Nov. 5, 2007 issue

How to choose eco-friendly holiday presents

Next time your child asks why he didn’t get as many presents as his best friend, explain that you’re just trying to be eco-friendly. Some tips on how to give good, green gifts.

To prevent waste from unwanted presents, give gift cards. “That way, they can get exactly what they need,” says green-lifestyle expert Danny Seo. His other advice: give “one good gift instead of lots of things no one really needs.” (Warning: this will work far better for adults than for kids).

Make a present, like a hand-knit scarf.  Or give a waste-free “experience,” like a bike trip, a spa visit or a gift certificate to an organic restaurant, suggests Jennifer Hattam, the Sierra Club’s green-living expert.

Give new green books like “The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming” by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon; “Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated the World” by Juliana, Isabella and Craig Hatkoff and Gerald Uhlich, or “The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet” by Elizabeth Rogers and others. Classics like Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” or “The John McPhee Reader” are other good choices. Also, consider buying books printed largely on recycled paper, such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” (Scholastic worked with the Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council) and Dr. Seuss’s anti-pollution kids’ book, “The Lorax,” which conveys a message about caring for the planet.

Give kids wood-block toys that will last for years and not require electricity or batteries. That way you also don’t need to worry about chemicals like phthalates.

Consider a subscription to a green magazine like Energy Times (see www.bazurashop.com).

If you want to give cosmetics or perfumes, find companies that signed agreements to eliminate potentially unsafe ingredients in their cosmetic and body-care products, including the Body Shop and Burt’s Bees, by checking the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Web site, (www.safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm).

Finally, consider giving gifts made from renewable resources, such as the Pampered Chef’s new line of cookware made from bamboo. A cheese board sells for $24 at pamperedchef.com.