Our green video of the week features Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man on The Colbert Report. Colin and family participated in a 12-month-long lifestyle experiment last year with one simple objective: to have zero impact on the planet.

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. We brought you some excellent top 10 lists this week on art, technology, director Errol Morris, and naughty celebs who should rethink their eco-lifestyles. Don’t forget to catch up with some of our other most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Bush’s War: PBS Frontline Brings the War to a Computer Near You

Inverted Areola, Asymmetrical Breasts, & the Miss Bimbo Game

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Nicole:

Where the Wild Things Are: Top 10 Art Blogs

Dark Water: Artist Explores Consequences of Three Gorges Dam Project

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Giulia:

A Pregnant Man?

Is the Lebron / Gisele Vogue Cover Racist?

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Gina:

Top 10 Technology Blogs

Errol Morris’ Top 10 Films

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Kerry:

Top 10 Celebrities Who Need a New Cause

Dead Bats Flying: Mysterious Fatal Illness Alarms Scientists

America suffers from a collective case of do-gooder deafness: we have a hard time hearing a message when it’s delivered by a dorky academic or an unattractive activist. We’re all ears, though, when celebrities speak out about their pet causes, or their pets, or whatever. So, in acknowledgement of the fact that I, as a mere blogger, can only hope to influence so many people, I’d like to enlist the aid of some of our most oogled and Googled celebrities to help America combat climate change and overconsumption:

1. Britney Spears: Britney’s evidently on the road to recovery after some much needed r “˜n’ r. Here are three more “r’s” I’d love to see Britney promote: reduce, reuse and recycle. Our landfills are overflowing with post-consumer crap and the oceans are clogged up with plastic; what better time for Britney to redefine white trash! Recommended reading/viewing: Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte; The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard.

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The secret to Jim Hightower’s success lies in a style of political commentary best described as “pleasantly apoplectic;” he’s mad as hell, but in an ultra-affable way. Who else could stoke a fire in the belly with so many belly laughs?

In our climate change crisis, Hightower’s a natural source of alternative energy. He’s got his own brand of windpower, fueled by blowhards and gasbags, of which the right seems to have an endless supply.

And then there’s the wave power he’s helping to generate with his new book, Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow. Swim Against the Current, co-authored by Susan DeMarco, provides heartening proof that citizen activists are turning the tide against the Powers That Be who’ve dragged our democracy through the muck.

If you subscribe to the “Yes-Things-Are-Awful-But-What-Can-I- Do-I’m-Just-One-Person” school of thought, I’m giving you an “F” for fatalism. I’ll change it to an “A” for attitude adjustment after you read this book and get off your apathetic ass and join the ranks of the grassroots greenies and grannies who are the heroes of Hightower’s book.

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Q. What do tree huggers, animal lovers, nutrition experts, and Michael Pollan have in common?

A. They all want YOU to eat more plants and fewer animals.

This may be a tall order in our “where’s the beef” culture, but with meat consumption fingered as a major factor in climate change, more and more carnivores have been cowed into cutting back on factory farmed flesh.

OK, so you’re not ready to become a Seitan worshipper, but you’d like to try to steer clear of steer-based cuisine. Looking for some inspiration on how to minimize the meat in your meals? You can’t do better than Veganomicon, a witty compendium which brashly””and accurately””declares itself to be “the Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.”

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Wrapping paper has recently””and rightly””acquired a bad rap. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, “˜tis the season to generate an additional one million tons of trash weekly. That fact has weighed on me ever since I read it in Elizabeth Royte’s landmark landfill exposé, Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash; it cured me forever of the wrapping paper habit.

Now, I try to wrap gifts in reusable items like dishtowels or cloth napkins or scarves, or, when that’s not possible, with some sort of recyclable material like the funny pages or potato print-enhanced craft paper. And a lot of folks are doing the same thing, according to a story in today’s CS Monitor, “Time To Call It A Wrap For Wrapping Paper?”

But not everyone applauds the trend towards exchanging undressed presents. Emily Post, America’s grand arbiter of etiquette, is long gone, but her spirit lives on in her great-great-granddaughter Anna Post, who’s not ready to accept that wrapping paper is so last century:

“We need to respect this tradition. Christmas isn’t just about the presents on that one day; it’s about the anticipation and sense of momentum. People don’t know what they’re getting for a reason: It creates a special moment between the giver and receiver. If the gift is sitting right out there, then there’s no ‘moment.’ “

The notion that we can’t have a “˜moment’ unless it comes wrapped in shiny Santa-festooned foil is really sad. Post could learn a thing or two from Colin Beavan, aka No Impact Man, who became a high-profile advocate for low-impact living when he and his family swore off such creature comforts as electricity, fossil-fueled modes of travel, and, most famously, toilet paper, for an entire year. As Beavan told the Monitor:

“For gifts this year, we’re giving experiences that we’ll do together rather than things, which means no wrapping paper is necessary. Plus, spending more time together makes us happier as a family.”

Beavan expressed his desire for a low-impact holiday in a letter to Santa, excerpted here:

Dear Santa,

I was thinking about how much I love playing with my little girl Isabella and talking to my wife Michelle and joking around with my best friend Tanner. You know what I realized? There is nothing more fun than just laughing with the people I love. There isn’t a gadget or a game or a toy or any sort of thing you and the reindeer could possibly bring me that I would rather have than a couple of hours of laughter”¦

“¦What I’m asking for is gifts that, instead of causing me and mine to separate from each other, instead cause us to bond together and enjoy each other. Experiences we can share that have the effect not only of giving us a good time but, say, supporting the arts and helping to build and strengthen community. They have the benefit, too, of not consuming a lot of the planet’s resources.

Gifts like these offer more than a fleeting “moment;” they give us priceless memories that fill our hearts without filling up our landfills. That’s what you call a win-win, unless you cling to outmoded notions about the conventions of consumption. Here’s wishing Anna Post the gift of insight, unwrapped.

For more tips on having a less consumption-driven holiday, check out this post from Bill McKibben on Grist.