The green goods

Gift cards may make convenient presents for Christmas, but they’re a lump of coal for the environment. According to the Consumers’ Association of Canada, Canadians will spend $3 billion on gift cards this year, which means a lot of rectangular pieces of plastic will end up in the garbage.

Organic duds or clothing made from hemp may still evoke images of hippies in tie-dye tees and Birkenstocks, but green materials have made their way into mainstream fashion. No need to show up in a burlap bowtie to stick to your ethical guns. Ring in 2008 in stylish and planet-friendly formalwear.

Here’s a nice story: an art dealer has sold a Picasso etching for $3 million dollars and is donating the proceeds to environmental and Third World causes.

A chunk of ice the size of Ontario melted away in Canada’s attic this year, and that stunning development in the high Arctic was selected as Environment Canada’s top weather story of 2007.

Natalie Portman will design a vegan-friendly shoe range for the Soho boutique Te Casan, to debut in February. The shoes will cost about $200, far cheaper than Stella McCartney’s vegan heels, but hopefully just as cool.