When holiday candies and decorations start popping up in stores mid-October, some people become really excited while others are stressed out. You might ask yourself, “Who is on our list? What presents should we buy? When do we go shopping? How much debt will we rack up on our credit cards this time around?"
Fortunately, you can simplify your life, save money, and reduce waste all by reconsidering your gift-giving habits and making some changes. You have the choice to replace your typical gifts with greener alternatives, or take the plunge and commit to eliminating the annual exchange of “stuff.”
Reconsidering gifts
You may want to first consider the need to give gifts in the first place. With all of the hype around shopping “holidays” like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s easy to get caught up in sale prices and the illusion that filling your carts with presents will make you and everyone you love more fulfilled.
Instead of centering parties and gatherings on gift-giving, think about doing something together. You may find that spending quality time with the people you love makes you just as happy without all of the waste and stress of purchasing gifts.
Giving lower waste gifts
When choosing gifts and how to present them, become conscious of the materials you are buying. Can you recycle, compost, reuse or donate the items when you’re done with them?
Consider the following when purchasing gifts:
- Resist the urge to buy more, cheaply-made items and instead spend your money on gifts that will last. For example, plastic toys can easily break and become trash, but traditional toys like metal trucks and wooden blocks can stand the test of toddler time. This may mean that you end up buying fewer gifts to spend the same amount of money, which is another waste-reducing strategy!
- Look first in secondhand stores instead of buying new, or even re-gift something you no longer use.
- Exchange names and buy gifts for only one family member.
- Keep the following gift-giving philosophy in mind: buy “something they want, something they need, something to wear, or something to read.”
- Consider replacing some gifts of “stuff” with gifts of activities. Buy someone a ticket to a play, sports event or give a gift card to a restaurant that serves their favorite food.
