Thinking about finishing up your holiday shopping online? We love this option as well—especially when the weather does us wrong and makes heading to the mall unpleasant. Make sure to check out Earth Moment, a portal that will offset the carbon emitted by your purchase—at no extra cost. (Full disclosure: Ogden Publications, our parent company, runs this site.) Also check out these websites—some of our staff favorites:  

Photo by pt/Courtesy flickr 

1. Co-op America: Co-op America embers meet fair trade and green criteria. The organization’s “Green Pages” lists nearly 3,000 businesses that have made firm commitments to sustainable, socially just principles, including the support of sweatshop-free labor, organic farms, fair trade, and cruelty-free products. 

2. Better World Shopper: This comprehensive site offers a reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of more than 1,000 companies, covering everything from the environment to human rights, community development to animal protection. 

3. Greenopia: Greenopia Leaf Ratings let consumers assess the overall greenness of a business or product. 

4. WorldOfGood.com: This online marketplace offers fair trade and eco-friendly products. 

5. ABetterFootprint.com: Another marketplace for fair trade, earth-friendly, organic and multicultural products. 

6. Aid To Artisans: A group that helps artisans in developing countries. 

7. The Artful Home/The Guild: Features North American artists. 

8. Crispina: Blankets, throws, rugs, stuffed animals made from recycled clothing. 

9. Eco-Artware: Gifts made from recycled, reused and natural materials. 

10. Global Exchange: Fair trade, eco-friendly crafts, clothing and jewelry. 

11. A Greater Gift: Fair trade handcrafts. 

12. Ten Thousand Villages: This is one of the oldest and most respected organizations

We also find third-party certifications extremely helpful (we love when these organizations do some of our homework for us!). While you’re out shopping, look for the following logos: 

Photo by thingermejig/Courtesy flickr 

1. EcoLogo: This organization considers multiple environmental issues throughout a product’s lifecycle. Its website includes more than 120 environmental standards and almost 7,000 certified products. 

2. Energy Star: Products with this logo meet energy-efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Energy. 

3. Green-e: This organization certifies sources of renewable electricity and renewable energy credits from clean energy sources such as wind, solar or small-scale hydro-electric. It also certifies that products were manufactured in facilities using renewable energy. 

4. Forest Stewardship Council: The best source for verifying that wood came from responsibly managed forests. 

5. Greenguard: Verifies that products have low-VOC emissions. 

6. Green Seal: Products maintain environmental standards. 

7. Cradle to Cradle: Products with this logo meet high standards for “environmentally intelligent” design, and the program examines the entire lifecycle of product. 

8. Fair Trade: Guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of an agricultural product.

The following are some of the key words we look for when buying gifts: 

Photo by Sarah Parrot/Courtesy flickr 

1. Natural or nontoxic: grown or collected from natural sources 

2. Low embodied energy: doesn’t require large amounts of energy to manufacture, gather or transport 

3. Sustainably harvested: didn’t compromise health of source 

4. Recyclable/biodegradable: can be made into new products or fed back into the earth 

5. Recycled content: contains a high percentage of materials that used to be something else 

6. Local: traveled less than 500 miles to reach you 

7. Durable: built to last and doesn’t require ongoing maintenance 

8. Vegan: not derived from an animal or animal byproduct 

9. Organic: grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, hormones 

10. Cruelty-Free: doesn’t contain any part of an animal; wasn’t made with child labor or in a sweat shop 

11. Fair Trade: company policies and standards include a fair living wage for all factory employees and a safe work environment 

The Natural Home staff spent the past weekend at Eco Gift Festival in Santa Monica (not a bad place to be as snow and cold blanketed much of the country). Better even than the mild weather was the attendees’ response to our new line of Natural Home kitchenware. It was our first opportunity to talk directly with readers (both new and old) about the products. I’m pleased to say the reaction was positive; gift buyers were excited to find beautiful, affordable products that were produced in a thoughtful and conscious way. They asked a lot of really good questions about how the products were made, where they were made and under what conditions.

On Friday, I gave a presentation designed to help attendees ask those kinds of questions, ensuring that the gifts they’re buying are truly green. Given that the average American family spends around $18,000 each year on goods and services (a huge chunk of that during the holidays), I believe it’s crucial that we feel great about what we’re buying. I like to think of it as casting 18,000 votes for the kind of world we want to live in. Our dollars matter. So, this holiday season, these are the questions we’re asking before we plunk down our own hard-earned dollars.

Photo by brungrrl/Courtesy flickr 

1. What is it made from?

--Is it made from natural, replenishable or recycled  materials?

--Does it outgas harmful chemicals?

--Is it a potential allergen or carcinogen?

--Does it contain lead or heavy metals?

--Do you know all the materials used in its manufacture? 

2. How was it manufactured?

--Did its manufacture cause pollution?

--Who made it and under what conditions?

--Were the workers or artisans paid and treated fairly?

--Does the wholesaler or importer buy directly from artisans? 

3. Where was it made?

--Did it travel less than 500 miles to get to you?

--Is there a locally made alternative?

--Is it made in a country that enforces fair labor laws?

(Note: This year, China enacted new labor regulations and, according to the Fair Labor Association, is now actually slightly below the international average for the number of labor violations per factory. South Asia remains problematic, however, with the most violations occurring in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.) 

4. How is the item maintained and operated?

--Does it require continual energy, batteries or replacement parts?

(This is especially important during the holidays, when 40 percent of all batteries sold in this country get snapped up. If your son or granddaughter just has to have that battery-operated toy, consider including a rechargeable battery with the gift.)

--Is it durable?

--Can it be repaired easily? 

5. What will happen to the item once you're done with it?

--Can it be disassembled, recycled, reused or composted?

--Is it biodegradable? (There’s no legal definition for the word “biodegradable,” but the European Union deems a material biodegradable if it will break down into mostly water, carbon dioxide and organic matter within six months. The Federal Trade Commission defines biodegradable products as those that “break down and decompose into elements found in nature within a reasonably short amount of time when they are exposed to air, moisture and bacteria or other organisms.”) 

Check in tomorrow for part two of how to shop responsibly this holiday season.