Perfect Stocking and Pocket Stuffers: Phthalate-free Lip Balms To keep from licking hormone-disrupters off your winter-cracked lips, choose from this plethora of phthalate-free products, all of which use essential plant oils rather than synthetic...

Ten Tips for Greener Holidays 1. Gift wrap. My friend Cristal, buying Japanese silks at a yard sale, says, “I’m wrapping all my Xmas gifts in old scarves this year.” My friend Lexy saves all her daughter’s drawings on butcher paper and wraps...

Green Gifts, Carbon Footprints and All Buy local, or not? It’s the holidays, right, so anything goes? Not quite. Every product has a carbon footprint, that is, the carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, released by the burning of fossil fuels...

Some green organizations, bless their hearts, offer some ungreen swag as membership premiums, such as petroleum-based plastic backpacks and the lot. That's why I'm stoked by Surfrider Foundation's organic cotton cap and tote in their membership...

*Buy products that aren’t overpackaged. During the holidays, Americans toss out 25% more waste, including plastic and wrapping paper. *If possible, have all the gifts for one address from one retailer, like Amazon, sent at the same time to minimize...