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The Christmas season is nearly upon us again, and just as we did way back in 2007, we take a look at green, ethical and thoughtful giving.

In the first of a series of posts, we look at the various ways you can ensure a positive Christmas for your friends and family. How do you find a gift that is truly ethical? Is it made from less harmful ingredients than the standard option? Is it (or can it be later) recycled? Does the item justify the resources used to make it? Ultimately, how do you find a socially responsible gift?

Kiva
Kiva is a microlending site where users can browse and find someone who requires a loan to help them build a business:

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on Kiva, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community

You can purchase a gift certificate which your recipient can use to make their own loan. The unique beauty of this gift is that it truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Your recipient can use your original investment over and over again when their loan is repayed, making it a perpetual gift for them and the many people they can assist when they select projects and people to support.

Oxfam Unwrapped
The joy here is in finding something that is personal to your gift recipient. Are they a keen crafter? How about this sewing training. Love their footy? Try supporting an Indigenous footy program. Dedicated gardener? For the tiny sum of $10 you can purchase seeds for East Timor. The options are almost limitless, and the prices range from under $10 all the way through to thousands.

Greenpeace Giving
In the same way as Oxfam, Greenpeace offer a store full of gifts to give where you can consider your recipient's hobbies and interests. Have a carpenter to buy for? Here's a share in a portable sawmill. Cat lover? Try this tounge-in-cheek 'floaties for kitty' to save pets from climate change. And who doesn't want to help protect whales and their calves?

Give Now
Again, the fun and thoughtful way to donate using this website is in thinking about your recipient's passions. This site combines a number of different options, and is a good way to start. You can put in a few keywords and find some suggested charities, look for an area of interest (such as animal welfare, arts or health) or search the list of charities themselves for something that catches your eye. If you are giving a gift to someone who has recently travelled overseas, you can pick a charity which works in a country they visited. For someone who loves animals a donation to the WSPA or RSPCA is available, or you can sponsor a child on their behalf from any number of organisations. Are they passionate about their local area?
Find a unique site in their city, such as the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne, which accepts donations to run. There are local charities you can support directly though Give Now, from the Springvale Toy Library in Victoria to the Tasmanian Arboretum, Western Australia Aids Council, the Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council of QLD, the Wimmera Base Hospital Foundation or the Bankstown Handicapped Children's Centre of NSW.

Keep in mind the ways that your recipient may have been personally affected by issues. You can search online for a charity to donate to depending on what is important to them. Have they been touched by cancer? Donate to cancer research. Do they have a family member suffering from depression or mental illness, MS, physical disabilities or diabetes? Are they concerned with homelessness? Consider charities such as Second Bite who collect and distribute excess food to those in need, help provide Swags for the Homeless, or Kids Under Cover who support family units to avoid overcrowding in homes and house homeless children. Are they passionate environmentalists? Fund bush regeneration through Landcare, protect fauna with the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, or support Friends of the Earth.

Purchase regular gifts from charities so they make a percentage of the profit.
Did you know Amnesty International have an online store where you can purchase Amnesty Branded goods, or ethical goods from all over the world? The RSPCA have a huge online store where you can buy anything pet related. Your recipient may just love their pooch, but you can do double the good by purchasing something for their pet which also provides for other pets not so lucky to have a loving home. And surely you've seen one of the fantastic Oxfam shops in your local area? If not, you can also go to their comprehensive online store. Also consider giving the gift of a donation to an organisation such as the Australia Institute, the Sea Shepherd or even the Australian Greens.

Don't forget the little things.
Just by selecting your Christmas cards from a charity, you can send good wishes and holiday cheer... and support a cause you're passionate about. You can help cure cancer, save abandoned animals, support causes all over the world with Amnesty International.
The options are almost endless. Look up any charity online and you're sure to find they have an option for purchasing cards from them. If you're in Sydney, there's even a whole store where you can go and browse a huge selection of charity cards in person.

As well as cards, there's also wrapping paper. Keep an eye out for the charity stalls in your shopping centre where you for a small fee you can avoid the wrapping altogether and donate to an organisation who will do it for you. Or are you a family who just can't do without the luxury of a real Christmas tree each year? Look for a charity who sells trees in your area, rather than buying from a commercial outlet. Everyone from the Scouts to Oxfam use selling trees to raise funds.

Next time we look at how to create an eco Christmas, with the perfect green gifts.

This list is provided merely as a suggestion. The Australian Greens Senators and staff did not receive any money, donations or gifts to endorse any product listed here.

Yesterday Stephanie took my car to the Volkswagen dealership to be repaired. It’s only about a mile from our place. They needed to keep the car overnight. It’s under warranty, so to get home, Volkswagen gave her the option of a free taxi, a subway ticket, or a loaner bicycle.

She took the bicycle.

One day while cleaning the house, Stephanie saw me putting a handful of dead double-A batteries in the trash.

“What are you doing?!” she said.

“I’m throwing away these batteries. They’re dead.”

“You don’t put batteries in the trash! You take them to the pharmacy where they dispose of them properly.”

Then, a moment later, her face fell. ”Do you mean that the whole of the US is throwing their batteries into landfills?”

Jimmac told me that on one of his first visits to Germany from the Czech Republic, he was astounded at how smoothly everything worked. Coming out of the subway, he came upon an escalator that was not running. “Hah,” he thought to himself, “at least their escalators break too.”

Then, as he stepped onto the escalator, he tripped a photoelectric sensor, and the escalator started.

“Damn.”

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