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Green living is not just about leaving a smaller footprint on the earth. By living and giving green, people will improve their personal budgets, reduce waste in their homes and communities, and role model conservationist behaviors to the world around them. Giving green means giving practical, real, and useful gifts to the people you care about during this holiday season. Here is a list of tips for greening your holiday shopping list.

Toys:

Children are often the focus of the holiday season. With so many toys available on the market, I wondered what toys the kids in my own life were playing with. What I discovered astonished me. The favorite toys of my 3 year old nephew were a cardboard box and a paper-towel tube that served as trumpet, oar, telescope, and magic wand. My friend's 8 year old daughter preferred mummifying her dolls with toilet paper, while her 10 year old brother's favorite toy was a potato gun. I concluded that while children have been trained to see a commercial and say "I want that", they are really content with things that inspire their imaginations. So, why not give them presents that do just that? Go to a local carpenter's shop and purchase wood block scraps. Add some tempera paints and you have a DIY building block set. Hit a local thrift store for an array of zany dress-up outfits, wigs, shoes and purses and you have a "make-believe kit". Sign a child up for a local library book-reading program or a national program like The Children's Book Exchange and include a stack of books from a local bookstore to foster some creativity while staying green.

Stress Relief:

The pressure to give can be overwhelming for many adults. Green gifts like movie theatre gift certificates, season passes to local stage theatres or music societies, and tickets to sports events and concerts not only reduce environmental waste but can provide some much needed rest and relaxation too. Or beat stress by buying a gift certificate to your local adult education program or enroll your "giftee" in a ceramics or yoga class. Couple any of these with a homemade book of "I will babysit for free" coupons, and you'll have given a gift that can truly be cherished.

Stuff:

If you have your heart set on giving a tangible gift, then one of the best ways to stay green is to support local businesses who buy and sell retail products made locally rather than packaged and shipped worldwide. Farmer's markets offer homemade jams, jellies, fudge, and pies, and boutiques often offer original items

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