At Veritey we believe that living the good life has more to do with living as low an impact life as you can. It requires choice, commitment, determination and thought. It requires practice.  And it requires work.  Well most of the time it requires a little bit of work anyway.  But we’re hoping to take some of that work off of your hands.  Over time, our plan is to do all the heavy-lifting for you so that we can be your source (THE source) for making better choices as well as getting ideas on what it truly takes to live a good life. 

This holiday there are going to be a lot of ways to spend your holiday dollars.  Why not start with putting your money to work by giving gifts that do good.  

Here are are a few simple ways to gift the good life:

1. Donate to a charity in their honor.  Instead of buying people on your list more unnecessary items, give them something to be proud of. Sponsor a child for a year through Save the Children. 

2. Help them reduce their carbon footprint with the gift of an offset.  You can zero-out their impact with an offset through the responsibly managed GoZero program by the Conservation Fund.

3. If you’re going to buy things (and lets face it we’re all going to buy some things…) put your money to stores that will support causes you care about.  Causecast wrote a good post about iGive and GoodShop as ways to do this. 

4. An elaborate give for someone over 13 on your list might be an unforgettable getaway.  A getaway that truly gives is a volunteer vacation through Earthwatch where you become a citizen scientist helping do work with serious scientists studying all aspects of climate change change from around the globe.  (From the Cheetahs in Namibia to Turtles in the Galapogos; Dolphins in the Red Sea to Loons in the Gulf of Mexico — there are trips around the world.) This is a truly unforgettable experience. 

5. Last, but not least, some of the most personal gifts is to either make something for someone or give them a favorite possession.  Only you can be the judge of what is going to be just the right thing for someone on your list. But if you can save from buying something new, that’s a great way to keep the impact of your gift low. 

This year, lets start to hold ourselves to a higher standard when we give. Part of doing that is to ask yourself before buying — what do I/they truly need?  If the answer is nothing reconsider the list above. I know it can sound grinch-y and I don’t want to take the fun out of gift-giving.  On the contrary, if we give more responsibly then getting and giving can be seriously fun, rewarding, and pride-inducing.

All it takes is a different state of mind. We call this Veritey.  We’d love to hear how you’re approaching good gift giving this year.