[Check out these links for green gift guides for Angelenos, guys, gals, kids & babies, or green LA girl. Gift baskets and non-consumer gifts here :)]

From what I can gather, there’re 3 main types of waste free gifts.

The first, and most common, are restaurant or other experience-oriented event gift certificates. The second are animal adoptions. The third — and prolly smallest category — encompass all other eco-friendly, waste-free gifts.

I’m guessing that you have the first covered, if need be. Thus, I’ll focus on the other two.

So — Say you wanna adopt, or help someone else adopt — a cute lil animal. You’ve got LOTS of options. For wild animals and fishies, try the World Wildlife Federation or Oceana or IFAW for anything from the puffin to the orangutan.

If you wanna support people who need domesticated animals, then I recommend you go with either Heifer International or Oxfam.

If you’re not into adopting animals, then let’s get on to option 3. Plant some trees! If you want them planted in LA, I recommend going with TreePeople. If you want them in Honduras or El Salvador, where trees’re supposed to grow faster, go with 100% Replanted. You can also donate to Oxfam to plant trees and garden.

Lastly — If you wanna give or lend money to people to start sustainable businesses and / or provide gender equity training, consider Kiva, which connects individual lenders in first world nations — in a v. tangible way — with entrepreneurs looking to start businesses.

Oxfam also has some programs — i.e. irrigating a farmer’s land for 2 months, provide gender rights training, etc.

Happy holidays –