Looking for eco Christmas gift ideas for your favorite green-living enthusiast? Here are some fun and eco-friendly gifts sure to please.
1.
Elephant Poo Poo Paper Note Paper
Your gift recipient can forget about Post-It notes when you present them with this eco-friendly alternative, but they won’t forget you when they discover the note pad and box are made from elephant dung. Yes, elphant poo. This recycled paper gift set is made by The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company, a company that turns waste into want. The odor-free paper is made from boiled and sterilized grasses, bamboo and fruits that elephants eat. Company founder Michael Flancman noted in a Forbes magazine article that 70% of what an elephant eats can pass through its body undigested. The company also donates money to elephant conservation products, so your gift recipient can feel good about giving while getting.
2. Recycled Fleece Jacket
Warm your recipient’s body and soul with a recycled fleece jacket. Companies such as North Face now make fleece jackets that contain a mixture of virgin materials and recycled fleece. You can even get recycled jackets with team logos. They’re available from popular stores such as Amazon, Sierra Trading Post, backcountry.com and others. Simply search for “recycled fleece.”
3. 
Earrings made from recycled phone cards
These fun “dancing girl” recycled earrings are made out of recycled phone cards by craftspeople in Kisumu, Kenya. Your purchase not only helps recycle these products, but also supports the Teenage Mothers Association of Kenya (TEMAK), a nonprofit organization that helps unwed young mothers from this impoverished area learn job skills.
4. Areaware JDFLM Torch Wooden Flashlight
You don’t have to settle for plastic when it comes to flashlights. This “unconventionally simple and eco-friendly” flashlight is made of beechwood and has an energy-efficient LED bulb, which should never need replacing. Available from Amazon.
5. Solar Charger for iPod, iPhone, Kindle, Blackberry and Other Electronics
Handheld electronics have become an essential part of modern life, but you don’t need to rely on the dirty old power grid any longer to charge them.
The SOLAR Charger Power Pak Powerful can supply energy for all of your portable electronics using the power of the sun. A 60-minute charge can provide up to 180 minutes of talk time. It’s an ideal power source for any time, especially when you’re on the go. You can find this solar charger and others on Amazon.
6. “Angels with Attitude” Recycled Soda Can Angels – These wonderfully colorful “angels with attitude” are great conversation pieces and Christmas decorations. The 3- inch angels crafted from recycled cold drink cans are made by orphaned South African school children who live in an area of Northern Zululand where the AIDS epidemic is very high. Each purchase helps to feed, clothe and educate these students. Available from Gifts with Humanity.
7. Totally Bamboo Lattice 6-Piece Utensil Set
Forget about plastic utensils or wooden ones made from old-growth trees. You can get a 6-piece set of kitchen utensils made from eco-friendly bamboo at Amazon. This bamboo is 16 percent harder than maple, naturally anti-microbial and made from organically grown Moso bamboo. The set includes a Lattice Utensil Holder, Slotted Turner, Spoon, Slotted Spoon, Scraper Spoon and a Single Hole Mixing Spoon.
8. Decorative Bowl from Recycled Telephone Wire
Here’s a creative use for old phone wire! These colorful bowls are made in South Africa from recycled telephone wire. The example shown here features a red and white swirl. It measures 4 inches across and 2 inches deep. The design of each bowl is unique and colors will vary slightly. Available from Gifts with Humanity.
9. Fair Trade Alpaca Wool SweatersThis gift idea is not only eco-friendly, but is also a fair trade product. “Fair trade” means artisans are paid a fair wage for their products, rather than receiving the low prices often offered by large corporations so they can turn around and sell the products at a larger profit. These fair trade wool sweaters are made in the Andes by skilled weavers and offered through NOVICA. Alpaca fiber is naturally water resistant, wrinkles less than wool, is as soft as silk, and is a natural, sustainable fiber.
10. Soy Candles – These non-toxic soy tin candles will burn longer than typical petroleum based wax candles. They burn slower and cooler than wax candles, seldom trigger allergies, produce little soot and have cotton lead-free wicks.
