We're giving charity gifts this Christmas.

I love that by giving charity Christmas gifts we're distancing ourselves from the commercialisation of Christmas. I also love that charity giving is super green, because the resources involved include little more than some paper, printing and postage.

And let's not forget that charity Christmas gifts are tax deductible.

I hope that giving charity gifts becomes a new Christmas tradition for our family. It's not like anyone in our family truly needs anything.

I finished our Christmas shopping only moments ago and have a lovely warm and fuzzy feel-good feeling. I don't recall shopping ever making me feel this good.

I didn't have to fight the Christmas crowds. Instead I sat at my computer and a few hours later had bought 15 Christmas presents.

Each recipient will receive a card that reveals the charity gift we purchased on their behalf. We're having the cards sent here so that we can write in the cards ourselves and wrap them in some of Little Eco's artwork.

Spoiler alert. If you're family, please stop reading now, because I don't want you guessing which gift is yours...

I mean it!...That means you too mum ;-)

There are literally hundreds of different charity gifts available, making it easy to individualise gifts. We had fun choosing gifts based on the recipients interests, personality, or sense of humour.

We tried to spread our love around as much as possible by purchasing from a range of charities. I was having trouble deciding between all the great charity gifts available so I also bought gifts for Daddy Eco, Little Eco and myself, despite not intending to.

Through the gifts we bought we supported:

• the Wesley Mission by buying a haircut and shave for a homeless man;
• Care Australia by sponsoring school for a year for a girl;
• the Smith Family, by contributing towards the student2student program and also by buying a gift pack of toys and books for a disadvantaged child to open on Christmas day;
• WWF’s conservation programs to protect threatened species and their habitats by adopting a Rock Wallaby;
• The Fred Hollows Foundation through a Gift of sight card;
• Unicef by buying a Football for children in refugee camps or other neglected corners of the world;
• Greenpeace's work in protecting threatened species habitat;
• the World Society for the Protection of Animals in their quest to end animal cruelty by feeding a dog for a month; and
• Oxfam by contributing towards the establishment of female support services for Aboriginal women in rural Australia. We also bought a fishing net for a Katkari tribe in India and a pile of poo for a family in Sri Lanka so that they can grow their crops without the need for chemical fertiliser;

After all that shopping I felt like we still had a little more love to share, so supported World Vision by gifting Little Eco's childcare centre and pre-school a duck for a poor family and support for early learning for indigenous children. Saves me baking the biscuits I'd initially planned as teacher gifts.

Have you given or received charity Christmas gifts? Would receiving a charity gift make you feel robbed of a gift?

The pictures accompanying this post are of Little Eco creating our leaf advent calendar and decorating our free foraged natural Christmas tree.