Here is another way to stay out of the malls on Black Friday while finding some nifty gifties which which  you can give those you love an easy way to do something green.

...Customize your holiday gift giving. (photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnurmalmquist/3162989846/

Last time I posted about green clothing from Fair Indigo.  This time I’m going to focus on another company that I personally like to do business with.  ReUseIt.com.   This company offers reusables for every part of your life, and they seem to be always donating part of their profits to some ecologically sound effort.

During November they are donating 1% of sales to Surfrider to support their Rise Above Plastics Campaign.

In 2009 they were highlighted in a Scientific American article called Buying Green: 9 goods for sustainable living.  And the item that Scientific American featured is the same one that I want to point out.

I’m going to be giving this item to some of my friends and relatives this holiday season because I love my own so much.

This plastic bag and bottle dryer has revolutionized my plastic bag use.

I used to try to wash our and reuse the occasional bag, but I had to drape it over the dish dryer of try to prop it open on the counter, where it ate all my horizontal space – and usually ended up not drying out inside and getting funky.

Now I just take a couple of minutes several times a week to wash out my used bag collection and hang them to dry.  Depending on humidity they are done in a day or two.

I find I can reuse most bags indefinitely.  Those little puppies really hold up.

Each time I wash out a bag I feel good four ways.

1. I am saving a bit of money.
2. I am helping to reuse rather than discard resources.
3. I am keeping crap out of landfill.  My daughter visited a one of the largest and most infamous landfill in the world at Payatas, the Philippines,  where families live by picking through the garbage and recycling materials to live – the one thing they could not use were old plastic bags.
4. And I am keeping plasticizers out of my own body.  Doug earned a Ph.D. in surface chemistry, and he is very aware that plastic bags and bottles are made with a mixture of hard PVC resin, plasticizers that soften the resin and other additives.  This toxic plasticizer substance migrates through the material over time and “blooms” to the surface where it can transfer to whatever you are eating or drinking. If you wash your bags, they are actually much safer.

So, if there is someone you care about, consider giving them one of these handy little gadgets.  It is a gift that goes on giving to them and to the world.  It makes what might otherwise seem like a tedious task practically painless.

Have you got any great green gift ideas?  Tell us quick, before we have to pay extra for last-minute shipping.