It's the rock and roll establishment's gift of choice: a wicker Christmas hamper filled with products from Sting's personal organic farm in Wiltshire. There are only one hundred of them, with products lovingly chosen by his wife, Trudie Styler, and they are flying off the shelves. For £140 ($300US) each hamper contains organic christmas cake, blackcurrant jam, raspberry jam, gooseberry mint and sage jelly, beetroot chutney and a chocolate coin. There is also a bottle of champagne, cassis, and some candles. Styler has been running an organic farm for 15 years, and is delighted with the success of the venture. She says, "I've always been a big advocate of local shopping and what could be more local than your own backyard?" (read country estate with staff to match). ::More

Pop some organic bubbly for this corker of a story. French scientists have hit upon the greenest Christmas menu on the p***t: A delectable pairing of truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate) and champagne. "Champagne is the ideal ecological ingredient," Barbara Redlingshöfer, researcher at the ecology-society wing of Inserm, France's agricultural research institute, told The Telegraph. "It is stocked in glass bottles that can be easily recycled-the only problem being the cardboard crates that carry them. " With barely any ecological side effects, truffles are described as the "perfect organic produce." Whether they're economically sustainable, on the other hand, is a whole 'nother matter. Bottoms up! ::More

Of course we are all sick to tears of more ecological recommendations for Christmas presents, but when they are from the green goddess herself, Lucy Siegle, how can we resist? She prefaces her list with a confession that she is not yet "sufficiently ethically evolved to do a Buy-Nothing Christmas." And a caveat that "the last thing the world needs is more crap, even if it masquerades as eco crap. So no dream catchers, clogs or hemp shopping bags, please." So here are some of the goodies on her list: First up; a set of organic, vegetable wax candles from Amnesty International which will burn for approximately 50 hours. Also for a good cause Ethiopian Coffee which is fair trade and yummy. ::More

From burgers to furniture to UK produce to pepper spray and even New Jersey, there isn't anything that doesn't have a carbon footprint these days. Thanks to UK-based product design consultancy IDC (Industrial Design Consultancy), we can now add Santa's goodies to that long list; they've done a thorough analysis, from materials to manufacturing, transport and the energy used by the product, of a handful of popular gifts this year, to come up with Christmas' carbon footprint. Hit more to see which products deserve a "Bah Humbug!" this year. ::More

If you're running out of time, but still have a few people on your list, what can you do at the last minute? P***t Green and sister site TreeHugger have lots of ideas for green donations that you can do online. You can buy a day of support for Architecture for Humanity and get your message posted up on their site for the day of your choice. At Oxfam Unwrapped, where you can symbolically purchase a crocodile or a camel. You could also go over to MarkMakers, where you buy a gift card and your young recipient goes online to choose from over 40 Web sites to donate it to, or purchase a couple of tons of carbon offsets (really, they are not that heavy). ::More

A five part series at sister site p***t green: Does junk mail make you see red? If you have presents to wrap this holiday season seeing "red" could be a very good thing. By training your eye to spot the festive colors and holiday symbols that abound in junk mail, you may just discover an unlimited and free source of gift wrap. We all hate junk mail but with a little creativity you can turn it (flyers, glossy newspaper inserts, and unsolicited mailings) into gorgeous and very green wrapping paper. Best of all, with these P***t Green tips, the lucky recipients will be totally wowed. And you'd have found a new way to persuasively, but gently, green your world. ::More

a. German architects are going after seasonal work with 5 different stunning modernist gingerbread houses. All come with full plans and recipe, in German.

b. Michelle Kaufmann is never one to miss a market, and has set her sights squarely on the booming prefab modern gingerbread scene.

c. Just in time for the holidays, Bake for a Change is hosting a special gingerbread-house design contest that "combines eco and spice and everything nice."

a. Here are some clever ideas for wrapping your Christmas food treats in a beautiful way that doesn't involve lots of shiny paper and metallic ribbons.

b. why not give her something that you can't buy; your time and your thoughtfulness. Give your granny a week (or a month, or whatever) worth of dinners.

c. Give a tree a break this yuletide by wrapping your winter bestowals in reusable fabric gift bags-you can easily whip up your own with some basic sewing know-how.

a. Be the first on your block to have a cutting-edge angel designed by a famous artist on the top of your tree, downloaded for free from the net.

b. ITO has designed a downloadable goat, and made a very cute little film of their cardboard goats getting into trouble. What a clever way to support a charity.

c. if you're still scrounging around for gift tags for your wrapped or bagged presents, here are some places you can download charming designs from, at no cost.