1. Subtly find out what the receiver really needs by having friends and relatives ask them discreetly.

2. Use colourful shopping bags rather than gift-wrap paper; bags can and will be recycled, while paper will end up in the garbage sooner.

3. Give books instead of toys to children.

4. Give cash towards tuition and other tertiary costs by paying it to the bank, and gift-wrapping the voucher as a surprise.

5. Pay a couple months utility bills for family members.

6. Give some toll tags to friends or relatives who use the highway often.

7. Offer to pay half of the year's cable bill.

8. Give gift certificates to your friends' favourite spas or stylists.

9. Buy movie tickets for regular movie-goers.

10. Give vegetable seeds and garden tools to those who will plant them; you could get some of the crop.