So, okay, let’s be real. It’s December 22nd and you still haven’t finished your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (a.k.a. Kwanuzimas) shopping. There’s no time left to ship from the internet and you want gifts that aren’t going to somehow implicate you in the razing of rainforests, child labor, or poisoning our precious planet. You need a quick fix. Here’s In The Loop’s Top 5 Last Minute Eco Gifts for Holiday 2008…

1 Stylephile

A gift certificate to the ultimate eco fashion e-tailer is a style maven’s dream come true and best of all, you don’t have to worry about getting the perfect color or size. Whether male or female, your recipient can choose from the hottest new organic, sustainable, Fair Trade, locally-made denim, t-shirts, jackets, shoes, resusable shopping bags, stainless steel water bottles, hats, wallets, and more. An email gift certificate will arrive for them in 1-2 business days, so get your order in by the 23rd. Even if your friend or loved one has not yet been hit by the green bug yet, eco fashion could easily be their gateway drug to conscious commerce!

2 Junk Mail Hater

Adults in the US receive an average of 41 pounds per year in junk mail; 560 or so of these pieces of junk mail remain completely unopened and unread before heading straight to the landfill. The process to get someone off of the numerous direct mail lists is both tedious and somewhat daunting; helping a friend put an end to this wasteful cycle can be very much like performing a Christmas miracle. Let companies like GreenDimes and 41pounds.org do the work for you for just $20-$41. This makes an excellent holiday gift for your family and for forests everywhere!

3 Animal Lover

Snow leopards and tigers and polar bears, oh my! If you have a friend who is wild about animals, then help them adopt one of these furry creatures through World Wildlife Fund. Your friend will receive an email gift certificate on the date you choose, or purchase by the 23rd to print out a WWF gift card. With either method, your loved one can go online and choose which animal they’d like to adopt. At the $25 level, they’ll also receive a certificate of adoption and a photo. At the $50 level, they’ll get an adorable 12′ plushie of the animal they choose. This beautiful gift preserves wildlife habitat in some of the most precious and delicate ecosystems in the world.

4 Yoga Master

As we witness the yoga craze reaching every corner of the country with extreme fervor, it’s easy to see there are very few types of people who do not benefit from yoga. It’s an excellent gift for athletes, people looking to lose weight, older folks, office workers, and people suffering from depression. Many studios offer two weeks of unlimited class for first timers for $20-$50. Just look up a yoga studio in your giftee’s local area and arrange for a a gift certificate to be emailed to them. This gift has super low negative impact on the environment and super high positive impact on your friend.

5 Treehugger

For the über nature lovers in your life, there’s nothing like gifting trees or land conservation. The Nature Conservancy will plant trees in the endangered Atlantic Forest of Brazil at a rate of $1 per tree, or for $25-$50, will Adopt an Acre® of Las Californias grassland right here in the U.S. An email announcing the gift can be set to go out any day of your choice; information on all the exclusive member benefits of The Nature Conservancy, plus some fun gifts, will arrive in their mailbox soon after.

For those of us out there who are struggling with shabby coats from days gone by and are looking to invest in a coat that will be with you for many winters to come, this Top 5 is for you!

Grace & Cello’s “Lucia” recycled wool coat cuts a sophisticated line for women headed to the office or a mid-week cocktail party. Where does recycled wool come from, you may wonder. According to Grace & Cello’s Gerri Brightwell, “The wool in our coats is created by using roll ends, scraps and other pieces of fabric that normally fall to the cutting floor and are wasted. These scraps are reconstituted into the fabric that we use for our coats.” Made in Montreal, not only are these stunning pieces sustainably made, they are also 100% sweatshop-free. So feel good about Grace & Cello’s pattern makers, cutters, and sewers- Maryse, Angelo, Leo, Tony, Mrs. Anna and Cheng hope you like their clothing, too.

The City of Angels has turned out the most coveted coat of the season: The Battalion’s “Ali Cape.” Any woman of high style and sophistication would be hard pressed not to scrounge together the necessary funds for this de rigeur coat, even amidst the current economic downturn. (I could be projecting here.) A draped hood and scarf attaches to this dramatic and colorful cloak, creating layers of fabulosity to this cloak inspired by Ali McGraw’s classic look in the 70’s. This bank account bandit by the Wong sisters is made from bamboo and organic cotton, certified by Oeko-Tex. Even if you can’t feel good about the Ali Cape’s effect on your finances, you can feel great about supporting sustainable manufacturing and farming practices. I’m going to consider it a worthy investment…for your wardrobe and the world. (Okay, that’s pushing it, I realize. I just had to purchase a ticket on the justify train with this one.)

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Portland Fashion Week held a cadre of green runways last week with designers from Samunderneath to Nike. While the PFW shows ran on Friday night at 14 Square, an alternative show appropriately dubbed “Runaway” was held down the street at the swank art mecca, Someday Lounge. New looks for Spring/Summer 09 sauntered across the stage by Reif, Moth Love by Gretchen Jones, Dust by Julia Blackburn, Paige of Paradox, sword + fern, and our favorite PDX designer-Emily Katz.

Emily featured fresh white frocks with accessible retro cuts. Katz’s style is always very wearable and very chic; she gives you well-constructed classics you can hold onto for years. This Spring/Summer collection gave us the perfect dress for a real date or a style-heavy social hour. Depending on how rigorous your social life is, you may want to get yourself more than one.

Portland Fashion Week is here once again, and we at Greenloop are of course, quite excited about our hometown’s big green fashion event. Last year, we saw heavyhitters of eco fashion, like Anna Cohen, Stewart + Brown, Del Forte, and NatureVsFuture strut their stuff on the emerald catwalk. In 2008, Nike Considered returns as a sponsor and designer at the event. Another PDX native, Sameunderneath, is returning with their sustainable ready to wear line and egalitarian message, along with IDOM and Alula. Tons of fresh faces are hitting the 2008 runways along with the PFW veterans, like Collier, Salvationware, Revival Clothing, In Harmony, and Strung Out by Peniche. All will be showing their Spring/Summer collections for 2009, and all will be vying for the attention of buyers and press alike.

Portland Fashion Week is the only fashion week in the US completely devoted to sustainable designers; sustainable fashion means sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, and/or shipping in ways that are the most considerate of the ecologies and communities they effect in the process. PFW focuses mostly on the talent of indie designers, and aims to give these emerging business owners a leg up in the fashion world by making the show very affordable to participate in. PFW also seeks to draw national attention to this gorgeous city itself, and it’s unique blend of art, commerce, and sustainability. Portland is indeed a lush, green metropolis devoted to artisanship and strong community, making PFW the ideal scene for Portland’s design mavens to show the world what they got. The event runs from October 8th-12th at the Portland Design Center in the 14 Square building of Portland’s posh Pearl District.

There was a time back in the early 90’s when I thought a midriff length shirt was hot…really hot. I used to rock baggy jeans and sneakers with just a sports bra, like I was in TLC or something. I have noticed over the years, that many of the fashions I chose to wear as a teenager are the exact opposite now (thank goodness), including my shirts. I love them long. It’s not that I’m embarassed of my stomach, it thankfully hasn’t changed a bit. I just don’t want to share my bellybutton with my bank clerk or my landlord…unless I’m trying to get some sort of deal or something. Just kidding!

I used to have to search high and low for tops that didn’t expose my little four-pack, but to no avail. During the big low rise craze, shorter shirts were all you could find and women were completely unable to mask their crack problems (and I don’t mean cocaine.) In Fall 2008, fashion is following function once again. The lengthened tee is a welcome trend that has been trickling forth for the last few years and has finally caught fire. Now you can relax tummy muscles and save your hot body for only the people that really deserve to see it-like Gael Garcia-Bernal or Johnny Depp or Angelina Jolie or Taye Diggs or…you get me.

Hey guys, Point Blank Progressive has got you covered for election gear in a totally groovy way this fall.

Even though this funky t-shirt looks like it could be the hottest thing for Election ‘80, it’s actually so you can Barack-it-out in ‘08. This 100% organic cotton tee is made right here in the USA, so you can feel like a true patriot in more ways than one when you don this T.

Point Blank also has organic retro styles for the neutral “Proud Voter,” and even ones for the man still hanging on to the woman he once loved, Hillary. If you’re the kind of guy who wants to get behind a GOP kind of lady, the 100% organic McCain-Rice 2008 tee over at Cult Classic T’s is perfect for you…weirdo.

Since 2001, Beyond Skin has been turning out handmade vegan and vegetarian shoes in their family-run factory in East London. To create a deeper level of sustainability with their product, their designers focus on creating durable, stylish footwear that can be worn year round, rather than seasonally.

In regards to their vegan materials and their resulting environmental footprint, Beyond Skin says, “Every attempt will be made to stay as informed as possible of more natural, organic fabrics as they are developed and become more available on the market. Our packaging is produced using materials from a sustainable source and all our promotional material is printed on recycled paper using soya based inks.”

Soya, that’s so British. Well, it sounds like they’re into the vegan thing, but not quite there yet with petroleum-free, chemical-free materials; though they do use some organic cotton. With their polyvinyl and synthetic leathers, Beyond Skin seems to consider every way they can make the more eco choice.

Well, they’ve certainly have turned out a gorgeous line of vegan shoes, so if nothing else we, can be cruelty-free and quite stylish with Beyond Skin.

(Is it just me or is the name “Beyond Skin” a little eerie for a vegan shoe company? Just checking.)