When you buy birthday gifts, are you being green? There’s a way to let the special people in your life know that you care about them without giving up your green philosophy.

Make your own birthday cards. These can be absolutely beautiful. Take card stock and paint a small watercolor, if you’re creative. Know how to do calligraphy? This looks excellent on a card. Write a poem, use prose to tell them how you feel about them, cut out pictures from old magazines and make a collage…the possibilities are endless. Making your own card is creative, fun, and much more personal than a card bought from the store.

Get your birthday boy or girl an environmentally friendly gift. You can buy an acre of rain forest, buy beauty products in bulk, or purchase vintage toys or jewelry at yard sales and thrift shops. There are lots of ways to go green with a birthday gift. If you’ve got more great ideas, let us know on twitter, Facebook, or leave a message here on the blog.

Wrap your gift creatively. You can use the comics from the newspaper, a beautiful vintage scarf, or even place it in a reusable basket. Or stamp paper, make drawings, or collage your own wrapping paper. Gifts wrapped in this kind of paper look beautiful.

If you don’t think a birthday present is complete without flowers, buy a plant instead of cut flowers. It won’t end up in a landfill, and it’s much better for the environment. And what could be a better gift than a plant that lasts for years? Every time they look at it, they’ll think of you.

Green birthday gifts mean that you give the one you love something they love. You’ve put a lot of thought into this present. It’s not just something culled off a shelf at the last minute. That makes it more significant, both for the giver and the receiver. Go green for birthdays.