I hope I’m not too late in writing this and that there’s still some people out there who need/want to buy some gifts this festive season, but want to do it in a way that’s a little gentler (to their purses and to the planet).
There are some eco-warriors out there who go full-on Mark Boyle (author of ‘The Moneyless Man’), who simply draw a line and say NO MORE STUFF. As much as this is needed, the reality is that giving and receiving is embedded in our culture, in our traditions and has been done between loved ones, strangers and travellers since the beginning of time. I believe I have arrived at a happy-medium where I consider myself a ‘conscious consumer’.
Here are 7 steps I take to feel a little better about consuming, in this wasteful, money-obsessed world that I find myself existing in…
Step 1: REFUSE… just refuse to buy stuff/things/items…whatever you call it, if you or the person receiving it doesn’t NEED it, just refuse to buy it. Also, refuse to buy stuff that’s unnecessarily packaged just because its Christmas and the company decided to put it in extra plastic packaging to make it a ‘gift set’ *sigh! Refuse to buy everyone you know a gift/card because you feel you have to. Refuse to shop online with the big giants. Refuse to buy the unhealthy, processed food marketed to us as ‘festive food’. Refuse to be a part of the problem.
Step 2: Buy second hand! Pre-loved items are wonderful, because you’re not supporting the big companies, (whose ethics you might not agree with), instead you’re supporting a charity shop or a local family who have chosen to list an item for sale rather than throw it away. Keeping gifts (specifically plastic toys) in circulation is a huge win, because they aren’t ever going anywhere, so let’s use them for eternity.
I browse charity shops all year long, constantly keeping an eye out for things I think a loved one might appreciate. Even though Rich laughs at me in June when I come home with a Christmas gift, it is a relief when I pull down my box of ‘finds’ in November and realise I’m half-way done.
This year’s gift for the girls is a dolls pram. I searched high and low for a plastic-free/ethically made dolls pram and had no luck. We do have the * link olliella strolley which is the closest you’d get, but Willow has grown out of that. Facebook Marketplace to the rescue! I managed to find 2 exactly the same prams, from the same company, in the same pattern, in 2 different sizes from 2 different people (honestly I’m still shocked at this). The big-girls pram was £15 and the smaller one was £10, that’s a huge saving when you compare it to the new models ranging at around £80 each. I also have been getting together a bundle of new-born babies clothes (again from charity shops, coming to the total of £16) together for their babies (that they already own). So, their gift from us this year is a pram each and a bag of baby clothes to share. We are getting a joint family game (I’m after ‘Guess Who’ if you have one you’d like to give/sell?) and then they will have their stockings, which this year is consisting of; a locally made bath bomb, a pencil sharpener, some new colouring pencils, swimming goggles and some chocolate coins!
In our home the stocking is from Father Christmas and the other gifts are from us (more on that in the next post about traditions old and new). I know to some people reading this, they might be thinking ‘whaaaaat?!, you’re only getting your child one gift?!’ and to that I say YES. My girls will lose their minds when they see they have a pram EACH (they currently share the olliella one and argue every single day over who gets it), they will be dressing and undressing their babies all day I imagine. They will also have some gifts from family and friends to open (one set of grandparents has bought them some binoculars each, and the other set of grandparents has gotten them a handmade organic stuffed animal from Myriad). There will be no overwhelm, no panic, no feelings of confusion or guilt. They will remember who bought them what and they will still enjoy the stuff they already have (which is plenty and still loved and enjoyed). There certainly isn’t room for a whole new hoard of stuff, and every year families get the boring task of sorting through stuff to make room for new stuff. Stuff stuff stuff.
Step 3: Handmade. Gifting an item that you have made by hand is gifting something priceless, your time. It isn’t just crafty people that can gift this way. Some handmade items I gift are;
* jars of jam/saukraut/kimchi
* chocolates
* bath salts
* body scrubs
* seasoned salts (garlic/mushroom/celery)
* soap
* candles
* poems / songs
* a drawing
Step 4: Gift Practicality. Gifting someone something they truly need, although not exciting, can be a huge help. Are they passionate about healthy food but struggle with the cost of it? If so gifting them a veg box subscription (or even a one-off) is a great idea. Or make up your own hamper of those food luxuries they might not buy because it adds up too much such as coconut oil, booja booja chocolates, almond butter, organic biscuits…
Are they due an MOT? Help with their rent?
How about an afternoon to themselves whilst you take their kids to the park?
A haircut? A massage? Cinema tickets?
Children can also be gifted practically too; swimming lessons, music lessons, theatre tickets…
Step 5: Ethical/Local/Sustainable. If you have exhausted all above options but still can’t find a gift for Uncle Joe or Cousin Kate, then now you can be selective about where you buy new products from. You’ll also have spare money to spend as you’ll have saved a lot by using the previous 4 steps. When buying new items, I ask myself; who made it? What is it made from? Is it needed? Will it last? It’s those kinds of questions you need to be asking yourself. It really does matter where our things come from. We don’t have the comfort of ignorance that was around in the 80s/90s, where we genuinely didn’t know about working conditions in China or plastic pollution in the oceans, it was a consumers paradise as we all bought the latest and greatest gadget with no guilt attached (we didn’t even have household recycling back then, it really was a different world). But thankfully in 2021 we have social media, documentaries and organisations that expose the brutal reality of our wasteful ways.
We can still consume, but kindly. Your dad wants a new t-shirt? Thankfully there’s companies like Rapanui. Grandma likes perfume? Ffern in Somerset make small batches of organic perfume in 100% plastic free packaging. Young children to buy for? Look no further than Myriad. Or head to your local makers-market or high street to support local.
Step 6: Involve your children in the BUYING process. Let them know how much joy is in GIVING. When we involve them in making something for others, or buying for others, it introduces them to the other side of gifts. It’s also empowering for them, Willow at 5.5 years old takes this task very seriously and is proud when she sees something she thinks will be just right for Grandma.
Step 7: It’s a wrap. Gift wrap without the waste. This is the easiest swap you can make, use newspaper, brown paper, cloth wraps (furoshiki), decorate with holly/orange slices/ re-useable ribbons etc. I keep all parcel packaging from throughout the year, because it always comes in handy in December. I also keep ribbons, tags, paper, bags that have been gifted to me, I’ve basically not had to buy gift wrap in many years using this method. If you do need to buy new, try to buy brown paper, paper tape or the plastic-free cellotape (which ironically is the original cellotape before they turned it plastic).
I hope these 7 tips help you bring the joy back to gifting this season. Please share with friends and family because how we spend our money, casts a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.
Blessings, Nic
thelivingfamily.blog 