As usual, Treehugger provided a link to timely holiday shopping stats from a survey called the 2007 Cone Holiday Environmental Study.

Consider these tidbits from the Cone report:

• Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) will try to buy fewer gifts or holiday products this season because they are concerned about the effect their consumption may have on the environment.
• Almost six in ten (59 percent) say they are more likely to buy "green" products this year than in the past.
• More than half of Americans (54 percent) say they would be willing to pay more for a holiday gift or product if it is environmentally responsible, and an equally motivated number (55 percent) say they proactively seek opportunities to buy green gifts and products around the holidays.
• Americans' environmentally sensitive behavior extends beyond gifts, as well. They are purchasing gift wrap made from recycled paper (42 percent) or decorating with energy efficient holiday lighting (32 percent).
• Interestingly, more than half of Americans surveyed (52 percent) say the motivation for green shopping is to alleviate the guilt associated with holiday consumption.

These numbers are certainly encouraging! So was my trip to K-Mart last night.

In search of LEDs to exchange for the regular strings of holiday lights Alisan had mistakenly purchased, I found the shelves chock full of regular lights and almost bare of LEDs. You may wonder how that could be a good thing: just a week ago, fully 1/4 of the shelf space was occupied by LEDs — folks are buying!

Maybe next year K-Mart will devote at least 1/2 of its shelf space to LEDs.

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