I've been curious about that red rubber bracelet worn by Stephen Colbert, so I finally got around to Googling it. Comedy Central will sell it to you for $7.50 and says it contributes $5 of that to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which provides help to injured service men and women.

For other charitable deeds, there are other bracelets. The "I'm Tired Of" bracelets ("I'm tired of cancer," "I'm tired of global warming") let you cope with your personal gift list for not much money ($10) while at the same time contributing to a better world in two ways.

First, half your donation, that's $5, is headed automatically to a cause you or your giftee favors. (For example, AIDS, animal cruelty, world hunger. The list is here.) Second, these are eco-fashion rubber bracelets, made of recycled tires, bedecked with a bead made of recycled metal and emblazoned with your cause of choice. So you are saving the planet too.

And there's a bonus: the pleasure of explaining your charitable pun to others--once you've had it explained to you. Recycled TIRES.....I'm TIRED. Get it? I didn't either.