Annie Scott: Cool Gifts for Crunchy Friends

It's holiday shopping time. Problem: You want to give gifts that are chic and fabulous, but you also want to keep things green. Not all your friends are eco-aware, but that doesn't mean you should buy them taxidermy pandas and Styrofoam Hummers.

What's more, you don't want to shower your crunchy friends with, you know, granola and Birkenstocks. Or a gratitude box. Sorry Oprah, I love you, but the very idea makes even my sweet, midwestern insides crawl. If anyone gives me a gratitude box, they're getting it back with coal inside. And possibly anthrax.

Solution: awesome green gifts that don't break the planet and don't make you look like a hippie. Not that anything's wrong with hippies. Here are some ideas! (Beyond the obvious, that is.)

1. A Kiwi fuel-saver from Thinkgeek ($289.99). This bad boy plugs into the dash of any car made after 1996, and keeps tabs on vehicle speed, RPM, engine load and oxygen sensor readings. It converts that information into an efficiency game, so you learn to drive greener, save gas, and, most importantly, beat your score.

2. Marchuska clothes ($25 to $120). Marchuska is an eco-friendly clothing designer I wrote about a while back on StyleList.com, and they just released a handful of new items! The line is still very basic, but I'm a little obsessed with the Kiva Tee and the Christine Dress. Anything beyond the basics is hard to buy for other people anyway.

3. Chocolates for a Cause with Relief Beads ($20 to $30). These fine chocolates from Compartes, a California chocolatier, are emblazoned with brightly colored Africas and the proceeds from their sales benefit Relief International's work in Darfur. The bracelets are cute, too. Take a look.

4. An ecosphere from Viva Terra ($89). That's right. An ecosphere. It's live shrimp, algae, micro-organisms and plants all living together in a hand-blown glass sphere — a completely self-sustainable ecosystem. There's a lot of neat, green, pretty stuff at Viva Terra. Organic Peppermint Bark anyone? Yes, please.

5. A Simmons Jewelry Co. Rough Diamond and Malachite Green bracelet ($125). Actually, any of the gorgeous bracelets from their Green Initiative line ($125 to $8,500) would suffice. The profits go to The Diamond Empowerment Fund. You can read more here. And get your holiday cards from Red Aphrodite ($11 to $18 for a set of eight). This green stationer uses 100 percent recycled paper and creates whimsical, pretty, clever cards.

Thank you, don't forget to visit the Tonic Shop, and happy holidays!