Green Options

According to Gift Bags Gone Green every year Americans spend more than $5 billion dollars on gift wrap, bags, and tissue paper of which the majority ends up in landfills.

To offer a unique and green approach to the gift wrap industry Gift Bags Gone Green have created fun and funky fabric gift bags that are washable and reusable. The bags are not only green because they are reusable but they are made from upcycled, reused, and vintage fabrics.

Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

Mother’s Day is only a few days from now and if you’re anything like me – you don’t have a gift for that beloved mom or mother-law. No need to panic. There are some “kinda green” last minute gift ideas to save you from looking foolish.

1. Tech Savvy Moms and for big spenders you might want to pay extra for two day shipping or overnight shipping (not so green though) and get the new Amazon Kindle. Help mom save some trees if she reads a lot of papers or books. She’ll love this gift and maybe you can even borrow it? Keep in mind the pros and cons to this great gift last minute is the shipping and there is some debate on whether this device or others like it are all that green. Another option is a e-certificate for mom to pick out her own Kindle or maybe she likes Ebooks on her laptop or computer and would enjoy a e-certificate from Ecobrain.
2. Plant a Fruit Tree. If mom has everything she needs and doesn’t need more junk try giving her something that will help other people. In her honor, plant a fruit tree and support a non-profit organization that gives the gift of fresh fruit and sustainability. Mom is sure to appreciate this!

Are you looking for wonderful green gifts for your eco-mama? Here are some little eco-luxuries that will make great green gifts for the woman on your Mother’s Day list this year.

Green Candlelight

Many women adore candles yet most traditional candles are made with petroleum by products, toxic fragrances and lead laden wicks.

Good news! There are now many eco-candles available so you can feed her candle addiction with candles made from soy wax, beeswax or even vegetable based paraffins, those are all green options. So give your green mama an eco candle this year.

If you’re looking for an eco-friendly place for Valentine’s Day gifts, check out Organica Deluxe.

The online eco-boutique offers eco-conscious minded consumers gift options for every occasion: Baby, Wedding & Anniversary, Birthday, Thinking of You, Get-Away, Thank You, House Warming, Holiday and more.

“We created Organica Deluxe because we wanted a beautiful place to buy eco-friendly and organic for ourselves and our friends,” say owners Wendy James and Jane Hunter.

“We recognized that organic companies often miss the gorgeous and ever miss the green when creating packaging.”

One sweet eco-friendly gift from Organica Deluxe is their BABY LOVE gift set.  “This delightful assortment of organic goodies is filled with softness and love for baby’s sensitive skin,” says Organica Deluxe.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, if you haven’t thought about what to give your sweetheart yet then it is time to get ready. On top of picking out the perfect gifts to give, you also have to consider just how green your Valentine’s Days gifts are. From chocolates to flowers there are environmentally friendly gift alternatives to help you add a little green to cupid’s arrow. Here are the top 5 green Valentine’s Day gift ideas for you to give.

You know green is popular when that’s what people are buying, even though some green gifts cost a little more and we all know these are tough times. People want to spend their money responsibly and wisely by getting gifts that are safe and are going to last.

I am surprised by how many people are shopping green this year, even in Flint and surrounding areas. Green toys are really a big thing and some stores can’t seem to keep them in stock.

Reduce paper waste and save trees with creative green holiday promotions. This article showcases the creative green holiday promotion of Von Glitschka, a small business owner, and offers tips for more sustainable holiday marketing.

My editor asked me to post a few more ideas on what an Ecopreneurist or any business interested in giving green gifts this year, might give customers for the holidays.

I wanted to approach the idea from two points. First, I am in the promotional items business. For our industry the main purpose of gift giving is to say thank you to the clients you have done business with in the past year, and to keep your name in front of those clients so that they do business with you next year.

Second, as an Econpreneurist gift giving gives my business a chance to show off our green credentials but also - maybe - influence our clients, not all of whom are green, about becoming more green in their own businesses.

So I decided to start off with something very basic. Mugs.

A basic mug cost little and can normally be printed on both the front and back, so there is a lot of room for both your logo and a message.

Perhaps “Thank you for your business in 2008. Think of XYZ company in 2009 for all your ABC needs” on the front and maybe an eco message like “Americans throw away an estimated 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year. The same Styrofoam cups will be sitting in a landfill 500 years from now. Please re-use this mug each day to lessen your impact on the planet.”  Yes that will all fit on a mug.  And trust me a case of mugs showing up at your client’s office goes a lot farther than a fruit basket.

Looking for an eco-friendly gift this holiday season? How about a renewable energy offset for the computer lovers in your life?

Start-up company Powered Green offers a Wind Energy Sponsorship helping to stop hundreds of pounds of greenhouse gases by sponsoring new wind turbines that make enough clean, green energy to power a computer for seven years.

If you’re going to change the world, wouldn’t you like it to be epic?

Stacey Monk, Co-founder and CEO of Epic Change, does, which is why she and Sanjay Patel decided to launch their unique approach to sparking social change by converting people’s “epic” stories into financial resources they can use to improve their communities, their lives – and the world.

Rooted in the best practices of successful businesses and charities, their somewhat novel approach to funding uses donations to provide interest-free loans to finance community improvement efforts, which they repay by generating revenue-driving projects based on each epic story, and then recycle by duplicating those ideas in other communities, effectively spreading hopefulness and change to everyone their program touches.

I had the opportunity to talk with Stacey to dig a little deeper into their change model, and this impassioned former management consultant with a degree in Public Policy from the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University boasts an impressive resume, but her most compelling attribute by far is a genuine desire to promote positive change and a dewey-eyed hopefulness that makes me believe she can.

The Holiday season is just around the corner, and if you take a gander in any store it will appear that we are already in its midst. For many families, the economy is making us think about saving money this holiday season. We should always be looking for ways to have less impact on Mother Earth. The good news, being green this holiday season will accomplish both.

Here’s how to save money and help the earth this holiday: