OK guys, the planet is either on fire or underwater. We need to inject as much joy and fun into our lives this festive season because the bad news has been coming thick and fast. Gift giving is a great way to do just this - it can be fun and joyful and is a great way to show our love and appreciation.
But buying mounds of disposable crap pulls precious materials out of the earth to make them (causing pollution and deforestation), pumps huge amounts of gas into the atmosphere when that crap is shipped or flown around the world (causing climate change) and fills our homes, landfills and oceans with unwanted junk. We. Buy. Too. Much. Stuff.
As always, the mantra here at the ESH desk is “you do you baby boo” - if this article doesn’t resonate we’re not about making anyone feel guilty for their purchases. However if you’re keen for a bit of inspo for reducing the footprint of your gift gifting this Christmas , we’ve put together a list around the themes of give nothing, give on behalf, give experiences, go gift-wrap free and give low-impact.
You’ve got a month until Christmas, so if you get moving just a little earlier you can avoid those last minute panic buys.
Go gift-free
Ok, there are a couple of rules of engagement here. Agreeing to go gift-free at Christmas requires consensus. You can’t be the only person in your work, friend or family group who abstains from buying gifts. If others are going to spend the thought, time and money on gifts for you, you’re going to look kind of rude if you don’t reciprocate.
My family have been pretty much gift-free at Christmas for years now - either no gift at all or everyone agrees to buy a single family member one gift (we pull names out of a hat).
It frees up time, money, stress and energy to put into other things during the festive season like family traditions, games, food preparation and Christmas-themed cocktail consumption. It totally shifts the focal point of Christmas.
I know this isn’t going to be for everyone, but my energy has been way lighter these past Christmases as a result of going at least somewhat gift-free - it’s liberating!
Kids get a free pass obviously… because you know… Santa Claus ;)
Give on behalf of someone
It’s important to remember that Christmas is a pretty shitty time of year for thousands of people across the Christmas-celebrating world. It can be a struggle for our vulnerable people to provide their families with the simple joys of Christmas like a special meal and gifts. The holiday has a way of shining a spotlight on loneliness, family breakdowns and other life struggles that we all deal with to varying degrees, but some more than others.
Every year the wonderful team at Auckland City Mission put the call out to ‘Christmas Angels’ across the country. An option this year might be to buy a gift for a struggling family and ‘gift’ this to someone in your life. Auckland City Mission has a link to a very practical resource that provides guidance for buying gifts from infants all the way through to elderly folk. There will be charities in almost every city running services like this.
Second-Hand Group Challenge
Set a challenge among your friend group, colleagues or family to find all your gifts from secondhand, vintage and charity stores. You can set a budget if you like. Not only are you purchasing gifts that haven’t used any new resources from the earth to create, it turns into a fun competition to see who can source the coolest gift within the given budget.
Charity shopping is fun, you don’t go in with an item in mind, you just wait to see what jumps out at you - it can be a very personalized experience for your gift recipient.
Give Experiences
We are drowning in stuff and now the evidence is telling us what we already knew - all that stuff is making us less happy. Studies like this one show that “Experiential purchases (money spent on doing) tend to provide more enduring happiness than material purchases (money spent on having)”.
They basically found that people get less happy with material purchases over time, and more happy with experiences over time. They speculate that this is because we ‘adapt’ to physical things, so even the shiniest jewellery or latest model phone becomes commonplace after enough time, while memories tend to get fonder over time.
Here are some of our top picks for giving the gift of an experience - the links are fairly Auckland City-centric, but hopefully the examples will prompt some ideas for you in whichever city you are reading this in.
Short courses like art, pottery or perfume making
A night glamping at a regional park
Home brewing kits - OK this is technically buying something physical, but it sets someone up for a new hobby
Redeemable ‘day off’ or ‘sleep in’ vouchers (one for the parents, just write a voucher to the tired mum or dad of your choice)
Netflix / Spotify / I-Tunes vouchers
Spiritual coaching or a Tarot Card reading
Ferry trips to a local offshore island
Food and beverage events like a local dumpling bar tour, vegan high tea, gin and tonic experience, Vietnamese street-cooking or pasta making class
Go gift wrap free
Whatever your gift giving preferences this year, challenge yourself to go wrapping-paper free. This is a great little step towards the reducing your Christmas footprint. The Japanese art of Furoshiki involves wrapping gifts and other goods carefully and beautifully in cloth. Christmas is the perfect time to experiment with this art-form.
Use cloth that you have around the house, or hit up a vintage store for a supply of 50 cent silk scarves - they are beautiful and all over the city! Vintage stores also have little gems in the bedroom linen sections with designs from the sixties and seventies still in circulation. The wrapping itself becomes part of the gift, and won’t end up in the landfill.
Gift Guide
If you simply can’t avoid traditional gift giving (we feel you), then at least there are plenty of low impact / positive impact options out there. Here are some gift options we currently have our eyes on…
