Organic and artisan goods perfect for gifting.

Trying to track down the best goods for food lovers? Look no further. We rounded up some of our favorite bites from Foodspotting, perfect for the foodie in your life.

Organic Wheat Beer (Mothership Wit)

Kombucha Vinegar (Happy Girl Kitchen)

Terre Rosse Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Azienda Agraria Hispellum)

Raw Vegan Chocolates (ChocolaTree Organic Eatery)

Achva Organic Halva (Johnvince Foods)

Organic Dominican Dark Chocolate Bar (Vosges Haut Chocolat)

Iswari Organic Raw Chocolate Making Kit (Nourish)

Emmy’s Organics – Flagstaff, Arizona

Artisan chocolate (Halls)

Assorted Macaroons (ET Artisan Sweets)

Organic Cheese Selection (SFO, San Francisco Airport)

Top Image: Out of the Kitchen Food Adventures

Think outside of the frame.

Ask a certain family member what they want for Christmas (that would be, mom), the reply is almost always, “a framed photo.” But who says your photo has to be in a frame on a wall or shelf? Here’s an idea: transfer your favorite photo onto a jar, turn that into a candle and gift it.

You might even want to try using photos of dinner guests to create a surprising centerpiece. Plus, it is another way to reuse jars from pasta sauce and salsa.  This DIY is rated: easy, if you have a computer and printer.

1.) Measure the circumference of your jar.

2.) Use a graphic program on your computer to layout your photos in a strip that will wrap around the entire jar. Individual photos work well, too.

3.) Print out your photos on clear shipping labels that are 8.5 x 11. These labels are easy to find and affordable. You can use black and white or color photos.

4.) Trim out the photos.

5.) Wrap the photo label on the jar or simply place on single photos.

6.) Drop in a candle. Light.

The result is a warm, vintage glow everyone will love.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

5 DIY Alternatives to Holiday Gift Wrap
DIY Alternatives to Traditional Holiday Gift Tags
11 DIY Alternatives to Traditional Christmas Trees

Oxygenate your space – and defy gravity while you’re at it.

If you happen to dwell in a cramped apartment with precious little counter and shelf space, these handmade ceramic sky planters are for you. Using Slo-flo irrigation technology, the Boskke feeds water directly to the roots, thus minimizing water loss. The way they hang is much simpler than it looks, or more complicated depending on your perspective. Place your plant into the planter, lock into place, flip, fasten and suspend. Fabulous.

Prices start at $49.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.

You better not shout. You better not cry. You better not snake someone’s parking space at the mall cause they might be high. Santa Claus is coming to town! Yay!

At the cost of looting yet another candy coated jingle, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but also the most stressful. And arguments can ensue over mundane nonsense because we are under pressure to buy what we cannot afford, entertain even though our nests are distressed and lacking luster, and are downing sugar by the barrel at every turn. Here are some of the common tussles we encounter during the holidays:

1. Sacrificial Office Workers

Scrooge is alive and well in America. Just ask many an employee who is being told by the boss to cut their needed vacation, work long hours and forgo the annual holiday party and bonus this year due to hard times. Bah Humbug. If only every boss could be Michael Scott of The Office fame!

2. Shopping Scuffles

They happen wherever there are hordes in a hurry – in a busy street bustling with humans toting many bags, a packed mall parking lot, the line at The Cheesecake Factory, on the road to get to the mall or vacation destination, or with your family over the right thing to buy Nana or teachers. “You got Miss D. a Starbuck’s card last year! It’s so stupid. Get her something better!”

3. Family Break Time Battles

You want to hang around the house and finally get things organized. He wants to drive up the coast and hike, and the kids want to spend all of your money on a “real vacation” that involves sun, water, mediocre food at high prices and cute members of the opposite sex. It’s hard to agree on the best way to spend time away from work at school because everyone has a different idea of how to savor events like New Year’s eve and down time.

4. Disappointment Over Gifts

Taking back lousy gifts is not as simple as it used to be with the exception of department stores like Nordstrom and Macy’s which aren’t as desperate for a sale as the smaller boutiques. You might have been expecting jewelry and he bought you rainboots – believing you would go mad over the way they resemble classic and edgy Frye Durango harness boots. Your kid wanted just about anything from the Apple store yet being the smart parent you are, you opted for flannel pajamas and slippers. Life isn’t fair, but it can be warm and fuzzy.

5. Coming “Home” for Christmas and Feeling 13 Again

Mom has done so much for you and the family, schlepping that 10-foot tree through the door on her back, slaving over the crockpot, shopping like a fiend to get those Uggs in just the right shade of metallic silver. But pleasing her can be a mixed bag. She doesn’t want you to see your old friends if it takes time away from seeing her. Dad doesn’t understand why you don’t pick up your shit at your age, or why you are loafing and watching television instead of helping him repaint the house. Your sister is jealous because you got a designer watch and she got a toaster and your brother’s wife can’t do wrong in your parents’ eyes while you are never on time for dinner and live with a guy who doesn’t make enough money. They all get huffy when you tell them to f— off. Ahh, yes. It’s good to be home.

Images: 8136496@NO5;  NBC; Evergreenkamal; Websterkate; Consumerist; Seanosh

There’s the trove of holiday gifts for loved ones in the cabinet that has been assembled at the ready since June…of 2009. Then there’s the one person on my list I inevitably forget: say, my own mother. I’m working on this, I really am, but if you’re like me and have yet to check off that last special someone, join me in the quest to save some face with something lovely. If you order any of these gifts by 2 p.m. EST tomorrow (yes, the clock’s ticking uncomfortably fast – we’re slacker shoppers, remember?), you’ll have your present in time for Christmas with standard shipping. And they’re all under $100 (most are under $50), so no sweat, sister.

So go. Done! Whew.

For your fashionista friend or new pal:

Montmartre fingerless gloves, handmade and organic, just $29

Kids and your favorite savers:

Glass piggy bank, $39

For your best friend:

Believe necklaces, prices vary by piece, $19-59

For the hostess or the boss:

Organic lavender caramels, (spring for the 12-piece, you), $29

For the guys:

Living ecosphere, $89

For mom, because you’d never really forget:

Reversible silk throw, $98

(Items shown in clockwise order from top left. This post is sponsored by green retail partner VivaTerra.)

These gifts are for the souls in your life that are brimming with charisma and personality (or maybe those begging for a hint of humor). From ski masks with facial hair to balls of seeds, we have gathered some of the best eco-friendly holiday gifts for your gifting pleasure. Give a handful of pencils fashioning mustaches, an Icelandic ski mask, wooden tools to serve up your salads, an Amish made scooter, or a tin to help you budget for a new tattoo (complete with hysterical instructions, including, “Do Not Tattoo Your Face.”

Clockwise from top left:

1. Office Mustaches – Atypyk, $14.85
2. Beard Cap (Gray) – Birkiland, $91.20
3. Salad Wrenches – Atypyk, $25.65
4. Amish Made Scooter (Orange) – Reform School Rules, $245
5. I’m Savin’ Up for a New Tattoo – VideoSift, $7.95

Or how about giving someone a book that’s illegible, a ceramic shutter, gumball seed pods, facial hair on a stick, a pinhole aperture, or a roadkill necklace.

6. Romeo & Julienne – Atypyk, $23.62
7. Ghost Camera (Polaroid) – Branch Home, $68
8. Seed Bombs (West Coast) – Anthropologie, $6
9. Mustache on a Stick (Bartender) – Something’s Hiding in Here, $36
10. Paint Can Pinhole Camera – The Conran Shop, $20
11. Geo Necklace – Roadkill, $110

Still haven’t found the perfect gift?  How about this plastic aversion bag or this five year memory?

Click here to devour all of our 2010 Gift Guides.

The first night of Chanukah falls on December 1st this year – and if you didn’t know that, then welcome to the club. A casual survey of Jews and gentiles alike leads me to believe that pretty much no one realized how early the holiday would begin this year. Even those of us who “celebrate” Chanukah think of it as coming right around Christmas – and I put “celebrate” inside snarky quotation marks because no matter what Jewish parents tell our kids, Chanukah really is kind of a snooze. Plain, boring, and a little bit sad, it is the ugly step-sister of holidays.

For Jewish children, Chanukah is the consolation prize they get because Christmas is not their holiday. What started out as a minor occasion in the Hebrew calendar has been tarted up with gifts and chocolate coins in a desperate effort to compete with Christmas (or as it’s more commonly known: The Best Holiday Ever.) Over the years I have tried to get my kids amped up about the Festival of Lights, but no matter how many times I read them The Pop Up Book of Chanukah, they remained largely unimpressed. Every year I would wage a hard-sell campaign to interest them in dreidels – those iconic symbols of the holiday that are also massively un-fun playthings. But  I always felt that I was selling them on something I myself couldn’t get too worked up about.

Look at the facts: Christmas features festively decorated evergreen trees that twinkle with fairy lights and smell like happiness – Chanukah has a candle holder and it smells like fried foods. Christmas has Santa, flying in on a sled delivering huge piles of toys and goodies. Chanukah has one good present on the first night, quickly followed by inferior gifts for the next seven (by the end of the week my kids are getting Number Two pencils and throat lozenges). Christmas has Jingle Bells, The Chestnut Song and Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer – Chanukah music is all about minor chords and aggravation.

The biggest disappointment for Jewish children is the lack of a tree, a deprivation my kids have been whining about ever since they first learned to talk. But that’s hardly their only complaint about this ho-hum oil-based occasion. So, in a last-ditch effort to drum up holiday spirit, I have devised a new and improved way to present Chanukah to my family: this year I have gone to great pains to play up the fact that Chanukah is based on the fact that early Jews were able to get eight days of light out of oil that was supposed to last for just one night. Looked at this way, Chanukah is all about optimizing non-renewable resources and getting the most use out of fossil fuels. My daughter is a fervent environmentalist, and I had big hopes that this argument would help her to finally love Chanukah – for its eco-friendliness if nothing else. Smug and self-impressed I pointed out to her that Chanukah was probably the first holiday that could be considered green. “Christmas trees are green,” was my daughter’s sad and hopeful reply.

I give up.

Editor’s Note: Susan Goldberg is a slightly lapsed treehugger. Although known to overuse paper products, she has the best of intentions – and a really small SUV. Catch her column, The Goldberg Variations, each week here at EcoSalon.

Image: seantoyer

We recently gathered once again for a gal’s night out, something me and my friends do to honor one another when our big day bites us in the ass (I mean elates us) each year. It’s all warm and buzzy, the serious sipping of full figured red wine, the grazing of small sumptuous Spanish plates, the embarrassingly intimate inebriated birthday toasts counting the ways we count. And the climax hasn’t changed since you were ten, the oozing dessert all aglow and the presenting of pretty packages that will transmogrify into long overdue thank you notes.

While the loot does indeed get much better as we get older (did I mention the jewelry?), there is nothing I need to acquire to feel more blessed. I cherish the handcrafted cards my children make each birthday, but beyond that, I feel guilty about accumulating more stuff. If you feel the same, why not consider other options? Don’t feel pretentious suggesting to your friends that they honor you with an eco alternative. The following options take the cake!

1. OptNow Gift Cards

Instead of the Nordstrom gift cards my friends love to gift as group gifts, the OptNow option is used to support a mission to end global poverty.

2. Pack up Party

You’ve wanted to clean out the cupboards and closets for months and pack up what you don’t use to donate to a shelter or other needy recipient. Invite the group over (even a couple pals can make it a party) and have a ball rummaging and packing up your junk.

3. Take a Hike

On one of my “milestone” birthdays, I decided to do a hike rather than a chichi dinner or costly trip. It was free, amazing exercise (just ask Kendra Wilkinson) and an ideal way to reconnect with wildlife and our natural surroundings. The greatest team building gift of all: No cell phones.

4. Board Public Transit to the Farmer’s Market

You and your epicurean pals or kids can shop for locally grown, organic produce and eat some for your b-day lunch. It’s an ideal way for ladies who lunch to munch responsibly while celebrating you and supporting community growers. But don’t drive if you have access to a bus, bike or train and of course, take a basket or reusable bags.

5. Renewable Energy Sponsorships

Ditch the new laptop purchase, and instead ask for a sponsorship from the start-up company, Powered Green. It sponsors new wind turbines that make enough clean and green energy to power your old computer for seven years. Each laptop credit covers 690 kilowatt-hours of certified wind energy and stops 1030 pounds of CO2 for $16. For $28, you can buy a desktop sponsorship for 1300 kilowatt-hours of certified wind energy, ceasing 1900 pounds of emissions. Each sponsorship comes with a decal for your computer, showing off your commitment to the planet. Way to grow!

6. Group Food Bank Volunteering

My 11-year-old’s friend held her party this year at the San Francisco Food Bank where guests donned protective plastic gloves and spend a couple of hours sorting can goods and packing them up for the needy throughout the city. Why limit this to kids? It is a great idea for grown ups, too, and a way to still have fun dishing and laughing while you work, all for a great cause: Feeding hungry neighbors. Now, that’s a gift. Oh, and guests can also donate money while they are visiting.

7. Say it with Darkness

Don’t say it with diamonds. Instead, make it lights out, candles in. Let her or him create a candlelit ambiance – beeswax naturally – to show how you glow, even when adding another year to the time clock. Spend the day without any electronics if possible and then flicker away at night. Spread out on a blanket if you like and recite poetry instead of watching the tube. A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou beside me, singing in the wilderness. . .It’s all so very friendly.

8. Scrap It

Scrapping is in big time – no, not just the recycled steel – but also scrap books as gifts lovingly assembled using existing materials by your friends and family. You can re-purpose an old photo book to create a personal masterpiece. It is the best gift I have ever received – one large book from friends on a big birthday and a small, beautiful pink one from my daughters on a Mother’s Day.

9. Gifts from the Garden

If eco is a return to purity and simplicity, then an ideal green birthday gift would be staying home and enjoying the fruits and veggies of your husband or best friend’s labors. There is nothing like cut flowers from the garden (give it up for lilacs and dahlias) and a nurturing soup of fresh picked veggies made and grown by someone who adores you.

10. Adopt a Furry Child

Come on, a new best friend from your old best friends? It’s a win-win situation. There are too many unwanted and neglected dogs and cats waiting for homes and the SPCA can connect you to a loving shelter pet on your birthday or any day. Tip: As I found out, some gifts snore a lot louder than others!

Images: AlphaTangoBravo,Luanne Bradley, SPCA, Polkadot Creations, Aldon;  San Francisco Food Bank

Perhaps it used to be taboo to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the ways of the world are changing. Given all of the safety recalls (ahem, the lead and cadmium contamination), and the manufacturing hazards that have gone hand-in-hand with so many childrens’ toys on the market – research, education and a discerning eye are now necessary byproducts when it comes to purchasing childrens’ gifts.

Parents should not feel the least bit tacky about giving direction to friends and family who are buying birthday presents for their kids. But there’s a way you can do so with finesse. Here are several savvy approaches you can take to ensure your little one will receive a safe, green, non-toxic gift to commemorate her big day!

Most gift givers will be thrilled to have the guesswork taken out of their search for the perfect offering; especially if you’re known in your circle (like I am) for being a green consumer with discriminating taste.

If you want your child to open a good old fashioned present, try these routes for making sure what’s in the box is suitable:

• Email a wish list to friends and family that you know would like to buy your child a gift. This can be as simple as sending a link to an Amazon wish list you create for your child.
• Select a specific store and create an online registry of appropriate gifts through that store. As with any registry, include a wide range of offerings to accommodate every price point.

For monetary gifting:

• Open a 529 college savings account for your child, and ask people to invest in her future, as opposed to buying her a toy.
• If your child has a particular love of animals, trees, nature, the ocean etc., you may want to discuss with her the notion of having gift givers donate to a charity of her choosing which supports her favorite cause.

Intangible gifting:

• Ask revelers to contribute to an annual membership to your local zoo, science museum, children’s museum, or botanical gardens. Then you’ll have an entire year to reap the fun rewards of taking your child on many educational excursions.
• If your child is interested in taking music lessons, dance lessons, horseback riding lessons, etc., ask party goers to pitch in to teach her a skill she’ll enjoy learning.
• Does a certain friend or family member have a special gift they could share with your child? Can grandma teach her how to make her secret banana bread recipe? Can your best friend teach her how to knit? The gift of someone’s time and expertise will be a cherished addition to your child’s interior landscape!

Image:liz_noise

Just to bring you up to speed for a minute – Father’s Day is June 20th! This year, get your dad a gift he’ll love, while leaving a lighter footprint on the planet with your purchase. We’ve got suggestions that will suit all types of dads, from the stay at home dad and surfer dude, to the tech-savvy businessman, the sports fan and the sentimental softie. From wooden headphones and hip daddy diaper bags made from plastic bottles, to hemp surf shoes and green soccer jerseys, everything on our list is sustainably designed and sure to be a huge hit with your pop!

Thinksound Headphones

For dads who love their ‘toys,’ and are always in sync with their iPhone and other gadgets, a pair of Thinksound headphones will be the ultimate gift. The company surpasses its goal to “create incredible sounding headphones with the smallest eco-footprint possible.” My husband is a self-professed audiophile, music connoisseur and former DJ, and he gives thinksound headphones – which he uses with his iPhone – two big thumbs up for their pure sound and clarity. These high definition headphones are made of real wood from renewable sources and deliver a crisp, natural resonance and unparalleled acoustics. They also feature passive noise cancellation, a 3.5mm gold plated plug, and they are PVC free. We hear Thinksound‘s tag line loud and clear: “clear sound, with a clearer conscience.” The headphones come in black chocolate or silver cherry wood and they retail for $99.99.

Green Dude Diaper Bag from Diaper Dude

Equip earth-friendly daddies with the ultimate hip and masculine diaper bag: the Green Dude Diaper Bag from Diaper Dude! This messenger style bag is functional and fashionable, and each bag is made from 25 16 oz. sized recycled plastic water bottles. A dad on the go won’t forget to pack baby’s essentials because the vivid orange interior features a daddy checklist to keep him on track. Bottle? Check. Diapers? Check. Saving the planet by toting an eco-conscious diaper bag? Check. Additional features include a changing pad, a padded shoulder strap, insulated bottle holder, cell phone holder, and more! Priced at $98 each.

100 Percent Recycled Silver Custom Necklace or Ring from Heart and Stone Jewelry

Why should moms be the only ones who get to wear their kids’ names close to their heart? Dads can get in on the keepsake charm action with custom designed 100 percent recycled silver necklaces and rings from Heart and Stone Jewelry. You can design a necklace or ring yourself on the Heart and Stone website, making this jewelry a truly unique and meaningful gift dad will treasure. Prices vary based on design.

Lil Davinci Art Cabinet Frame

Refrigerator doors everywhere can let out a sigh of relief with the introduction of the Lil Davinci art cabinet from Dynamic FRAMES. Now doting dads can instantly frame their childrens’ artwork and store up to fifty previous 8 1/2 x 11 sized creations in the cabinet behind the framed masterpiece of the moment. Less clutter, less waste, and kids will revel in watching dad frame their prized art on a rotating basis. The frame itself is sustainably made from scrap wood. Priced at $25.

Ergo Organic Baby Carrier

The babywearing trend isn’t just for green mamas. Dads can tote their tots all over town in a comfortable carrier, and bond with their little ones in a whole new fashion. The Ergo organic baby carrier is ergonomically designed to provide proper back support for wearers, and safe and healthy positioning for babies and toddlers. Dads can carry their precious cargo on their chest, back or hip with this versatile carrier, which is made from organic cotton. These carriers range from $120-$148.

Sustainably Designed Hemp and Recycled PET VANS Surf Sneakers

VANS aren’t just for kids and teens. Totally tubular green dads can ride the wave of eco-consciousness by leaving a lighter footprint in VANS surfer shoes made from recycled PET (recycled plastic bottles) or Hemp (hemp is a renewable resource and is not treated with pesticides). Both collections feature organic cotton textiles and an array of styles and color options that will suit every father’s taste. Their Ortholite midsoles are constructed from recycled car tires, the inner lining is comprised of Dri-lex bamboo, and the water-based glues and inks used to compose these kicks are biodegradable and more environmentally sound. The manufacturing of these green VANS reduces waste production in half. Only $60 a pair.

World Cup Soccer Jersey

If your dad is a sports aficionado, you probably already know that the 2010 World Cup is this month. Buy him this official USA home soccer jersey to wear his love of the game on his sleeve. In addition to boast-worthy construction, keeping wearers cool and sweat free, this jersey is also made from plastic bottles (100 percent recycled polyester), which is a total score. You can even customize it with dad’s name, number or patch! Priced at $70.

Image: kwanie