A good friend of mine got engaged recently and will be getting married this weekend. She had a few of the typical wedding showers that most brides-to-be have, and with those showers of course comes gift giving. My friend was like most brides and created a few gift registries which consisted of the usual: dishes, sheets, towels, etc. Many of the more affordable items were already purchased when I went looking for a shower gift, so I was left to freestyle.

In doing a bit of Googling, I found a two-year-old article on GreenCleanBook.com that suggested giving a green cleaning basket as a gift. That may not be your idea of a good wedding gift, but it’s a great idea for wedding showers, housewarming gifts and gifts for college students.

It’s easy too: take a basket — perhaps you can find one in your own home that you’re not using and reuse it, or check out these fair-trade baskets at Ten Thousand Villages. Then fill to the brim with green-cleaning products like kitchen cleaners, laundry detergent, reusable cleaning cloths, dryer balls, etc. You can dress the basket up with some shredded bits of magazine in place of tissue paper or scrap bits of cloth instead of ribbon. And newspaper makes great wrapping paper (you could even use the wedding announcement page if the gift is for a bride).

Who knows, maybe you’ll inspire the newlyweds to be a bit greener in planning their big day. What other tips do you have for green gift-giving?