A Baby Elephant for Christmas? 10 Last-Minute Earth-Friendly Gifts

By Ann Krueger Spivack

Are you in need of a thoughtful gift that won’t add more waste to our landfills? We’ve got you covered with ten planet-friendly ideas.

1. Sponsor a baby elephant. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust cares for orphaned baby elephants and rhinos. For $50 you can sponsor one elephant for a year and your gift recipient gets monthly email updates.

2. Buy cooking classes. Happy Girl Kitchens offers cooking classes in Oakland, and your lucky gift recipient can learn to make marmalade, pickles, or even infusions for cocktails.

3. Organic vegetables for the new year. A CSA membership (Community-Supported Agriculture) delivers boxes of just-picked organic vegetables, grown locally. Many CSAs offer three-month memberships and Mariquita Farm of Watsonville has “Mystery Box” night where happy Bay Area veggie lovers can pay for one box of the best produce picked that week without committing to a membership.

4. Send some cheer to a service person who can’t get home for the holidays. You can honor a friend by sending a box in their name. Visit AnySoldier.com to learn more.

5. A day on “The Rock.” Give a postcard of Alcatraz along with tickets for a day tour in 2015 or book a thrilling night tour.

6. An evening at the theater. Buy tickets for upcoming performances to ACT in San Francisco or Berkeley Rep.

7. Help save endangered Silverback gorillas. You can donate to Virunga National Park and support the rangers who protect elephants and gorillas from poachers.

8. Adopt a seal. The Marine Mammal Rescue Center on the Marin Headlands takes in injured sea mammals. Donate in a friend’s name – and then visit the center in 2015 to meet some of the creatures recuperating there. This is a great gift/destination for children.

9. Treat a friend to a meal that helps others. The Delancey Street Restaurant in San Francisco serves excellent food – while giving a second chance to people down on their luck.

10. Feed someone who doesn’t have regular meals. Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco and Second Harvest Food Bank both served record numbers of people in 2014. Your gift (in your gift recipients’ name) makes a real difference right here in the Bay Area.

Happy holidays from all of us at Patch.

Need more gift ideas?

• Find The Best Gifts Under $100 With The 2014 Patch Holiday Gift Guide

• Prep for This Season With the Novato Patch Winter Gift Guide

(Photo via Morguefile)