Socially conscious gifts for everyone on your list:

For Mom: Thistle Farms' Holiday hand-poured candle $24. All Thistle Farms products are created by the women of Magdalene, a two-year residential community for women with a history of drug addiction and prostitution. The non-profit offers a safe community for those seeking solace from the streets and the eco-friendly candle is made of soybean-based ecowax, vybar and essential oils.

For Dad: Voltaic Converter backpack $199. This light weight backpack includes 4 watts of solar power and 11 adaptors for easy connection to handheld electronics. Good for a business trip or a Saturday hike.

For your college-aged brother: Reusable Corn Resin Water Bottle with Filter from New Wave Enviro $7.89. Corn instead of petroleum-based biodegradable water bottle, which makes it safer and more environmentally sound than conventional water bottles. The filter is already included so you just fill it up and go.

For your high-school aged sister: Engage Green's* cork bag $90. Cork, which comes from the outermost bark of the oak tree, is a renewable product. This substantial bag is large enough for notebooks and electronics, and the longer the cork bag is used, the softer it gets.

For your best friend: Patriot Imports' Telephone Wire Bowl $35. These colorful bowls, which are hand woven from discarded telephone wire, liven up any apartment and the proceeds support a Zulu women's co-op.

For your significant others' parents: Fairtrade's leather coaster set $27.50. The elegant six-piece set is made from cruelty free leather (from naturally dead animals) by female artisans in the Kutch region at the edge of the great salt desert in India.

For the new baby: Farmer Kids' customized, organic infant T* $39.95. 100% certified Organic cotton shirt, with baby's initial and name embroidered on it makes this a thoughtful gift for the baby and for the environment.

As Secret Santa: "Secret New York" walking tour book $20. Whether you're visiting someone for the holidays from New York, tagging along to a holiday gathering in New York, or if you just happen to like New York (it is one of the greenest cities, thanks to all the non-drivers), this book encourages emission-free ambles through its prettiest areas. I should know, I wrote it . . .

*Available at the Union Square Holiday Market in New York City.

Photo:patriotimports.com, Creative Commons, Flickr