It's the holiday season, and folks are laying out the suggestions for how to green up your celebrations:

Green gifts. Pretty cool, though a bit on the crunchy-chewy side ("You can also reuse old wrapping paper or try last Sunday's comics; they're very colorful. Or go through your ragbag and use any clothes, scarves, or, heck, pillowcases you hadn't figured out what to do with. ... If you're still determined to buy gift wrap, you can get a tree-free variety made from hemp, flax, or cotton fiber from Granola Groovy...").

Christmas trees: real, or fake?. The answer? Go chop one down. Make sure to hang it with LEDs, though.

Best of all might be giving the gift of a stable climate:

"A few years ago, Bill Cooke was mulling over ways to make his Christmas greener, more environmentally friendly, when he discovered he could buy a ton of air pollution.

"It was just like a light bulb went on," says the Sloansville, N.Y., resident. "I'm thinking: How come it took me so long to realize I could do this at Christmas?"

"Thus it was that along with toys, games, and other gifts beneath the Cookes' tree, there appeared a "clean air certificate" citing the elimination of 2,000 pounds of sulfur-dioxide emissions. Cost: $50."

Though for my part, it's hard to beat an iPod and a lingering rendezvous under the mistletoe.