Ten Ways to Turn "Black Friday" Green

It's 4:30 AM as I write this. Thousands and thousands of people are already at the stores, reeled in by retailers who aim to make today "Black Friday," the day they sell enough products to become profitable for the year. (Although, in fact, some stores actually kicked off their Black Friday sales yesterday, on Thanksgiving, in order to get a jump on what's expected to be a sluggish year for retail.)

Hey, nothing wrong with shopping, if that's what you like. (As for me, I'd rather you drive spikes through my eyes.) But is there a way to make today a little "greener"? Some thoughts:

1. Carpool or take public transportation. Parking is tough, anyway.

2. If driving, plan your shopping strategy so you use the most efficient route from store to store.

3. Limit packaging from purchases. Eschew products that are overpackaged. Bring your own bags (my mother showed up at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with yet another beautiful fabric shopping bag for me!).

4. Choose eco-friendly options. Candles made of soy? Greeting cards on post-consumer recycled paper? A scarf whose purchase helps sustain a small village? A tie whose manufacturer donates 10% to charity from each purchase? Why not?

5. Shop online. Skip the whole store thing completely. Purchase a majority of your gifts from one source so that you limit gas and packaging from shipping from multiple locations.

6. Recycle. Used book stores are amazing places, and I don't know a kid who won't get more excited about 20 used books instead of one brand new book. Quantity counts sometimes, and your buck goes further this way. Plus, you reuse items that might have otherwise ended up in a landfill. If you like to check out garage sales or Goodwill, these are other good ways to honor gently-used items. If you have heirlooms that you plan on passing down, perhaps the holidays are a good time to share these items--along with the priceless stories of their history.

7. Give gifts that tread lighter on the earth. Every year gets harder, trying to come up with gift ideas for the same list of people. Hey, I'm not saying I always nail it. In fact, there are so many gifts still lying around unused from last year that I know my challenge this year is as real as always. But if I sit still and think, really think, about each person, I can uncover the essence of that person and choose a gift that's "bigger than the box."

One of the best gifts one of my kids got was from my mother--it was a set of four lessons for something, plus the fact that she would take the child to those lessons. My brother-in-law simply adores rosemary, so I always package up a few jars of it that I pick from my garden and dry for a few weeks in order to send it to him in time for the holidays. My husband makes CDs for his dad from music in his collection that he thinks his dad will love, and then I hear them talking about the music on the phone long-distance for months afterwards.

8. Invest in the future. I saw the mopeds pictured above on my way to the chocolate shop the other day. They get 120 miles per gallon of gas. They go 35 miles per hour, which is the speed limit all around my town. They have a little storage area, big enough for a bag of groceries or other items I might be picking up while running errands. They don't require a motorcycle license or additional insurance. And the kicker? They cost $899 right now as the dealer tries to clear them out to make room for all-terrain vehicles, which he says are hot sellers at this time of year here. It costs me about 40 bucks to fill up my car right now. If I could ride this moped instead . . .

Can't quite get rid of the need for a place for carseats and backpacks just yet in your life? Me neither. But maybe someone on my list would like to dust off the ole' bike and add a saddle bag or back rack that makes running errands easier. Or perhaps they'd recycle if they only had a recycling bin. Or they'd like to garden if they had some tools. Or could someone in my family secretly want a worm bin? (oh, that will make me popular Christmas morning, don't you think?!) If you have folks on your list who are already eco-conscious, or want to be but don't know where to start, there's always a way to help them inch forward with a gift that keeps giving--back to the earth. (But if your loved ones have not expressed a desire to do this, I wouldn't push it!)

9. Buy local. Buy from craftspeople in your town, or get gift certificates for services in the towns of people on your list. Have a jazz-loving grandparent with an out-of-tune piano? Why not arrange to have it tuned and bring music back to that person's life? Or an elderly parent who simply won't hire someone to clean her condo? Maybe a one-time pre-paid cleaning would be a nice treat. Don't forget about gift certificates to local, independent restaurants--especially ones that support local farmers. Check out the Eat Well Guide for suggestions in the United States and Canada.

10. Skip shopping today. Or, should I say, circumlocute, circumvent, abstain from, sidestep, and desist. Instead, go to www.freerice.com and test (and improve!) your vocabulary. For every word you get right, they will donate ten grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger. Twenty-two countries have joined together to do this. Wow. Beats standing on line at Wal-Mart any day of the year, if you ask me.

Ten Ways to Turn "Black Friday" Green