DO pick presents that encourage a greener lifestyle, such as plants and gardening tools or reusable water bottles.	DON’T give gifts that require disposable batteries that need to be changed often.
DO wrap gifts with recycled paper wrapping, newspaper, magazine pages or reusable cloth bags.	DON’T wrap gifts with nonrecyclable wrapping paper printed with petroleum-based inks and dyes.
DO give consumable gifts and experiences that don’t need to be wrapped, such as food, movie tickets, gift certificates or charitable donations.	DON’T order gifts that need to be sent in multiple shipments with extraneous packaging.
DO send e-cards, recyclable cards or postcards, which reduce paper usage and save envelopes.	DON’T send traditional, nonrecyclable cards, which require 300,000 trees a year to be cut just for the holiday season.
DO plan ahead and consolidate shopping trips to save time and gas.	DON’T make multiple trips all over town to look for last-minute gifts.

Keep it real.

Artificial trees are most often made with potentially hazardous PVC, so a real tree is still the greener choice. Also, make sure the tree you select is locally and sustainably harvested. So do keep it real this season and don’t forget to recycle the tree after the holidays. For a list of drop-off sites, visit earth911.org.