This recycled newspaper dog costs way too much money

It's funny, isn't it, how things go from being a great cause to something that's commercialized?

Now, consumers are encouraged to buy products with green labels and flowers instead of doing the actual eco-friendly thing, which is not buying some of this stuff at all.

Stores set higher prices on bamboo furniture and bedding, hemp accessories, coasters made of recycled tires. Companies push supposedly eco-friendly versions of their cleaners and containers using 10% less plastic.

Yes, fine, these are good steps--in theory. Unfortunately, it seems to me that there's more of a make-money mentality pushing the subject forward than education and the attempt to actually make a difference.

Does this annoy the hell out of anyone else? The hypocrisy of it all? The fact that the only thing companies seem to care about is money,  and the fact that they spend millions of dollars trying to figure out how to convince us to  buy this stuff?

Argh. This whole holiday spirit thing doesn't work on me when holiday spirit is defined by a lot of glittery things at Target.

I'm not beyond stuff, of course. I like to have new, pretty, fun things. And those eco-friendly products with pretty packaging pulls me in too. In fact, you'll see a gift guide with green gift suggestions coming from me very soon. But we have to have our limits.

We're convinced that we need all this stuff, when in reality, going green is all about the lack of stuff. Refinishing furniture from a yard sale, making your own cleaners, growing food on the porch--essentially, putting less stuff in the landfills and showing a general kindness to the Earth.

Despite the rampant nature of this consumerist culture, I'd still like to think there's room for change. I love it when I see kids at the farmers markets, compost bins outside schools and more and more people turning down bags at the store.

But I think, especially around the holidays, it  helps to be reminded that it's not all about the stuff.