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Brad Pitt
Looking for last-minute gifts that will last beyond Christmas morning - not at the landfill, but in someone's heart?

Make it right NOLA - Support this effort, launched by Brad Pitt and some of America's most accomplished environmental architects, to build 150 eco-homes in the Katrina-devastated 9th ward of New Orleans (NOLA). Your contributions can buy faucet aerators ($5), low VOC paint ($25/gallon), tankless water heaters, ceiling fans, linoleum floors, landscaping, and more. Want to help Brad furnish the entire house? You can - for a mere $150,000. Regardless of how much you donate, when you make your gift online, Brad pops up on your screen to thank you. (Some people will consider that a gift in itself!)

Heifer International Remember the old lesson, about teaching a person to fish? Heifer International teaches people in developing countries to farm and raise llamas, too, all in an effort to help them become more self-supporting. On behalf of your loved ones, you can give a deserving family a flock of ducks, a trio of rabbits, sheep for wool, and much more.

Earth Share - When you protect the environment, you protect people, and vice versa. In the name of family or friends, donate to an environmental group that is doing work you wish you could, if you only had the time or expertise. You can find a list of the nation's top conservation and preservation organizations at EarthShare.

American Forests - Trees restore damaged forest ecosystems, give us cleaner air and clearer water, build life in our communities and provide animals with homes and nourishment. American Forests will plant trees in the name of the people on your holiday gift list. For $1 per tree (15-tree minimum), the non-profit organization will send your gift recipient a personalized certificate. You can have trees planted on the hurricane-damaged areas of the Gulf coast, in wildfire-burned areas of California, or to protect the Mexican habitat of the Monarch butterfly. If you want, tuck your gift certificate into a copy of the classic tree- lover's book The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss.

Dagoba chocolate - What would a holiday list be without a little chocolate, even though this organic treat is guaranteed not to last much past Christmas morning? No matter how fast you eat it, it actually does endure, since every time you buy cocoa products grown, like Dagoba, without the use of pesticides, you protect the planet and help cocoa farmers live a more sustainable life. You can opt for pint-sized bars perfect for stocking stuffers or a sampler box of milk, dark and flavored bars for the Dagoba devotee. You might even leave Santa some organic chocolate with his milk in place of a couple of cookies.

For more holiday tips, visit BigGreenPurse .com.
spinach salad with cranberries
This delicious salad, adapted from a recipe by Purse Alerts! subscriber Bobbie of Fairfax, Virginia, is as beautiful on a buffet spread as it is on the dinner table. The colorful cranberries, clumps of bright white feta cheese, and deep green romaine lettuce (or spinach) leaves make a perfect holiday offering. Recipe serves six.




Ingredients:

Three heads organic romaine lettuce
1 cup dried cranberries
2 navel oranges (organic if available)
� lb (or more) feta cheese (my kids love feta, so I add extra)
1 cup pecan or walnut pieces and halves
balsamic vinegar (organic)
extra virgin olive oil (organic)
salt, fresh ground pepper

Preparation (20 mins.):

� Discard lettuce cores; chop lettuce stalks into bite- size pieces; wash and drain or spin in salad spinner to remove excess moisture
� Toast nuts in heavy-duty skillet (cast iron works well) about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so they get crisp but don't burn
� Trim rind from oranges with a sharp paring knife; cut each orange into eighths (or smaller pieces, if you prefer)
� Break feta into small chunks if you want to fully taste the cheese, or crumbles if you enjoy a more subtle flavor

Assemble (5 mins):

� Use a bowl that is more wide than deep so you can display all of the salad ingredients.
� Fill the bowl with the lettuce; mix in the oranges.
� Working in concentric circles from outside in, make a ring with the cranberries, then the feta cheese, then the nuts.

(Alternatively, just mix the lettuce, oranges, and cranberries together; scatter the nuts and cheese on top.)

Serve the salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side, letting guests add as much as they wish.

(Variations: the original recipe called for canned mandarin oranges in place of organic navel oranges, bottled Ken's balsamic dressing in place of organic balsamic vinegar and olive oil, packaged candied almond slivers in place of fresh pecans or walnuts, and Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries) in place of natural dried cranberries. You can also use spinach, as shown in the photo from Kalyn's Kitchen, rather than romaine lettuce.)

Happy holidays!

You can find more environmentally- friendly shopping ideas at the Shop Green Here pages of www.biggreenpurse.com

By the way, if you want to pass this information along to a friend, don't use the forward function of your e-mail system. Instead, click on the Forward button right below my signature.

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Talk to you again soon,

Diane's Photo
Diane MacEachern
Big Green Purse

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