by Talina Norris

Created on: April 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

Giving green gifts is more rewarding than giving a regular gift because you are pleasing the gift recipient and you are in a way giving a gift to the earth as well. Green gifts are gifts that are beneficial to the earth.

GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE
I love plants, so my first recommendation of a green gift would be a blooming bulb gift (http://www.craftedcustomgifts.com/blooming-bulb-gif t.html). These are cool because they are beautiful, they symbolize renewed life/ new beginnings and they come back year after year. They can go in an office windowsill or just about anywhere. Bulbs are easy to take care of too. This gift will be enjoyed year after year and plants clean the air so it's a win/ win gift for everyone!

GIVE A CONSERVATION GIFT
This last holiday season I got many green gifts that I absolutely loved! I live in Arizona (it's a desert) and conserving water is a big deal. I have really been interested in using collected rainwater for the garden, that way I would be saving water and having a lovely garden. My mother found the ingenious rainwater barrel online (http://www.craftedcustomgifts.com/wordpress/save-wa ter-and-have-a-beautiful-garden/gardening/) and had it shipped to me. It hooks up to your gutter and it collects/ stores rain for use later. Ours was filled up from all the snow melt this winter and it's still fairly full for my spring gardening!

I also had the pleasure of receiving a composter this holiday season. I was amazed to see how much waste can be reduced by composting and recycling! My composter simply turns organic waste into mulch/ soil for the garden. Things like junk mail, fruit and veggie waste, grass clippings and wood chip etc are put into the composter. I keep the contents of the composter damp and nature (heat and bacteria) breaks the stuff down for me. You can get your own compost bin online or through your local waste management company for a discount.

GIVE AN EDIBLE GIFT
Our town has a CSA (community supported agriculture project) where food is grown locally and community members pay to receive a share of the harvest every week. The foods are grown locally so you are supporting local agriculture and it's comforting to know where your food comes from and how it is treated. (The 100-mile diet (http://100milediet.org/) urges "local eating for global change" and has much information about why eating locally is better.) You can buy a membership to a local CSA and give it as a gift. You can also give and organic dried fruit basket or you can give

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