star-telegram.com: Teresa McUsic
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• There are plenty of ways for Americans to celebrate an eco-friendly holiday
  By Teresa McUsic

  2007 may be the first holiday season to turn really green."There is much more excitement about going green for the holidays this year than ever before," said Duane Dahl, creator of EarthLab.com, a green online community of more than 1 million members. "People are much more aware of the environmental impact that things like packaging, decorating and travel have on our planet. With so many great eco-friendly gift ideas and educational resources, people are making better choices for the holidays."My personal green holiday journey started a few weeks ago when I stopped using plastic bags.I'm not alone. San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags in retail stores last month, and a number of countries like Ireland are taxing them, which cuts down on their use dramatically.The bags have turned into an environmental nightmare. Less than 3 percent of the 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags used worldwide each year are recycled, according to a recent article in National Geographic. The rest sit in landfills or end up as trash harmful to animals on land and in the water. The bags can take hundreds of years to decompose, the article said.So now when I check out at a retailer or the grocery store, I ask for no bags. It's really not hard to do; everything just goes back into the cart and I hold onto my receipt in case someone wants to question me at the door (which hasn't happened.)Dahl says the best way to become eco-friendly is to take it one step at a time. By changing your habits gradually, you eventually start to do it automatically.Here are eight other easy ways to make your holiday greener:Let LED holiday lights brighten your house. This year's traditional holiday lights could generate as much global-warming pollution as about 250,000 cars, according to research from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Mini and C-7 incandescent lights used by most homeowners are only about 10 percent efficient, so most of this holiday brightness is wasted electricity, the UCS said.LEDs use semiconductors to convert electricity into light directly, resulting in significant energy savings. An LED uses about 0.04 watts of electricity, compared with 0.45 watts for a mini incandescent light bulb and 7 watts for a C-7 incandescent bulb.Although they cost two or three times more than their less-efficient counterparts, LEDs last up to 100,000 more hours, so they will quickly pay for themselves. If you don't want to switch them all at once, buy a few strings at a time to phase out the old lights.Give American-made gifts. Eighty percent of the toys purchased in the U.S. are made overseas, according to EarthLab.com. Buying local goods reduces the pollution and fuel costs associated with shipping products across the ocean. While harder to find, there are toys and other gifts still made in the U.S. Two Web sites where you can search for a wide variety of products made in the U.S. are www.stillmadeinusa.com and www.usstuff.com.Buy online. Save yourself gas and the planet pollution by buying gifts online. You can go one step further by using the Internet shopping portal EarthMoment.com, which will donate half of its commission from retailers to the offset project of your choice through Carbonfund.org. EarthMoment.com has access to thousands of retailers, which pay the portal a commission of generally 5 percent of the cost of the product you buy, although the commission can be as high as 20 percent.Buy recycled or electronic holiday cards. If you aren't sending out as many cards this year, you're not alone. The U.S. Postal Service anticipates that carriers will deliver 43.3 million cards and letters this holiday season, a decline of 4 million pieces since 2005. See whom you might cut from your list without hurting feelings, or better yet, look for recycled or electronic holiday cards. There are thousands of fun e-cards available free from trusted Web sites like Hallmark.com, AmericanGreetings.com, BlueMountain.com and Egreetings.com.Cut back on catalogs. If your mailbox is overwhelmed with unwanted catalogs these days, it's time to fight back. Each year, 19.8 billion catalogs are mailed to American consumers. The production of all those catalogs consumes 3.6 million tons of paper, at a cost of 53 million trees.CatalogChoice.org is a free online service to cut catalog mailings to your home. In its first two months, the service has stopped 2.5 million catalogs for 223,500 people. The concept was developed by Global Warming Education at the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center.Have your catalogs handy when you sign on to the Web site at www.catalogchoice.org to get the spelling of your name they use and the catalog number, a spokeswoman advised. The process takes a couple of months, so be patient.Lighten up on the gift wrap. If 40 percent of U.S. households reduced their holiday paper consumption by just two sheets this year, the savings could gift-wrap Manhattan Island, according to EarthLab. Better yet, buy gifts that don't have to be wrapped, like concert tickets or gift certificates.Buy food grown locally. Most produce in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles before being sold, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. That distance rises significantly for imports. A new feature on the NRDC Web site shows consumers how to look for local food at www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles/.Buy green gifts to donate. World Vision is offering the opportunity to convert to "green giving" with more than 100 gifts that make a difference in the world. Gifts range from $15 to $20,000 and can be purchased in the name of a friend or family member. Gift recipients get a card describing the gift that was purchased and the impact it will have in the life of a person in need.

• Get the most for your money in gift cards
  By TERESA McUSIC

  If you're thinking of skipping the malls today and giving those oh-so-easy gift cards this year, remember that even shopping for this simple item requires some strategic thinking.If not, your gift will be part of the nearly $8 billion in gift cards -- around 10 percent of all cards sold -- that were unredeemed or lost last year, according to a recent study by TowerGroup."This 'breakage' amount is more than double the $3.5 billion annually estimated to be lost from debit and credit card fraud," according to the fifth annual gift card study by the Office of Consumer Protection in Montgomery County, Md.Twenty-seven percent of gift card recipients have not used one or more of their cards, up from 19 percent at the same time last year, according to a Consumer Reports survey. And more than half have more than one unredeemed card.These cards are starting to pile up in a big way, and we're set to buy more than ever over the next few weeks. The National Retail Federation estimates that gift card sales will total $26.3 billion this holiday season, a 6 percent increase over last year.Part of the reason gift cards are stacking up is that they are everywhere these days, from Dunkin' Donuts to American Airlines, said Ed Farrell, associate director of Consumer Reports' National Research Center."They've become sort of endemic to shopping," he said.It's important to know whom you're shopping for, Farrell advises."If you know where they shop, what they like, what they will buy, the gift card will be used," Farrell said. "Otherwise, they will forget about it."Also make sure you have a good card.Good cards have no fees or expiration dates and a scratch-off PIN. They can be bought on the retailer's Web site and be replaced if lost or stolen.Fortunately, most retail gift cards now carry those consumer-friendly characteristics.In the Office of Consumer Protection's annual study, just four retail cards had fees or expiration dates on them this year, compared with more than 50 percent during the office's first study in 2003."Blockbuster ended its expiration date requirement last year, and Pizza Hut ended its fee," said Evan Johnson, administrator for the Maryland office and an author of the report.Although retail gift cards have bowed to consumer pressure and dropped fees and expiration dates, bank gift cards tied to credit card providers have not, Johnson warns."We looked at 20 bank gift cards this year, and all have fees and expiration dates," he said. "But it is easier to by a bank card with no maintenance fee in the first year."Monthly maintenance fees of $1.25 to $4.95 are something to watch for. Six of the 19 bank gift cards studied delay the monthly charge for just six months and 11 delay the monthly charge for a year, while two Discover gift cards delay it until after a year of non-use.Another problem with gift cards is that we rarely stick to the amount that is on the card. Instead, we buy more than the card's value, adding to the overall cost of the gift.This overbuying can be just as important as fees and expiration dates."Besides bank cards' ubiquitous fees and expiration dates, the problem of paying for a purchase greater than the card's value is a substantial one," according to the study. "In additio