Holiday Gift Ideas That Are Simple and Sustainable

On average, Americans throw away about 25% more garbage between Thanksgiving and New Year's compared to any other time of the year. That means that over the holidays we throw away about 25 millions tons of garbage over and beyond what we would already throw away. Most traditional gift-wrap and tissue paper are unfortunately not recyclable due to the high metallic and dye content in gift-wrap and the short fibers in tissue paper.

Consider giving gifts that are both environmentally friendly and creative this holiday season. For instance, consider giving the gift of an experience. Not only does an experience create a lasting memory, it also does not create more clutter in your home or more trash in our landfills.

Gifts of Experience

* Tickets to a play, concert or movie

* Gift Certificate for a Spa Service such as a massage or facial.

* Professional Lessons for Dance, Music, Singing, or the Arts

* A Professional Service such as a session with a Professional Organizer or a Feng Shui Consultant

* Gift certificate towards Travel

Consumable or "disappearing" gifts such as flowers, baked goods, or coffee are some good ideas for smaller or less expensive gifts. For instance, some organic coffee could be paired with biscotti and/or chocolate. Also, consider choosing one theme, such as coffee, and giving that same gift to several people to save time and money. One year I chose cashmere as a theme and gave several family members cashmere socks made of recycled cashmere sweaters. I simply tied a beautiful, red bow around each pair. I still receive comments from some of my family members about how they loved those luxurious cashmere socks. They weren't at all disappointed that their gift was not unique to each of them. By purchasing several of the same gift, you can simplify gift buying and also save time and money.

Once you have selected the perfect gift, consider all the options in wrapping. It isn't necessary to wrap your gifts in many layers of tissue, boxes, paper, and bows. Instead, try using on of these creative options:

* Wrap gifts in Children's Art Work, Old Maps or Newspaper

* Embellish gifts with Pinecones, Dried flowers, Buttons or Beads

* Use the gift as the wrapping such as Cookies in a Jar

Also, consider not wrapping as another option. Author Sister Jose Hobday describes in her book "Simple Living," a Native American tradition of giving unwrapped gifts. Wrapped gifts are shrouded in secrecy, while unwrapped gifts provide a "flesh-to-flesh" connection and a sense of unity between giver and receiver according to Native American tradition.

Remember the 3 R's in whatever you choose to give this year: Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. It is more important how much thought, creativity, and love you put into your gifts than how much you spent or how much wrapping you use. They do say, "good things come in small packages." Let's add to that, "with less packaging."

Give a little bit, give a little bit of your love to me. - Supertramp

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Churchill