Green up the season

The holiday season is about more than just material goods or 'stuff,' as the simplicity organization Seeds of Simplicity puts it. It is a time to express gratitude for the earth's bounty in fall and a time to express joy and hope in response to her evergreen promise of life's continuation in winter.

illustration by Jennifer Ando/www.jenniferando.com

One way to celebrate the joy and life of the season is to give the gift of experience. Experiences, especially those we design ourselves, bring us together and stimulate our inner growth in ways that giving and receiving mass-produced stuff cannot. They also tend to use less of the earth's precious resources.

Here are a few suggestions for low-impact giving this holiday season:

• Treat meat-eating friends or relatives to a meal at a vegan restaurant. One of my favorites is Real Food Daily, which has locations (and desserts to die for) in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Santa Monica. You'll enjoy the togetherness while eating low on the food chain.
• Give gifts that support the expansion of human consciousness through the arts (a way of honoring nature 'from the inside,' as Carl Jung might say). Considering taking your friend to a mind-tickling documentary, such as Riding Giants or What the Bleep Do We Know?
• Give the gift of dance, music, theater, poetry, painting, sculpture, etc. Museum tickets make a great gift. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art offers film retrospectives, as do other theaters and festivals. There are more live theatres in the L.A. area than anywhere else in the U.S. And they don't have to be pricey; small, reasonably priced theaters abound. Check your paper. The Skirball Cultural Center offers interesting fare (310-440-4500).
• Give seed packets or bulbs for both flowers and vegetables. Your gift may result in organic produce, or at least, your friend having fun in the dirt!
• Speaking of planting, how about the gift of an honorary tree from Tree People in your recipient's name? Recipients can plant the tree themselves or have Tree People plant it for them. A special holiday planting is scheduled for Jan. 15 at the Tree People site in Coldwater Canyon. Tree People can be reached at 818-753-4600.
• Charades with a holiday theme is an enjoyable interactive experience to give at your home after a holiday meal. Kids and adults love this game. Prizes can include bottles of organic wine for adults and organic chocolates for the kids.
• Make up your own holiday rituals with the planet in mind to practice. For example, you can assemble with a small number of people, go to a natural setting and watch the sunrise in silence, taking in the experience with all five senses. Afterward, join hands, form a circle, and speak whatever is in your hearts. Then go out to breakfast and enjoy the rest of the day. This ritual particularly is suited to the first day of the new year, the beginning of a new cycle of life.

'A circle,' writes Cecile Andrews, author of The Circle of Simplicity, 'stands for life itself.' With this thought in mind, I find it relatively easy to regard the holiday season as something quite wonderfully other than a money pit.

For more ideas on sustainable giving and living, visit www.seedsofsimplicity.org;www.heifer.org, www.eartheasy.com, www.buynothingchristmas.org.