Holiday or birthday gift ideas

Membership to a museum, zoo, botanical garden

Wildlife Conservation Society: Runs Bronx Zoo, NY Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo
Bronx Zoo, NY: Memberships, Write to Congress and support a project
Central Park Zoo, NY: Memberships, Write to Congress and support a project
Central Park Zoo, NY: Memberships, Write to Congress and support a project
The New York Botanical Garden: Memberships, Volunteering

Skansen, Stockholm: Arskort och presentkort till butiken
Historiska Museet, Stockholm: Medlemsskap i Historiska museets vänner.
Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm: Medlemsskap i Riksmusei vänner.
Svenska Naturskyddsföreningen: Medlemsskap och webbutik




Theater tickets for the performing arts

I know there are tons more out there, just to give you the idea...
New York Philharmonic
American Ballet Theatre

Kungliga Operan, Stockholm
Dramaten, Stockholm




A personalized charitable donation

A short collection of organizations working for worthy causes:
World Wildlife Fund - WWF: Donations and adoptions
The Hungersite: Mercy Gift Kits (aid, water, business grants to Africa,warm a school, etc.).
Friends of the Earth
American Red Cross/Svenska Röda Korset
Save the Children/Svenska Rädda Barnen
Stockholms Stadsmission




Seeds, cuttings, plants, or a tree

Plants that last give pleasure for a long time. Get some seeds, take cuttings
from your Spiderplant or St Paulia (Africa Violet) and plant for a pretty and
longlived gift. Or, if the climate agrees, give a tree to plant (fruit trees for example).



Jam or wine from your local farmer’s market or healthy foods store

US Farmers markets Find one in your area (an USDA site)




Gift certificate to your local health food store





Homemade baked goods

My friend treated us last year with a wonderful fruitcake wrapped
in a beautiful Chrismas-red cloth kithcen towel.



Cloth dish towels and napkin rings

In my family everyone had a personalized napkin ring so we could
reuse our own napkin until it was ready for a wash. Some were very
nice, made of silver, and given at a baby shower or as a baptism gift.




Bar soap with soap dish

A bar soap is better than the plastic bottled hand soap and when using
a nice ceramic or bamboo soap dish, so much more aestetic.



Photographs

Find those pictures of your friends of family that you wanted to give away anyway.




A set of biodegradable, no-phosphate cleansers

Ask for the USDA label Organic when you go shopping!

Bra Miljöval-märkta produkter Svenska Naturskyddsföreningens lista




Solar or hand powered electrical gadgets

Why not look for solar cell powered calculators, watches or garden lights.
Just heard from a friend that she is giving her uncle a hand cranked torch
for Christmas (cannot mention her name - don't want to ruin the surprise).



Energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs





Hours of babysitting

Give a gift certificate of your own time, for example a donation of 5 hours
worth of baby sitting.



Plant a tree in someone’s name

You can even parttake in tree planting at IKEA just now. They
are planting trees through American Forests.




Kid-made personalized coupon books for household chores

My friends daughter made a beautiful coupon book for her parents and
it included cleaning her room and helping with other chores.




A bird or bat house

Some can be decorated (fun for kids or the crafty to do) or just left
plain. These promote the wild-life around your house and the neighborhood.




The gift of yourself, your time

(to family, to volunteer)