or Hanukah, or Kwanzaa, or just the "Winter Holidays" -- many of us are scrambling to find the perfect gifts for our friends and families. To me, finding the ideal present involves giving a gift that both has personal meaning and that the recipient will enjoy.

Of course, that doesn't always work out -- sometimes you just have to give up the search and buy the box of chocolates for your aunt because, well, who doesn't like chocolate? But one idea I had this year was to give gifts that included an element of environmental stewardship. And I'm not the only one who's linking the environment to gift giving this year. More than 40 percent of American consumers said they are willing to pay more for green gifts, a recent survey by Deloitte LLP found.

Making the holidays green isn't necessarily easy, though, since many brands with eco-friendly labels tend to be misleading. Retailers are well aware of the surge in environmental awareness in the United States, and have correspondingly attempted to inundate shoppers with green marketing techniques.

So before I started shopping this year, I prepared myself with an important piece of reference material called "The 'Six Sins of Greenwashing,'" a study of environmental marketing techniques including tips on how retailers try to bamboozle shoppers. Thus armed, I headed to Southpoint mall.

One of the first green products I spotted -- a mocha-chip Bundt-cake mix at Williams Sonoma, which I had in mind for my cousin and his wife, who enjoy cooking -- was certified organic by Quality Assurance International. On any foods labeled as organic, it's always important to look for the certifying agency. In this case, QAI is known as a fairly reputable certifying agency that has been accredited by the USDA, so I felt some measure of success in finding my first green gift.

Several of my next green-gift ideas didn't work out as well. At the Pottery Barn, I considered a nifty aluminum thermos to keep my father's morning coffee warm. The thermos was advertised as helping the environment because it prevented the use of wasteful disposable cups. While there's something to that claim, it's important to remember that aluminum production is a dirty process that results in a considerable amount of carbon and sulfur pollution. And the "environmentally friendly" thermos wasn't even made from recycled aluminum. I rejected it and moved on.

Next, I stopped at Target and found some Chesapeake Bay Candles advertised as organic that I thought would be a nice stocking-stuffer for my mother. Although the candles were branded as "pure and natural" and had earthy-sounding names like Green Bamboo Jasmine and Tonka Bean Fig, I couldn't find any trace of organic certification. Although the company claimed the candles where made with soy-based wax for sustainability, no information was given as to what proportion of the wax was soy-based.

That type of ploy -- where a product isn't certified and the manufacturer offers little or no proof to back up their environmental claims -- is one of the most common types of greenwashing. In fact, someone who I recently spoke to at a trade conference told me the truth behind his company's "green" goods. His company makes acrylic surfaces, such as countertops, and takes their own unused products that haven't sold, breaks them down and re-fabricates them into another product line labeled as recycled. This type of deceptive advertising serves as a reminder that when companies claim to use recycled materials, they should also provide information on what their products are recycled from and what portion is composed of recycled material.

So is it possible for well-intentioned consumers to see through all the greenwashing and really find environmentally sound products? Yes, but it's not easy. And as I found out, it's the most difficult when you are shopping at retail stores, since you're at the mercy of labels and sales clerks.

Shopping online, however, makes it easier to find legitimate green products. There are a variety of Web sites that provide tips and vet green products for you, such as greenyour.com and ecomall.com. There are also sites like greenerchoices.org that provide more information about green labeling and evaluate the certifications found on many types of organic and other environmental goods.

Using these tools to fact check the claims about the goods you buy can help you get past the deceptive marketing to have a truly green -- and merry -- holiday.

Jeff Soplop is a graduate student at UNC and has worked as an environmental consultant and researcher. He can be reached at soplopjs@yahoo.com.