The Buzz

"The most important thing to happen this past year was that living and thinking 'green'--that is, mobilizing for the environmental/energy challenge we now face--hit Main Street. For so many years the term 'green' . . . was trapped in a corner by its opponents, who defined it as 'liberal,' 'tree-hugging,' 'girly-man,' 'unpatriotic,' 'vaguely French.' No more."

--columnist Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, December 22, 2006

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"The public is placing locally grown foods on the same pedestal organics once occupied, seeing them as a path to better health and environmental quality."

--Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 27, 2006

Year-End Wrap-Up

Running short on wrapping paper? Dreading yet another trip to the store? The solution may be hanging right in front of you. With the year almost gone, your 2006 calendar doesn't have much life left in it, so pull it down and use it to wrap presents instead. If it looked good enough to hang on your wall, it'll probably look great on a package. I just wrapped these gifts for my boyfriend (ssh, don't tell him) in one of my old Sierra Club calendars (but of course) and I think it turned out pretty well. Just make sure the entries on the back side don't hold any trade secrets or embarrassing personal appointments...

Happy holidays!

Pop Corner

Liquefied-natural-gas facilities are just a little bit outside People's usual fare of fashion faux pas and baby bumps—but not when celebrities get involved. Model Cindy Crawford and actors Halle Berry, Pierce Brosnan, and Daryl Hannah drew the magazine's attention in October when they attended a rally to oppose a planned LNG terminal off the coast of Malibu. In addition to marring the multimillion-dollar view, the fuel port would be a source of smog and greenhouse-gas emissions, making the idea a double bummer for the sexy surf town. No wonder a similar project proposed for Long Beach Harbor is now losing steam.

5/21/07 UPDATE: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the Malibu proposal last Friday; earlier this year, local officials abandoned plans for the Long Beach terminal due to safety concerns.

Feuds, Fashion, and . . . Fighting Global Warming?

It's always fun when environmental tidbits make their way into the gossip columns. (Not least because it makes reading them legitimate "research.") Eco-celeb-about-town Leonardo DiCaprio merited a mention in the San Francisco Chronicle's "Daily Dish" for starting a popular discussion on the "Yahoo! Answers" web site about global-warming solutions.

So far, more than 9,000 readers have contributed their ideas for "smart, simple, and serious" ways that "we can all take action in our own homes and where we work"—and only a few turned it into an opportunity to dis Leo's movie choices.

Bridging the Dining Divide

The mastermind behind Sierra's November/December "Green Cuisine" issue, senior editor Paul Rauber, recently hosted a talk on food security at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. "How to Provide Good Food for Everyone" was the topic at hand for panelists Edie Jessup, director of the hunger and nutrition project at Fresno Metro Ministry; David Roach, founder of Mo' Better Food in Oakland; author (and former executive director of the Hartford Food System) Mark Winne; and actress, activist, and die-hard urban-farm supporter Daryl Hannah. An audio recording of their enlightening discussion is now available online.

("Green Cuisine" logo by Greg Mably)

Read All About It

If you've got any bookworms on your holiday shopping list, consider these recent titles by Sierra contributors:

• For the nature lover: Pre-order Chrysalis, Kim Todd's biography of a 17th-century female naturalist.
• For the political junkie: Steven Hill's 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
• For the photo buff: Galen Rowell: A Retrospective.
• For the McDonald's-obsessed teen: Chew on This, Eric Schlosser’s youth-friendly follow-up to Fast Food Nation.
• For the little ones: Dashka Slater's children's books, Baby Shoes and Firefighters in the Dark.

Read any good books lately? Let us know about 'em.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas…

Ah, egg-nog lattes at the coffee shop, mariachi-tinged carols blaring out of raspy car speakers on Mission Street...though the signs may be different in every neighborhood, the holidays are clearly upon us. While you're dusting off your decorations, don't forget to pick up some energy-saving LED lights. And before you make your list and check it twice, check out our ecofriendly shopping tips and other green ideas for the holidays. Elsewhere on the web:

"Simplify the holidays" with New American Dream and sign up to get a free "holiday survival tip" in your in-box every day between now and New Year's.

Healthy-home guru Debra Lynn Dadd shares her holiday list and some suggestions for mindful gift-gifting.

NRDC columnist Sheryl Eisenberg reflects on how "less can be more" with holiday gifts.

Salon's humorous holiday shopping guide includes gift-giving ideas for all your "do-gooder" friends.

Grist readers and editors have put together a new list of green gift ideas, but I'm still enjoying last year's version, with its suggestions for everyone from "the angsty teen" to the sports fanatic.

Ideal Bite suggests stylish, sustainable ways to wrap gifts—and organic cocktails to kick back and relax with once all your shopping and decorating is done!

What fun and environmentally friendly ways have you found to celebrate the holidays? Share your tips in the comments section.