Happy socially responsible holidays!

I was reading an article in the Boston Globe this morning about how often people that are very eco-friendly & socially conscious throughout the year totally give it up at the holidays in the spirit of spreading holiday cheer. It got me to thinking about my own holiday habits. I often indulge in what might be considered socially responsible holiday habits both in the interest of social impacts and in the interest of my lean budget. Especially my extremely lean grad student budget. Especially in the past few years, I've worked hard to make my holidays less about consumerism and more about spreading the love.

I usually try to make a few gifts - usually lots of cookies or an afghan or something. What spreads holiday cheer better than a gift "handmade with love"? And what reduces grad school stress better than a little holiday baking? I also always reuse gift bags and boxes. I've probably never actually purchased a gift bag from a store. The shopping bags that you get from stores if you choose to shop for a few gifts in this way are often beautiful packaging, too.

I'll admit that it's hard to completely give up shopping for gifts. So though I often make a few gifts, I always buy a few also. My philosophy around buying gifts is that I want to make sure I purchase items that people will actually use. Who needs another knick-knack sitting around the house collecting dust?

This year, I tried to purchase several gifts from various fundraisers. My holiday gifts this year contributed to students' travel expenses for service trips and an affordable housing coalition in a neighboring community. I also love to give food gifts. Fair trade & organic coffee and chocolate are a few delicious suggestions. Grounds for Change (groundsforchange.com) has a great website & philosophy if you don't have any fair trade coffee retailers close to where you live. Ten Thousand Villages has some beautiful gift options too, and supports fair trade craft sales for artisans in developing countries. I also think cookbooks are a great gift idea. Foodie friends will use this gift for years to come, and perhaps they will purchase local organic food while enjoying it.

Finally, here are a few fun websites about this topic that I have come across:
Grist.org: http://www.grist.org/feature/2007/11/20/stuff-free/index.html
Treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/

So get out there, spread some holiday cheer and save your pocketbook and the planet from further demise!