20+ Ways to Give Without Giving "Stuff"

Make the next vacation be about more than sipping cocktails or gazing at historic architecture. Volunteer vacations are a chance to give back to local communities, restore and protect local ecosystems or otherwise help out while enjoying a holiday. The testimonials from vacationers tell the tale: They can be more satisfying and offer a greater sense of renewal than even the most relaxing getaways.

Learn more at CharityGuide.org.

Oceana works to protect the oceans and its denizens through science, litigation and advocacy. You can support the organization by adopting one of the sea creatures the group fights to protect — a dolphin, shark, polar bear, penguin, octopus or sea turtle. $35-$150 at oceana.org.

With the U.S. waging two wars, thousands of troops will be away from home during the holidays.

A great way to give them a gift is to donate a cell phone — even a used cell phone — to an organization like Cell Phones for Soldiers, which sells the phones to recyclers, and uses the proceeds to buy calling cards troops use to call home.

Give a Mercy Corps Climate Change Kit in your friend or loved one's name, and you can both feel proud to have provided job training to youth. The next third-world solar power installer or organic farmer will thank you. Learn more at mercycorps.org, 1-888-256-1900.

Give them the gift of fresh, nutritious vegetables! Community supported farms sign up members in advance and then dole out the harvest throughout the growing season (and sometimes even through the winter). Shares (or partial shares) can cost a couple hundred dollars, and vary by farm. Look up a CSA (that stands for Community Supported Agriculture) near you using the "Get Local Info" tool on the thedailygreen.com homepage.

Help a former zoo or circus elephant load up his trunk and find peace at Tennessee's Elephant Sanctuary -- a licensed refuge designed specifically for elephants rescued after being abandoned or abused. Feed an elephant for a day for just $30, or purchase an acre for that elephant for $1,400. Learn more at elephants.com, 1-931-796-6500.

Do the shopping, seat your guests and prepare a delicious meal made with organic and seasonal ingredients (like the great winter acorn squash dish pictured here). What's better than the gift of good food and good company? For meal ideas, see The Daily Green's recipe archive.

The Daily Green doesn't encourage the use of disposable plastic water bottles. This is a worthy exception.

Charity Water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean, safe water to people in developing nations, now offers "Bottle of Charity." Your $20 pays for water and sanitation projects that will provide third world citizens clean water for -- at least -- 20 years! Learn more at charitywater.org, 1-646-688-2323.

Kathy Lee Bates wasn't kidding around when she wrote the poem "America the Beautiful." Help others see the beauty through a Federal Recreational Lands Pass, which allows your recipient (plus a vehicle and 3 additional adults) free entrance for one year to America's National parks and other public lands. $80 at nps.gov, 1-888-ASK USGS.

Every gift doesn't have to be for someone you know. Many people have closets full of old clothes that aren't doing them any good. Why not take an hour away from shopping and put it into sorting clothes?

Look for local community coat drives, church thrift shops, organizations that outfit low-income people for job interviews, or other charitable organizations that help the homeless or others in need.

Make it into a personal gift by offering to help organize a cluttered friend's closet.

Give the gift of a clean house, cleansed with homemade or nontoxic products. A great gift idea for a DIY enthusiast (or, say, the unemployed recent graduate) to show you really care. Learn how to clean green with The Daily Green's Green Cleaning Guide.

Someone bugging you for a pony? Give a cheetah instead. The Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center's Adopt-a-Cheetah Program is designed specifically to engage children in the conservation, rescue and rearing of an endangered cheetah. In addition to updates from the "Cheetah Chat" newsletter, your child will receive an adoption certificate, mug, stuffed cheetah and a plaque at the entrance to the adopted cheetah's enclosure. $170 at hesc.co.za.

Still not sure what to get them this Christmas? Tis Best partners with more than 200 certified nonprofits so you can give a "charity of choice" gift certificate, allowing recipients to donate anywhere from $10 to $200 to a favorite charity. The colorful gift cards make great last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers. Learn more at tisbest.org, 1-206-501-3005.

Heifer International's mission is to help struggling communities end hunger and poverty through the gift of livestock, bees, seeds, farming tools and the know-how to reap a sustainable harvest from them. Heifer offers a wide variety of options, from a $250 water buffalo to $30 honeybees to a $150 llama that can provide wool, milk and meat for an entire South American family. Learn more at heifer.org, 1-800-422-0474.

Give struggling farmers in Honduras the sweet rewards of a marketable skill -- the Mercy Corps' Bee Hive Kit. It keeps families and the planet sustainable by providing the beekeeping know-how to provide themselves a marketable resource while helping to preserve the disappearing honeybee. Learn more at mercycorps.org, 1-888-256-1900.

The Nature Conservancy is responsible for preserving scenic and ecologically important land around the world. The nonprofit land trust has three gift options this year that allow you to help plant a billion trees in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, adopt an acre in Las Californias, U.S., or coral reefs in Palau, or a number of other unique gift options. $10 and up at nature.org.

Who can resist this adorable polar bear? As global warming causes the polar bear's delicate ice habitat to shrink, you can help with the World Wildlife Fund's "Adopt a Polar Bear Gift," a cuddly plush polar bear. Proceeds go to support polar bear conservation efforts. $50-$250 at worldwildlife.org, 1-800-225-5993.

Make a donation in your loved one's name. For $100, you can protect one acre of rain forest with the Rainforest Alliance, one of 88 environmental charities that is rated with four stars by Charity Navigator. Consult the independent watchdog's list of most financially responsible environmental organizations before making a donation to the cause of your choice.

Donations are one way to give in your loved one's name, but micro loans are a more personal way to support projects you care about.

Micro loans, celebrated by no lesser luminaries than Bill Clinton as the future of charitable giving, allow you to loan money to specific people, projects or organizations working on a variety of issues and problems, mostly in the third world. You earn interest, just like any loan (and accept the reportedly low risk of default) — and see exactly how your money benefits others.

For more information, or to make a loan in the name of a friend or family member, start by exploring Kiva, MicroPlace or BlueOrchard.

Volunteering is perhaps the most important gift you can give to your community. Long commutes and the necessities of the two-income family are thinning the ranks of volunteers nationwide at a time when economic downturn only makes the need greater.

Soup kitchens are often packed with volunteers right on and around holidays. This year, make a point of donating your time not just on the holiday, but in the weeks and month afterward, too.

Looking for ideas? Start by exploring VolunteerMatch.org to find opportunities in your community.

Put a spring in their step by taking 10 tons off their back. With a 10-ton gift card from Carbonfund.org, you invest in clean energy to offset almost a year's worth of your loved one's carbon emissions. $100 for 10 tons or $20 for two tons at carbonfund.org.

The Daily Green's gift guide is designed to help you navigate the tricky holiday season, when giving gifts is expected, but when over-consumption highlights how wastefully we use the planet's natural resources.

Take time to remember that your choices matter at this time of year, like at any other. Consult The Daily Green's daily tip, One Easy Thing, for help navigating this, or any, season.