Great Green Gifts

I always despised holiday shopping until I started research for d2e. Not only is driving to several stores, sitting in traffic, and purchasing goods flown in from all over the world detrimental to the environment, but it can also be miserable. This year I found a new one-stop shopping destination, Greenward in Porter Square. They even offer a 10% discount to Zipcar members!

For my buddies at the office, I got a kitchen scrubber from Loofah-art, to clean out our reusable mugs. I’m embarrassed to say that I thought loofah was a sea sponge, but apparently it comes from a squash-like plant. These scrubbers are 100% biodegradable, colored with natural vegetable dyes, hand sewn, and support small farmers and educational initiatives in India. And they’re adorable. I might keep the beet for myself. I also got Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap for our bathroom.

For my roomies (ok, so it's mostly for me . . .), I got a really funky floor mat, in the design of a manhole cover and made from recycled tires, by Fred. Look how cool it looks with the new rubber boots I bought last Thursday to aid my walk home during the snow storm.

Since my mom and dad can barely pronounce “blog” and certainly don’t read any, I have no qualms telling the rest of the world about a gift I bought for them, a really nice stainless-steel kitchen compost holder by Norpro. This will be a much lovelier way to keep peelings and eggshells on their new kitchen countertop, and will encourage them to use the compost bin I set up in their back yard.

I think they’ll also get a kick out of the biodegradable Business Bags I found, a different kind of "doggie bag" they can use to clean up after their new puppies.

Lastly, for some lucky youngster who participates in Toys for Tots, I got a darling little wooden bean with wheels, from Nest based in Holyoke, MA. This toy is made of sustainably harvested hardwood with non-toxic paint, and is packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled chipboard.

There are a slew of Green Gift Guides this December for the greeniac in your life (I hope Santa reads my blog!). Fortunately, it’s not all hemp and composting equipment, although there are definitely some beautiful products in those categories. For a stuff-free holiday season, check out these suggestions from Grist. If you’re looking for something wrappable, I like Treehugger, Inhabitat, The Daily Green and Co-Op America's suggestions. For the artsy, check out Etsy, which plays host to artists offering handmade items for sale, many from recycled and vintage materials.

If you’re looking for brick-and-mortar stores in the Boston area for your green gift needs, a few others besides Greenward are Fiddlehead on Newbury Street, Dunia-Ecostore in Maynard, and Hatched in Jamaica Plain. As for clothing, The Hempest has some lovely offerings made from fast-growing hemp, and Envi is THE source for your eco-chic fashionista, but don't overlook consignment shops like Second Time Around and Poor Little Rich Girl.

There are abundant green gift options for everyone in your life, from the eco-chic to the eco-naive, making it easy to make this season a little greener.