t have to be reserved for Earth day. There are tons of fun ways to encourage environmental activism to suggest to teachers and school staff. Younger children may enjoy taking nature walks, going on field trips to the recycling depot, and planting trees in the school yard. Students in older grades may wish to start a class vegetable garden and school compost project, or petition for organic options in their school cafeteria.

The day has finally come for industrial hemp. Hemp products are reaching mainstream markets and becoming more and more popular. However, although hemp crops have been around for literally thousands of years, the benefits of this important crop are still being overshadowed by its controversial stigma as marijuana. 

What is Hemp?

Hemp (also known as Cannabis sativa L.) is a diverse plant encompassing over 500 varieties. This article refers to industrial hemp, used for food, cloth and other commodities, as opposed to marijuana.

Contrary to popular belief, marijuana and hemp, though related, are not synonymous. The levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (the psychoactive chemical in marijuana) are less than 0.3% in hemp. Conversely, industrial hemp contains a relatively high percentage of another chemical called CBD, which actually impedes psychoactive effects of marijuana. Therefore, eating hemp, smoking hemp or using hemp products will not get you high.

Benefits of Hemp

A highly renewable resource, hemp’s adaptability, sustainability and durability set it apart from other natural plants. Compared to cotton crops, which require enormous amounts of pesticides and herbicides to grow, hemp thrives without chemicals and without much water. In fact, hemp crops actually enrich the soil, instead of depleting it of nutrients. Plus, hemp grows quickly, making it a perfect sustainable crop.

Products Made From Hemp

Next time you go shopping, keep an eye open for these great hemp products:

• Clothing: As clothing, hemp stays cool in the heat and warm in cold weather. Hemp cloth is more durable than cotton, but just as comfortable. Its cloth is naturally resistant to mold and mildew. These days, hemp clothing doesn’t mean burlap sacks—there are tons of comfortable, trendy clothes for men and women made from hemp or hemp/organic cotton blends. It’s not just t-shirts either; look for hemp underwear, pyjamas and even wedding gowns. Plus, it is a great vegetarian alternative to leather or synthetic fibres in wallets, purses, bags, belts and shoes.

Brand to check out: The Hempest (http://store.hempest.com/catalog/)

• Food: Hemp seeds (also called Hemp Hearts) are extremely high in protein, fibre, and omega 3 fatty acids (the “healthy fats”). They are also delicious and have a nutty taste, similar to sunflower seeds. Try some sprinkled over your oatmeal, cold cereal, yogurt, or straight out of the package. Other hemp products include protein powder, oil, flour, and “hemp milk”—a vegan alternative to milk!

Brand to check out: Manitoba Harvest

• Body Care: The natural, healthy oils in hemp makes great, moisturizing lip balms, body lotions, shampoos and conditioners and even massage oils.

Brand to check out: The Merry Hempsters

• Cleaning Products: Hemp produces all-purpose, all-vegetable, liquid soap that can be used for bathing, dishes, laundry and more.

Brand to check out: Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap

• Household Products: Rope, twine and yarn made from hemp is very strong. Try using hemp twine in the garden to support and tie climbing plants, such as tomatoes. Paper products include journals, napkins and greeting cards. Products for the kitchen range from pot holders and oven mitts, to aprons, towels and more.     

Brand to check out: Rawganique (http://www.rawganique.com/index.htm)

Of course, there are hundreds more brands and stores that carry hemp products. Try this search engine to find hemp products and stores near you (in Canada and the US): http://www.hempstores.com/. Better yet, do some research of your own and see what you come up with.

Regulatory Issues

Since 1998, Canada has grown industrial hemp. It is federally regulated and all hemp crops must legally be GMO free.

Unfortunately, hemp is still facing obstacles being seen as a valuable, environmentally friendly crop and not a drug. In the US, where hemp is continually associated with marijuana, hemp crops are illegal without a permit. There, hemp is regulated under the Drug Enforcement Administration instead of the Department of Agriculture, where it belongs. Thankfully, there is a growing movement against these regulations. Visit their website Vote Hemp (http://www.votehemp.com/) for more information and to learn how to get involved.