General Tips for Green Gift Shopping

• When shopping online or by mail order, consolidate your orders into as few shipments as possible.
• Consider the benefits of buying locally made goods, which aren't transported over long distances to get to you. Or could you buy antiques as presents? They're all about recycling and reuse.
• Could you reduce the number of holiday shopping trips you make, to save on gas? Could you bring reusable shopping bags? Most paper bags are made from virgin paper. Plastic ones are less CO2 intensive to make, but they're still made with petroleum and take hundreds of years to decompose in the landfill.
• If you're sending gifts by mail, choose small, light packages, which take up less space and fuel than big, heavy ones.
• For more:
  • TreeHugger
  • COOP America