Mother's Day Gifts

If you have a busy schedule like mine you may have yet to think about Mother's Day. I have forgotten the holiday all together if it weren't for the constant ads for your typical flower arrangement or jewelry. I propose a new approach to Mother's Day. Instead of buying gifts that traveled hundreds of miles to get to your mother, contributing to the pollution of our air, how about try some more eco-friendly presents? I usually go with my siblings to wander around department stores until we had agreed upon something not too expensive or useless, but this year I have brainstormed some different ideas.

Flowers seem to be the standard gift for the holiday, or at least the flower businesses want you to believe this. If April showers brought May flowers for your area, consider picking your own wild flower bouquet. It would be much more fun and thoughtful than placing a phone call to get roses delivered, as well as a lot cheaper, my fellow college students. The main issue with the purchased flowers are not only the aforementioned air pollution and fossil fuel expenditure involved with delivering the product, but also the fertilizers, which contain nitrogen and other chemicals damaging to the soil and water.
Also along the lines of do it yourself are two of my other ideas. First, is potted herbs for a mother who enjoys cooking. This one is eco-friend for similar reasons that the wild flower bouquet is. A cook who prepares a lot of Mexican foods may like cilantro, an Italian food lover might be pleased to receive basil and oregano. Second, you could put together a gardening kit. Things that might be included would be hand tools, water can, and seeds for various flowers, vegetables, and fruit. The best plants would be ones that are suited to the climate your mother lives in so that excess watering and fertilizer can be avoided. As your mother works outside to nurture her garden, she won't be using lights or television, and therefore, saving electricity. Any other type of gift that would get her outdoors would also save energy.
Another idea is to make a donation in your mother's name to an organization dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and their habitats. Some ideas include National Wildlife Federation, African Wildlife Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund. The Nature Conservancy is an organization that allows you to adopt half an acre for $25 or a whole acre for $50 in places like Australia and Costa Rica in your mother's name.

If it truly is the thought that counts, your mother should be pleased that she raised a person who takes responsibility for their impact on the environment. (Explaining your intentions may also be helpful in preventing her from calling you a cheapskate when she thanks her other children for their gifts.)