A garnet marcasite brooch

Great gifts for January feature garnets, the traditional birthstone this month according to the American Gem Society. It is also the stone for the Zodiac sign Aquarius. Once garnets were exchanged as gifts between friends to demonstrate their affection for each other and to insure that they meet again.

Aquarius is a water sign, so we’ve featured gifts for purifying water, humidifying the air as well as a beautiful indoor water feature.

Newborns this month will love the warmth of organic cotton receiving blankets. Children, born under the tenacious sign of Capricorn, are not too young to learn about the importance of lifelong habits through the examples of recycled and recycling gifts.

We are proud to welcome Eva Camille, born January 4, 2009, to the Village Green. Congratulations Tegan & Matt!

Eva Camille

Tiny toes

Grow strong Eva Camille! You are the most wonderful green gift we can hope to find anywhere!

Karin Bigelow, Editor

See Recycle and Recycled Gifts, Great Gifts for January, Gifts for Children, Baby Gift Baskets

Another option would be to use MapMyRun, powered by MapQuest.

Then there is America’s Running Routes made available by USA Track and Field, the sport’s governing body.

Samoodi lets you edit previously saved runs and by default, uses Google Maps.

Each of these sites has quirks, some charge to print the route, others demand you set up an account. One gives you access to online training schedules.

All might assist in keeping your resolve towards a healthier body in 2009, a fine resolution in all its many forms. Eat better, exercise more often and pay forward your fresh green awareness through the gifts you give.

Food baskets

Recycled or Recycling Gifts

According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, winter arrives at these times, so adjust for your time zone:

Chumash Sun Symbol

EST: Dec 21, 7:04 am
CST: Dec 21, 6:04 am
MST: Dec 21, 5:04 am
PST: Dec 21, 4:04 am

If that doesn’t cover it and you know your latitude and longitude, check there.
 
This year, December 21, 2008, is also the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, and traditionally begins on the 25th of Kislev, three days before the new moon closest to the Winter Solstice. The form of this celebration, a Festival of Lights with candles at the heart of the ritual, makes Hanukkah wonderfully compatible with other celebrations at this time of year. As a symbolic celebration of growing light and as a commemoration of spiritual rebirth, it also seems closely related to other observances.
 
In China, even though the calendar is based on the moon, the day of winter solstice is called Dong Zhi, “”doing the winter.”  The cold of winter makes an excellent excuse for a feast. Dong Zhi occurs 6 weeks before Chinese New Year and would normally fall between 21st Dec and 23rd Dec. It is also a time for family reunions.

Native Americans also held winter solstice rites. Chumash occupied coastal California for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived. Solstices were tremendously important to them, and the winter solstice celebration lasted several days.

Mistletoe

And perhaps, our impulse to hold onto certain traditions today — candles, evergreens, feasting and generosity — are echoes of a past that extends many thousands of years further than we ever before imagined.

Some linguists say that the association of “Yule” with “wheel” (a belief possibly held as the words are nearly identical) is a myth. According to one theory, the root word for Yule came from the aboriginal Scandinavians, and has always meant only one thing: the festival at the Winter Solstice.

Many of the ancient traditions surrounding Yuletide are concerned with coping with the darkness and the evils it was thought to harbor, and helping the return of light and warmth.

Washington Irving, in “Christmas Eve,” relates the typical festivities surrounding the Twelve Days of Christmas, including kissing under the mistletoe (Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent). His footnote:

“The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases.”

And so, from deep in the heart of the Village of Green Gifts, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa, Dong Zhi, do the winter well.  Happy Solstice! The sun is at the Tropic of Capricorn and rest assured, the days will get longer.

Karin Bigelow, Editor

See Great Gifts for December, solar light gifts, organic flowers and wreaths, food & drink baskets

Georgia O’Keefe made calla lilies famous in her paintings, but nothing beats the striking beauty of the real thing. These callas are organically grown and cut with extra long stems. They are shipped fresh from the farm before the flower fully opens. Just trim the stems and place in a tall vase with water. Flowers guaranteed to open in a few days with blooms so beautiful you might be inspired to paint as well! Each bunch includes 10 stems.

On the trail or commuting to the office, this eZip Trailz electric bike is a true gift of and for the heart! Provides real transportation at speeds up to 18 MPH. Battery: Rechargeable, On/Off Switch.

For the hiking enthusiast, we feature a durable hiking pack of sustainable hemp and recycled polyethylene.

John Masters Organics Green Tea & Rose Hydrating Face Serum offers up intense moisture in a light formula of Shea Butter, Borage Oil, and Apricot Kernel Oil, coupled with the antioxidant and damage-fighting powers of Green Tea, Vitamin C, and Rose Hydrosol. It can even be used in place of heavy creams at night to wake up revitalized and ready for the day.

Here’s one you might not have seen around, a ceramic Neti pot. Its claim, “Helps relieve sinus problems, moderates allergies, lessens the impact of colds and flu-naturally. Soothe dry nasal passages Gently wash away dust, pollen, and irritants Remove excess mucus naturally. Carrie Demers, M.D., Medical Director, Center for Health & Healing, Honesdale, PA says “The Neti PotTM alone has helped more people than any other modality I use - with consistent use the results can be dramatic.” Rid nostrils of pollen and other allergens. Cleanse the nasal membranes of dust, smoke, or other airborne contaminants. Relieve nasal dryness due to air travel. Improve flow of breath before doing relaxation or meditation techniques.

Then there’s a beautiful recycled metal and wood side table. Capturing each leaf bud and knot of branches, recycled metal legs support a spacious, smooth wooden top made from sustainably grown sheesham, or Indian rosewood. Extremely hard and astightly grained as teak, sheesham combines durability and strength with a deep luster.

For a meaningful gift to anybody that understands the importance of recycling and knows how creative we all can be by turning waste into something beautiful and meaningful, we also present a unique candle box with 4 candle holders has been handcrafted in Nepal by artisans in the remote mountain villages of Lapa, Tipling and Shertung. It is made using discarded plastic wrappers from snack wrappers like potato chips etc. brought in from the cities. Recycling programs have been started in the villages to encourage the collection of the non biodegradable trash and to educate about the importance of protecting the natural ecology. Net proceeds from the purchase of this gift fund primary healthcare and community education in Himalaya.

By Karin Bigelow, Co-Founder, Village Green Gifts

See Gifts for Her , and Clothing and Accessories for Her

Biodegradable Dog Boots

With all those new puppies sitting in snug Christmas stockings comes the reality of, well, you know, puppy accidents. Consider including a stack of Simple Solution Natural Biodegradable Puppy Training Pads Made from naturally renewable resources, these training pads have a built-in attractant to encourage use. Compostable and eco-friendly!

 After years of picking up after our dogs with plastic bags, (which can take up to 1,000 years to degrade in landfills) and dealing with that awful mess, Skooperbox has created an innovative solution. This 100% Bio-degradable Skooperbox is made from 100% Recycled paper.

Go Organic Dog Kit

Yes, sleighbells ring. Are you listening? Listen to the dog. He wants organic treats. Feeding him a healthy, organic diet is simple. From the field and farm to your dog’s bowl, certified organic means added safety in every bite.Your canine companion can look forward to a variety of tasty delights. Packaged in a handy reusable storage container with hinged lid, menu items include a 3-lb. bag of Organix Adult Canine Formula. Add a box of Organix Organic Chicken Formula Dog Cookies for special occasions, and dinner is set. Later, the empty storage container can hold Fido’s favorite toys.

As the human, you get valuable coupons toward future Organix purchases PLUS information on the benefits of going organic.

When it’s time to nestle in for a cold winter’s night, treat your best friend right with a 100% certified organic pet bed, a much healthier alternative to synthetic covered, cedar-filled beds. For example, there’s Bowsers Designer Oval Dog Bed in Natural Hemp Fabric which gives a fresh, refined “linen” look. Hemp is a highly sustainable crop, grown without the use of harmful chemicals or pesticides. Hemp can be grown in near drought conditions, which significantly reduces the drain on precious water resources. Hemp is also naturally very durable and strong, as well as resistant to abrasions, tears, mildew and sun exposure. The Designer Oval Bed is filled with “super-loft” recycled fibre made from recycled soda bottles.

So take Pooch for a walk, feed him well and let him rest comfortably. Then take another look at Bailey and enjoy Harry Connick, Jr. singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, maybe while sipping a festive glass of organic wine yourself!

By Karin Bigelow, Editor
See Pet Accessories
See Food and Drink Baskets

One unique gift idea was an electric paper plane launcher. Yes, really, don’t make me say it twice. And zillions of shavers, sensible and reusable. In and of themselves, shavers are not all that funny, but Philips Norelco and FunnyorDie.com ask ‘Are you smart? funny? hairy?’ in their invitation to a writing contest to find the best body grooming tale. Check out the Manalogues. 

There were magnetic wristbands for men’s household chores. I laughed. And then, the design inspired by Vietnam War protesters who placed flowers into soldiers’ rifles during peace protests, there was the wall mounted gun vase. In white, only. For the artistic, there were coffee mugs with floral patterns on the bottom. No more generic unsightly rings for the ‘I refuse to use a saucer/coaster’ guy kind of guy.

Recycled Can Wallets

Weird furniture was easy to find, many chairs that might be good to look at but not to sit ON, though that zero gravity rocker WAS quite a looker!

And the favored T-shirts of one reviewer who liked them so much he said they would bankrupt him if he had the funds to go that far on useless but interesting stuff.

Village Green Gifts does offer rechargable and reusable shavers, too. One exotic buy is the wallet made of recycled cans and made by a young couple living in Chiang Mai. Sales of this wallet made from local cans in the region contribute to their livelihood and improved standard of living.

So go ahead, take a look and a laugh at all that’s out there, but in the end, remember Green. Everybody wants it.

Karin Bigelow, Editor

See Gifts for Men

See Clothing and Accessories For Him

Today, many African-American families celebrate Kwanzaa along with Christmas and New Year’s. Frequently, both Christmas trees and kinaras, the traditional candle holder symbolic of African-American roots, share space in kwanzaa celebrating households.

Root Bowl of Fruit

The weeklong celebration will see activities such as candle-lighting and pouring of libations and culminates in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966. The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza”, meaning “first fruits.”

According to Wikipedia, each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

Umoja (Unity) To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

By Karin Bigelow, Editor

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For more information, visit the Official Kwanzaa Website.

See Food and Drink Baskets and Great Gifts for December

Chanukah Puzzle

A Chanukah Jigsaw Puzzle is a great gift this season. Wonderful lessons come from doing puzzles. By definition, a puzzle is a problem or enigma that challenges ingenuity. With that challenge, the benefits begin.

The Golden Age of jigsaw puzzles came in the 1920s and 1930s. It’s curious that such a non-necessity like a jigsaw puzzle would sell so well in the Depression. But the appeal, then as now, was that one bought a lot of entertainment for a small price. A jigsaw puzzle is “recyclable,” in that once it is completed it can be broken back down and then passed it on to another family member or friend.

Another point to note is that jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts in the Depression discovered what many in our own time are rediscovering - that working on a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to reduce stress!

What we recognize today as a puzzle began in the decade before the American Revolution when Englishman, John Spilsbury, who was an engraver and a map maker, attached a map of the world to a piece of wood and then cut out each individual country to teach children about geography. 

Further, puzzles come in categories. A maze is a type of tour puzzle. Other categories include construction puzzles, stick puzzles, tiling puzzles, transport puzzles, disentanglement puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, lock puzzles, folding puzzles, combination puzzles and mechanical puzzles.

Reusable, the puzzle still has a charm today that can rival video games. Whether a solitary or group activity, a project like the Chanukah Jigsaw Puzzle can fill time enjoyably for hours. 

Karin Bigelow, Editor

View Puzzles for Children, here. View Puzzles for Familes, here. View Great Gifts for December, here.

Regifting Extends the Joy

We define Regifting as the act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to somebody else, sometimes in the guise of a new gift. The term was first used during the 98th episode of Seinfeld (”The Label Maker” aired on January 19, 1995) although the actual practice was exercised long before the term was coined.

Many of us are already familiar with white elephant gift parties during which items are regifted from year to year.

Closely related to regifting is “Regiving.” This is the practice of giving away one’s goods to others. To fine tune this a bit, regiving differs from “reusing” in that reusing is usually in the context of no change of ownership. It differs from recycling in that recycling is most often associated with breaking components down and rebuilding into new products.

Recyled Wine Bottle

As for regifting, even the etiquette experts at the Emily Post Institute approve of the practice in some circumstances. A consumer survey indicated that the majority of people regift because they perceive the gift will be appreciated by the receiver, they don’t find regifting rude, and a significant number do so to save money. Several rules are proposed in popular media regarding regifting; they include rewrapping the gift and not giving the gift back to the original gift-giver. 

Be Honest. Is it ME?

If you are thinking about regifting this holiday season, we found some relevant questions from Regifting101:
 
Is the gift regiftable? Never regift handmade or one-of-a-kind items. Signed books and monogrammed items are off-limits. Do you have to be told not to regift free promotional items?  Some gifts that are good candidates for regifting include good (unopened!) bottles of wine, new household items and inexpensive jewelry. 

Is this going to work? Successful regifters use common sense. If you are going to regift, be sure you know who gave you the item, so you don’t return something to the original giver. Only regift items to people who are not likely to see the original giver.

How does it look? When it comes to gift-giving, go for show! Be creative with your wrapping. Always spring for a new card or gift tag.

Can you handle the pressure? If you don’t plan to announce the gift as a regift, ask yourself if you can keep the secret. Never feel guilty about regifting once you’ve done it. 

Have you considered your options? An unwanted gift could be a welcome donation to a charitable organization. It is also an option to keep an unwanted gift — after all, it was a gift.
 
Finally, if you suspect that a gift you’ve received has been around once already, take comfort in the fact that MMI survey respondents regift because they know the gift is something the recipient would really like.

By Karin Bigelow, Editor

For gifts made of recycled materials or containers for recycling, visit Recycled or Recycle!

Organic composting offers many benefits, such as reducing waste headed from your home to the landfill. Compost is good for your garden for lots of reasons - it provides an excellent conditioner and mulch which helps to fertilise and provides soil structure. It also retains moisture and can restrict weed growth. A kitchen compost bin will provide an ideal place to put all those scraps that accumulate while cooking up a holiday feast while an outdoor compost container can take care of yard clippings and other organic materials such as leaves. 

Kitchen Compost Crock

 
Stash scraps for the compost pile in an attractive countertop kitchen composting crock. The Kitchen Compost Crock has a fully glazed interior that won’t stain or absorb odor and holds up to one gallon of kitchen scraps. An activated carbon filter in the lid prevents odors. With a removable stainless steel handle.

For more compost bins and accessories visit Household Gifts / Composting