It’s hard for even the most devout anti-consumer to avoid the pressure of the festive season; but you can give in a much more interesting and meaningful way. Good Gifts offers a range of good causes that need funding, to allow you to make a suitable contribution on behalf of your nearest and dearest; Instead of giving your dieting sister chocolate, make a contribution on her behalf (20) to help the cocoa farmers of Grenada to rebuild their flagging small farms and regain self sufficiency. Nieces and nephews who already have every toy under the tree they could possibly want? Provide a school kit with uniform, fees and books for an African child for a fraction of the cost of an X Box, at only 35. And for another Off-grider, a Ferro-cement tank that can hold 5,000 litres of water, seeing a family through dry spells in the Masai, Kenya, will appeal to their love of self sufficiency. (75). Visit www.goodgifts.org or call 0207 794 8000 for more ideas.

Tags: off-the-grid