December Holidays

TL;DR - Consider other ways of showing your family and friends your appreciation without contributing to the waste of the holidays. Spend time together, plan activities, and share in what you already have to make things meaningful and fulfilling.

This post will be about the season of giving! Last month we chatted about how beautiful places on earth are sometimes marred by the downstream consequences of our cultural values. This month, for many, means buying presents and giving gifts to loved ones all around you. Though this is normalized behavior for many of the families across the planet, I ask whether or not it is a paradigm that we should continue to support. I am of course referring to Christmas, statistically the most wasteful holiday on the planet.

Those who participate in the holiday collectively produce over 25 million tons of direct waste, and this number would be dwarfed by the indirect waste that is produced from gifts that go unused, products that was perfectly good and replaced by a predecessor, and food waste that accrues from making more than many can feasibly eat. This, however, is not how it has to be. I would argue that an equally, if not more enriching experience would be to disregard the notion of exchanging physical gifts altogether. Radical? Probably. I believe that a holiday season that is centered around relationships, kind words, time spent with one another, and gratitude for our current possessions could bring us closer to one another as well.

Next holiday season consider talking to your loved ones about what you want out of your holiday celebrations. Do you want another sweater you might never wear, or would you like to spend time making memories around a fire, playing board games, and watching entertaining movies you enjoy? To many some amount of gift giving is essential, and if you’re in that boat, maybe just give less. Give only what you know your loved ones need or would appreciate. Do not buy things to fill the space around a tree. Choose a path that is centered around sustainable and enriching experiences. Until next time.