December 13, 2007

Holidays, Minus the Junk

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 12:00AM

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As the holidays draw neigh, you're once again forced to wrack your mind for yet another gift to give Uncle Bob and little Suzie in honor of your winter holiday of choice. But if the thought of exchanging more unnecessary crap while huddled around a dead conifer gives you the willies, here are some ideas that are easy, practical, and better for the world.

Get political. What beats an iPhone in your stocking? Why, electing politicians who don't want to bomb Iran, of course. Help make 2008 something really special with a donation in your loved one's name to a presidential or Congressional campaign.

Not really into electoral politics? You can make a donation to any number of great organizations, like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, NAACP, or Red Cross, to name a few. Just like to hear about what's going on in politics? Give to your favorite non-corporate news outlet like PBS, NPR, or a non-profit publication.

Share an experience. Chances are Grandma has already forgotten about that foot massager you bought her last year. But she might actually remember hanging out with you this holiday season, whether that's spent rocking out at a death metal show, whale-watching, or taking a road trip to see the world's largest bottle of ketchup. Depending on what your grandmother's into, of course.

Give something to someone else. Make a donation through Oxfam's America Unwrapped program in the name of your loved one, and Oxfam will give a gift to someone who needs it. Donation amounts are quantified by the items they could be used to purchase, like a sheep, mosquito nets, trees or a bike. For a $100 donation, someone in Swaziland could have their very own donkey! The person you donate in honor of receives a snazzy card featuring a photo of what the donation supported.

Curb their emissions. Through carbon offset providers like TerraPass and CarbonFund, you can help Uncle Bob lessen his footprint on the planet. How it works: you give money to an offset provider, and they invest that money in carbon reduction projects like wind farms, solar arrays, and reforestation to help counteract the carbon-emitting activities of Uncle Bob's daily life.

Junk the junk. Help make your loved ones' lives junk-mail-free this holiday with a subscription to GreenDimes, a private business that will contact obnoxious companies and get their names off direct mail lists. The service costs just $3 a month, and users report an average 70-90 percent reduction in junk mail. Those three bucks are also used to plant a tree each month in the subscriber's name, which helps offset carbon as well. About 5.8 million tons of junk mail ends up in the landfill each year rather than getting recycled, so this is an easy way to help someone declutter their life and save a few trees.

Subscribe to the theory. Independent publications need all the help they can get these days. Investing in subscriptions for your friends and family not only gives them a year of enjoyment and helps keep indie media afloat, but it also gives you a chance to slip little Suzie something subversive.