Here’s a cool gift for the shutterbug or world traveller.  The gorillapod fastens to just about anything, meaning you can take your camera anywhere at all and still get that perfect shot, without having to find a level surface to place your tripod on. Each gorillapod is made up of 30 or more fully articulating ball-and-socket joints that can be bent and twisted into any shape to keep your camera steady! Soft rings and rubberized feet prevent the gorillapod from slipping.

While the gorillapod is not essentially an eco-friendly product, Joby who make the gorillapod  belong to 1% for the planet,  it’s a really handy product and will probably last till the icecaps freeze over again.

Nice towels are something that people just don’t tend to spend much money on for themselves, but lovely organic towels make a fabulously luxurious gift. They would be the perfect gift for a parent, aunt, or a young person starting out on their own.

These lovely towels from Natural Collection are made from 100% organic and Fairtrade cotton.   The cotton comes from the Chetna Cotton Project in central India. This project is run by a group of farmers from the region who work together to produce cotton which is organically grown.

The towels are available in the following colours:  Pebble, Dusky Rose, Bark, Parchment and Moss (from top to bottom in the picture).

For wives, girlfriends, Mums and sisters, organic chocolate truffles are always going to be a hit.  Who doesn’t love to be given some special chocolates?  A box of treasures just for them.  The Organic Handmade Chocolate Truffle Gift Box from Natural Collection contains 9 rich handmade mouth-watering chocolate truffles (3 Dark Chocolate Orange Champagne, 3 Milk Chocolate Coffee and 3 White Chocolate Lemon & Ginger).

These gorgeous chocolates have the Soil Association stamp of approval and are handmade by expert chocolatiers in West Sussex.   And remember, edible gifts create less waste.

For husbands, fathers and brothers who enjoy gardening, this is a lovely, inexpensive gift that will make their day.  The Duchy Originals Gardener’s Organic Ale Set contains 2x 500ml bottles of organic ale, a box of organic biscuits, and a handy bag with miniature gardening tools.

Washing machine manufacturer Indesit is now sourcing the plastic that it uses for the front plates of two of it’s top of the range machines, the Aquarius and Ultima.  The plates are being manufactured from shredded plastic waste recovered from domestic fridges.  The waste is made into a high grade polymer with a similar weight to the virgin plastic it’s replacing.

Buying goods from manufacturers who use recycled materials help to close the recycling loop.

Warm the cockles of someone’s heart with this great value Christmas gift.

Everyone loves mulled wine and it’s such a delicious festive drink.  The “Mulling spices and wine kit” contains everything needed for good holiday cheer.  It includes: a bottle of Fairtrade red wine of your choice and a carton of traditional mulled wine spices.  Use 1tbsp to one 750ml bottle of average quality red wine, and simmer over a low heat in a heavy bottomed casserole dish. Add a glass of orange juice and 1tbsp of sugar to the mix, for a bit of extra zip.

Here are two ideas for a greener and more ethical advent calendar for 2008.

Divine Fairtrade Advent Calendar

An advent calendar with 24 pieces of Fairtrade milk chocolate behind the bright nativity scene on the front. All the cocoa beans used to make the chocolate are grown by a Fairtrade certified co-operative of 40000 farmers in Ghana called Kuapa Kokoo. Unlike many cocoa farmers who have never even seen or tasted chocolate Kuapa Kokoo co-owns the company that supplies these chocolates which means they have a real input and a share of the profits.

Laura Ashley Christmas Tree Fabric Advent Calendar

While this product is neither organic, Fairtrade or recycled, I’m still mentioning it here because it is reusable.  Buying one of these advent calendars means that you’ll never have to buy another “disposable” advent calendar again, because every years you can fill it with whatever yummy (organic and Fairtrade hopefully) treats you like.  Which means you’ll save money year after year too.

Ecotopia are keen to assure potential buyers of their recycled CD/DVD Christmas decorations that no CD’s from any decent artists were harmed in the making of these products. All CD’s went through a rigorous screening process to pick out the very worst - kind of the opposite of ‘The X Factor’, and without the tantrums and high waist lines. The CD’s are much happier being dangled from Christmas trees.  I like them.  If you’re going to be buying decorations, this is the way to go.

Instead of splurging on lots of cheap Christmas decorations, be kind to your pocket (and the planet) this year, and make your own.  Here are some ideas:

1. Gingerbread decorations:  All you need for this are a gingerbread recipe, the ingredients and a set of Christmas cookie cutters (that you’ll be able to use year in and year out).

2. Popcorn and cranberries: String popcorn and cranberries onto strong cotton thread with a needle for festive strings to wrap around the tree.

3. Natural finds: Pine cones, oranges, holly and ivy, mistletoe, even sea shells, can be incorporated into your Christmas decorations.  Attach some glittery thread to the pine cones to hang them in the tree, or spray them gold and put them in your fireplace (if you’re not using it).  Oranges smell great drying in the oven (cut them about 1cm thick and dry them in the oven with the door open at a very low temperature) and look great hanging from the tree.  Holly and ivy can be fashioned into wreathes, or simply draped over picture frames and mantelpieces.  Sea shells can be sprayed gold and used in table centre-pieces.

Making Christmas decorations is a great craft project for children.

Photo credit: chellinsky

Christmas has become a time of excess in our consumer society.  And while the consumer society isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon, with the global credit crisis and the planetary crisis that we are facing, it’s worth looking at ways that you can save money and go green.

Here are some alternatives to regular gift wrap that will help you save money, and boost your recycling in the process:

1. Use newspaper as wrapping paper: Use newspaper just as it is, adding some glitz with pretty ribbon or glitter.  Or create art on your newpaper to make it look festive, something like Christmas tree or star potato prints in red, green or gold.

2. Use magazine/catalogue pages as wrapping paper: For smaller gifts, find a magazine page that appeals to you and use that as wrapping.

3. Recycle last year’s wrapping paper: If you had the forethought to save last year’s paper, you can reuse is where possible.

4. Recycle gift bags: Gift bags can be used time and time again.  Never throw them away, they always come in handy.

5. Make the wrapping part of the gift: For re-usable wrapping, take up the Japanese art of Furoshiki.  For centuries, the Japanese have wrapped gifts in cloth, and they have lots of amazing ways to do it.  Find out more here.  Visit your local charity shop to buy scarves to use as wrapping.

And here’s an idea that probably won’t save you money, but it a great eco-friendly option if you want “new” wrapping paper.  Go recycled.  Natural Collection has a nice range of recycled gift wrapping paper and accessories.

Photo credit: c h e e s e roc