Gifts for Tweens: Seven Great Eco-Friendly Gifts This Year

These seven gifts represent some of the best eco-friendly presents out there this holiday season for tweens. These gifts range from the creative to just out of this world.

Orvis Suede Eco Sneaker
How about some shoes for Christmas? These sneakers are made of eco-friendly materials and manufacturing practices. This classic suede shoe costs around $54 and can be found at the Orvis store. The suede is finished in certified organic tanneries and the entire process of manufacturing the shoe has little or no environmental impact. It has an organic cotton lining and the laces are made from recycled plastic bottles! And last but not least, the soles are made from recycled car rubber.

The Blue Moon Jar
This is a high tech solar cell with rechargeable battery and a low LED lamp. During the day it looks like an average mason jar but at night it becomes a glowing blue light with three powerful LEDs. Simple set it out in the sun and you have a charged up night light. The blue LED lamps will look like a cool icy blue and some say that it looks you have have captured a blue moon in the jar. Great for kids and tweens. You can purchase one of these for around $40 at UnCommon Goods.

Tree-to-Be Kit
What better way to start educating a young person to be eco-friendly then to have them plant and raise their own tree. This kit is a tulip tree and one of the most pleasant to look at trees in the USA. The kit comes with complete instructions and allows the planter to put it in the yard and watch it grow from just a seedling, in a few months, the first sprout should show. You can pick up one of these educational gifts for about $22 at UnCommon Goods.

Hydrogen Fuel Rocket
This kit turns ordinary tap water into clean-burning fuel and could inspire the young scientists in your house. This makes an excellent gift for a tween interested in learning about new technologies. This rocket will soar up to 200 feet high in the air and has a talking electronic command center that narrates hydrogen facts. These rockets run about $40 at Amazon.

Earthopoly
A fun game that costs around $25 that you can play with your tween. This board game lets you work to save the environment doing such things as trying to stop global warming. Players become the caretakers of global landmarks and charge other players credits (carbon) for visiting them. Convert your carbon to clean air to stop global warming! You can pick one of these board games up at Terrapass.

Panda Poo Paper Tablets
Believe it or not this is the poo-poo collected from Giant Pandas in China and recycled into these nice tablets. These tablets are sold individually or in sets. These accessories are 100% recycled, odorless and a conversation piece! You can find one of these tablets at Greenzer's store for around $24.

LED Solar Lightcap for Water Bottles
These handy little light caps screw onto a water bottle and are very nice to have at night beside the bed. You just fill up the bottle with water and screw on the cap and it will create a lantern that will illuminate your room or a tent. The cap has an embedded solar panel that charges by sun light and creates a long lasting glow. The cap costs around $20 and you can find them at LL Bean.