strong> By John DeFore

Wait! Before you run those last-minute holiday errands, consider: Do you really need to replenish that gift-wrap supply?

Even folks who reject the option some of our Depression-trained grandparents embraced — save up the Sunday newspaper’s funny pages for a colorful and waste-free wrap — may find packaging options that don’t require buying roll after roll of glossy new paper.

In Japan, where packaging of even everyday goods is often exquisite, people have for centuries been knotting gifts up in beautiful cloth that can be reused by the recipient later. The practice is known as furoshiki, and while many specialists in furoshiki-geared cloth have Japanese-only web sites (click here for an English look at what we’re missing), others happily make their wares (which may be adorned with lovely scenic paintings or intricate geometric patterns) available to Westerners as well.

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By Diane Porter
Green Right Now

We’re too familiar with the downsides of the holiday season. Bags of new things come into the house and get hidden in already-full closets and drawers. Boxes of decorations come out of their hiding places, muscling their way into your living space. Wrapping paper and ribbons multiply like guppies, scissors and tape go missing, cookies come out of the oven and the doorbell rings. When it’s all over, we work to find places for the new stuff, stash the decorations again and vow to make next year different.

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By John DeFore

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By Barbara Kessler and Julie Bonnin
Green Right Now

Tis’ the season to be…conservative? Afraid so. As the economic downturn and the need to better care for our planet converge into a new aesthetic, we are facing an unusual holiday season. We can show we care with holiday gifts that help us all to consume less.

This might seem the antithesis of consumerism, too bah humbug to be any fun. But we think you’ll see that we’re talking about smarter consuming; buying durable goods that cut out the disposables, forsaking chemical-laden items and making some of your own stuff, whether its soda or energy. Read on:

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By Barbara Kessler
If you’re planning a traditional Thanksgiving, you’ll be needing a bird. This year, organic and pastured turkeys are more available than ever. Check your local grocery now, and get on a list if need be.

Here are some places to look for a turkey that’s been raised on organic feed, and allowed a more humane existence.

• Local Harvest — If you’re into local heirloom turkeys or other pedigree varieties you may already be too late! But don’t beat yourself up over it, local farmers in Texas have told us that many connoisseurs place their orders months ahead of time. Still, there’s a flock of healthier birds waiting.

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By Shermakaye Bass

Ever wonder about the origins of trick-or-treating, or why folklore has witches riding brooms under a harvest moon? Or why this time of year pranksters like to put on masks and roam the night? Or why we bob for apples and carve Jack ‘O Lanterns?

It might surprise you to learn that Halloween’s roots are actually quite green. For the pre-Christian cultures of Northern Europe, it was about the earth, Mother Nature. The gourds, the ghosts and goblins, the slinky black cat that we use as motifs and decorations today all harken back to an era when the harvest was literally a do-or-die time and there was no predicting a yield - and when nature was more of a spooky mystery to mankind than a nurturing, reassuring force. Who knew if the coming year would see a bumper corn crop or if the unseen forces of nature were going to make the near future a…nightmare? !

In the very earliest celebrations, which happened at the end of October/early November, people tried to cajole Mother Nature by putting out offerings of just-harvested fruits and vegetables (enter the apple and pumpkin as Halloween symbols). This time of year also was associated with death and dying, as the ancient people noted the earth’s changing cycles, and they believed that during this brief phase all manner of spirits prowled the planet. They lit bonfires and, later, candles to ward them away, and many folklorists think this is how the Jack’ O Lantern and Halloween luminarias entered the modern-day picture.

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By Barbara Kessler
When shopping for stuff for around your house, here’s one great green option: Don’t get anything.
But that’s not always feasible. Even Thoreau needed writing parchment and candles. So let’s review the next best alternative, which is buying old things that have already been in service, preferably for years and years and re-purposing [...]

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By Shermakaye Bass
So you’re ready to deck the halls, but you’re not sure about using real-live holly (tricky, because it can dry out and shed). Perhaps you don’t want to mess with holly or maybe you don’t feel creative enough to fashion boughs and garlands from the real stuff. But if you’re dreaming of a [...]

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By John DeFore
In an article this month titled “The Green Party,” Alexandra Jacobs considers the notion of eco-conscious entertaining and seems to conclude that it’s something only zealots and fools should attempt. She describes a friendly barbecue screeching to a halt over the host’s rejection of paper plates; she meets a man whose footprint-minimizing [...]

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