"I'm Sick Of Giving People Things They Don't Want": 10 Ways To Have A More Sustainable, Less Wasteful Holiday Season
Tis the season...of spending a lot of money on a bunch of stuff.
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With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas coming up, a lot of us have a lot of eating, drinking, and gift giving ahead of us. And that comes with a price — environmental and monetary.
I'm sick of giving people things they don't want.
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I actually love giving people gifts. It's fun to show love to family and friends, but during the holiday season, we have a lot of obligations to give gifts. And that means a lot of us default to generic crap that no one really wants. Picture frames, body lotions, candles from TJ Maxx...it's not quite the quality gift giving that comes from the heart.
A 2016 study found that Americans throw away $16 billion in gifts each year.
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All of these obligation gifts aren't appreciated by our loves ones. They're thrown into the garbage! And they end up in the ocean, probably strangling some poor tortoise just trying to get his float on, or in the landfill. Gift giving is a part of the reason Americans produce 3x as much garbage as the global average.
As a sustainable finance pro, it drives me up a wall to have an entire season dedicated to creating even more waste.
Let's all agree to stop giving people literal garbage from now on. Especially when everything is so expensive!
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The “food at home” index was up 13% from September 2021 to September 2022. Things like butter are up 32.2% in that same timeframe, and eggs cost 30.5% more now than they did in September '21. Life is too expensive to be buying gifts and food that people will just throw out!
This holiday season, we're giving gifts and eating foods that *actually fit* into our budgets. Here are 10 ways to start:
1. When it comes to food, try a vegetarian main dish for holiday dinners.
Meat is expensive AF right now, and it's largely an unsustainable dinner choice due to the land and water required to grow food for livestock. Lower your holiday food costs and your environmental impact by upping your veggie options at dinner. This butternut squash risotto from Cookie + Kate makes a great main dish that is savory and affordable.
2. Follow Reduce, Reuse, Recycle as a gift-giving guide.
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Can we all agree there's nothing wrong with re-gifting? If someone can't or won't use something, getting it into the hands of someone who will is keeping that item from being clutter or getting tossed into the trash. Reduce both spending and waste by looking to regift, use items you already have to make a present, or give something that can be repurposed.
3. Sustainable living blogger Jhánneu suggests giving kids gifts that can teach them about sustainability.
4. Have honest conversations about changing how your family gives gifts.
5. Burn plant-based candles, instead of petroleum.
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Paraffin wax candles are made from petroleum. Plant-based candles, such as soy candles, produce less soot and have a smaller environmental impact. Light your menorah with plant-based candles, and skip the plastic dreidels, for a more earth-friendly holiday.
6. Try upcycling your gifts this year.
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Speaking of repurposing, try upcycling gifts. Upcycling broadly refers to taking an item and finding a new way to use it. Try turning that extra glass jar into a homemade candle, or breathe new life into old T-shirts by turning them into rice heating pads.
7. Step away from the $20 gift limits for workplace gift exchanges.
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$20 ain't what it used to be. With inflation and rising costs of goods, there are very few desirable gifts you can find for under $20. (I totally understand these lower limits often come from being budget conscious.) But instead, save everyone involved money, and opt for a community-building activity.
An office potluck with each person's favorite family recipe, or an office ugly sweater challenge is a way for people to use what they already have and to build workplace community.
8. Talk to family about having a more sustainable family gathering.
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You can do this in a lot of ways: making sure the Christmas tree gets turned into firewood instead of thrown away, carpooling to family dinners, or offsetting your flights with carbon offsets. Focus on the biggest areas, like food, travel, and gift giving. No one expects perfection!
9. Decorate with more environmentally friendly holiday decor.
10. And finally, choose a sustainable option, or skip the wrapping paper altogether.
Most wrapping paper cannot be recycled because of the dye, glitter, or metallic additives. Instead, try the brown paper wrap that is recyclable, newspaper is a way of reusing what you've got, or something like a bandana that the recipient can use again.
