With winter holidays already on the brain, you may be thinking about stocking up on gift wrap. The first green rule of thumb is to go used – i.e. wrap gifts in stuff you already have like newspaper, old tissue paper, or even a collage of magazine images. The second rule of thumb is to go with a company making sustainable wrap.

A new eco-paper goods company just appeared on the scene, Ecosaurus, offering paper goods that are 100% recycled, 50% PCW (gift wrap) to 100% PCW (note cards), processed chlorine-free, and printed with vegetable-based inks. No petroleum, and all goods …read more

Each year I say – I should figure out a Christmas holiday tradition for my family that’s not only eco-friendly, but fun, and also something that everyone can swallow.

Facts:
I personally was raised with Christmas – trees, cookies, gifts, the whole darn deal. I liked it and as a kid thought it was mostly fun, but I never loved how hectic it was, and by the time I was in my early 20s I was sick of the whole planning perfect gifts mess.
By the time my son Cedar was born, his dad and I wanted to do something for the …read more

Our last poll was, “How will you green your holiday season,” in which 71 of you voted. Not bad. Many of you were trying to be nice and green this holiday season.

Here’s the break-down, with links if possible so that you can learn more about these topics…

3% of you planned to serve organic meals
10% of you bought fewer gifts
3% of you made recycled decor
3% of you skipped the X-mas tree
10% of you made homemade gifts
1% of you of all vote sent e-cards
3% of you are recycling your gift wrap
1% of you are using reusable …read more

Wishing all the tree hugging families out there a very merry, relaxing, and safe day. If it’s not too cold, try to get outside and enjoy some Christmas Day nature.
PS Don’t forget to recycle that wrap – I had to say something! Cheers

It’s good to reuse wrap, but if you happen to be shopping for new wrap this year, here are some beautiful green options.

Gorgeous Dew Drop Melody Print on Silken Banana Paper – Semi-sheer banana paper with a festive crinkle and silken threads. Handmade in India.

If you’re shipping gifts to friends and family, you can keep it green with the following tips:
Do use recycled boxes and heavy envelopes instead of buying new at the post office. Note that some shipping places don’t accept boxes with lots of oddball writing on them. You can fix this quickly with one sheet of plain brown recycled wrap.
Don’t use polystyrene packing peanuts – they work well at protecting gifts, but are a huge eco-problem because they’re made from non-renewable resources.
Do use biodegradable packing peanuts – they dissolve in water and can even be composted. Get some at U-Haul.
Don’t use …read more

I love this gift idea for kids. It’s fun, creative, not expensive, and completely recyclable.

This treehouse is easy to put together, and you don’t even need glue or scissors – everything is pre-punched. Young kids can do this with parent help. After building you can decorate with paint, glitter, nature objects, or whatever you like. After decorating, you get to play. This treehouse is big enough to use with tiny dolls (like dollhouse size).
Available at Seasons Natural Toys, a company that I’m a little obsessed with.

The Wilson Rebound recycled rubber basketball is made with a rubber cover that consists of 40% recycled scrap rubber. 40%, not the best ever, but way better than nothing; especially if someone on your gift list wants a basketball. Also, so far as balls go, this one is pretty attractive I think. The brown and green is cute, huh?

If you missed my Green & Gorgeous Birthday Gifts post, where I was drooling over Night Owl Paper Goods, one, how come you missed it! Just kidding. Two, that means you missed the code they offered Tree Hugging Family readers.
The folks from Night Owl Paper Goods posted the code, but then emailed me an even better one. I’m pretty glad about this, because it gives me an excuse to show another cool product from them. Since it’s a nice holiday code, you should know that they have these adorable wooden santa owls cards made from eco-friendly, sustainably harvested yellow birch …read more

I’ve got a new green holiday poll up. Check it out in the sidebar to your right – about halfway down the page.
I offered some basic choices for greening your holiday season, but of course I never think of everything. This is where you come in; leave an idea of your own, if you have one, so that everyone stopping by can learn even more ways to green their holiday.
I’m planning on leaving this poll up throughout November and December, so by New Year’s we should have oodles of great green holiday ideas.
Go ahead and vote! 
November current events at …read more