Natural and Sustainable

• Recycles Glassware: The Green Glass Company carries the best in fabulous glasses that are recycled from bottles and other sources. Many of the glasses still have the shapes of the item they were repurposed from. (Starting at $32.50)

• Organic Jeans: Loomstate has the best in organic jeans wear and they are 100% made from organic sources. They are soft and they have sizes to fit the most challenging of body frames. ($161)

• Vegan Handbags: Vamp carries the most in fashionable bags and they don’t harm anything in the making. They are animals friendly and offer a green solution to the many handbags on the market that harm the environment in the making and the carrying. They are made from 100% post consumer recycled materials and you can feel good about carrying them with your eco-friendly items inside, of course. ($104)

• Pick Sustainable Flowers: Organic Bouquet offers flowers and plant options that do not harm the environment and they stay fresh for quite awhile too. It is a great way to bring the outdoors in and to brighten your home as well. ($30)

• Go with Natural Cleaners: Shaklee’s Cleaners has the options that don’t cause issues with the environment or your health. They offer nontoxic organic cleaners that can clean just about anything in a nonabrasive and in an eco-friendly way. ($12.15)

• Go Natural with Makeup Choices: Burt’s Bees offers the most up-to-date looking products for your face, body and even hair. The percentage of natural or organic ingredients in listed on the outer box or even right on the label of the product. So you know exactly what you are putting on your skin or hair. They currently have gift packaging starting at $5.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Don’t just consider organic, sustainable or natural with your gift, consider it as an option for your wrapping and packaging of the product as well. Every little bit helps and it can also help you spark a conversation about recycling with the receiver or anyone else in ear-shot.

With the holiday season vastly approaching us, why not add an earth-conscious resolution to that list of Christmas gift ideas. Green gifting is becoming more and more popular with every year comes something new to have to buy a gift for. There are all kinds of ways to be a better gifter and help the environment out while you bare those gifts. Here are the top for way to green gift.

Expensive gift: Give the gift of green with the Natural Habitat Adventure. This is a travel company that practices responsible tourism and helps to ensure as little of an impact as they can when the areas are visited. Some destinations include Amazon rainforest and the coastal line of New Zealand. Trips range from $3,995 and up.

Inexpensive: Give the gift of green by giving fair-trade journals from Rajasthan, India. These are made from recycled cotton and are chemical free in everyway. They also help create jobs for rural artisans and help protect the environment as well. Journals range from $9.95 and up.

Expensive: Give the gift of green with Organic Wine Company. Based in San Francisco this company helps support ethical farming practices and you can sign dad up for a month or longer. Cost range from $47 a month and up.

Inexpensive: Gift the gift of green with Herban Cowboy organic grooming products that include soap, shave cream, deodorant and they all vegan with herbal extract and oils. Prices range from $4 and up.

Expensive: Give the gift of green with one of a kind handmade tableware they can add to their new home. Ceramic bowls from Thailand, blown glass from Mexico and bamboo serving trays from Bali. Prices range from $30 and up.)

Inexpensive: Give the gift of green with 100 percent organic cotton sheets and pillowcase that have produced without the use of chemicals, or chlorines and even imprinted with eco friendly dyes as well. Prices range from $26.

Expensive: Give the gift of green with New Native 100 percent organic cotton carriers for the baby. This is a shoulder-to hip sling that helps mom and her infant stay close and it is such a wonder ideal way to discreetly feed baby. Prices range from $48 and up.

Inexpensive: Give the gift of green with California Baby. Made with essential oils and free of sodium lauryl sulfates and DEAs and they are 100% safe for infant’s skins. Prices range from $11.95 and up.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: The Sustainable Living Road Show is winding down it’s Be the Change national tour this month. They will be visiting K-12 grade schools and universities nation wide. For dates and tour locations log onto the Sustainable Living Road Show web page by clicking here.

It’s that time again; time to think about holiday gifts. With the Holidays coming in less that four months, now is the perfect time to think about getting the perfect gift, so why not give green? Organic and other environmentally friendly offering let you express your style and help you protect the planet as well. The best green gift and eco friendly gifts are those that use no resources at all to make.

If you have the name of a recipient that has everything then consider these gift options this year for Christmas gifts.

• Plant a weeping cheery blossom tree in their front yard; this will signify a sign growth and bounty. Of course get permission first.

• Donate to a particular charity in your recipients name. You can give to such things like disaster relief, animal rescue, art groups, and school functions. Make sure that the charity is what your friend would prefer not you.

• Check the label. Look for items that use organic materials and are fair trade. Buy energy efficient appliance as a gift. Always look for the Energy Star logo.

• Recycle and Reuse by avoiding plastics and non recyclable paper goods. Make your own gift wrap by using old maps, old brochures and even comics from the newspaper and some magazines as well.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Keep this in mind when purchasing diamonds: Carat, cut, clarity and color aren’t the only c’s that need to be thought about when purchasing your next diamonds, Rebels in Central and West African countries use the funds from conflict diamonds, also known as “: blood diamonds”, to help finance civil wars and carry out atrocities against their civilians. Look for diamonds that are considered clean or conflict free. This mind sake is just as important as seeking items that are “fair trade”.

If you are like most households, after the gift wrapping and unwrapping is over, what’s the first thing that happens? Many people just pick up those wrapping waste and pitches them all in the trash, even bows that aren’t even damaged. According to Earth 911, Americans alone, produce 25% more garbage from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Wow! So instead of adding to that percentage try some of these tips to reduce the waste that comes out of your own home during this time.

1. Christmas Tree Waste: Instead of adding your tree to the pile by the curb, mulch it and use those clippings to add to your garden or flowerbed. You can even cut the tree in segments and place them in the bottom of a compost pile or even line a flower bed or walkway with the cuttings.

2. Gift Card Waste: Instead of pitching those holiday cards after the season is over, clip them and use them as gift tags the following year. I found it is neat to receive the card you sent the year before as a gift tag on your package for that current year. It adds a special touch to the receiver’s gift. And try switching your cards envelopes to plain white ones instead of colored ones. The white ones can be recycled over the colored ones that can’t.

3. Extra Gift Waste: If you received a new high-tech blender for Christmas, and you want the other one gone, don’t just throw it out. Recycle it, donate it or post it on a website such as FreeCycle to give to someone who is in need of one. You can use this link for everything and anything that is still functional that you don’t want anymore.

4. Wrapping Paper and Ribbon Waste: You got to pick up that big pile of wrapping paper waste and ribbons, so why not got through them and salvage what you can use again. Ribbons alone have years of life to them and some can’t even be recycled. Instead of using paper for your gifts, consider using newspaper or even cloth to wrap them up.

Consider these tips this year when the holiday season rolls around. You can save the planet and even save you some money in the long run.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Agaves are very drought tolerant and don’t consume as much water as many other plants might and will. Before you head out to purchase a plant of flower that needs a lot of water, consider purchasing a few agaves. You will save yourself money and the expense and waste of water as well.