This Christmas Season Consider Traditions, Gift Ideas and Celebrations That Protect God’s Creation, December, 2022
Two things Jesus never said: “Are you done with your Christmas shopping?” and “Did you have a big Christmas?”
Advent, the four weeks preceding Christmas, is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. We wait in growing darkness for the birth of the light of the world. Yet the modern American Christmas has more to do with preparing for the arrival of family members in our homes than with Jesus coming into our hearts.
Gift giving often feels compulsory and the shopping process is stressful, even frantic, powered by fear of not giving enough, choosing the “right” gifts, or running out of time. In my family for years, I saw small children with eyes glazed after hours of gift opening, overwhelmed by piles of gifts from relatives who seemed locked in an unconscious competition to show generosity.
Please consider that each gift has an environmental impact. I’m not suggesting avoiding gifts altogether. But consider how much joy and love each gift really will bring. Can you find another way of showing love to Dad besides buying him that Christmas sweater?
Clothes and toys are produced in factories and are usually shipped around the world, carrying a hefty carbon footprint. Toxic byproducts of manufacturing pollute the air and water, I try to remember this when debating whether to buy my niece that second gift
How can you be part of the solution?
For many of us, Christmas is our favorite time of year! We gather with friends and family to celebrate the birth of Christ. The excited anticipation of children is everywhere, as we decorate trees, bake cookies, shop and attend Christmas performances. Please consider these ideas this Christmas season to ensure that your traditions, gift giving and celebrations consider and protect God’s Creation, our majestic planet Earth.
This holiday season focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Focus on prayer, family and community. Teach your children to focus on giving rather than receiving.
Gifts for Children
Research shows experiences bring people more happiness than possessions.
Give experiences: vacations, extracurricular activities, museum memberships, and tickets to events.
Give the gift of family time: a tent and camping gear, board games, kids printed coupons “A night to stay up extra late”, “A trip to the ice cream shop” etc.
Give the gift of education: a subscription to educational or craft subscription boxes, gardening kits, science kits, cooking classes, magazines, or bookstore gift cards.
Teaching Children to Give
Be a good holiday role model for your children: Make homemade gifts together. Instead of giving commercial gifts, teach kids to give gifts of time.
Give the Gift of Charity: Give your children money to donate to projects of their choice at organizations such as: World Vision, Global Giving, and Food for the Poor. This year when many countries are facing drought, gifts that provide access to water, food, shelter and healthcare may be a better choice than farm animals.
Give the Gift of Charitable Loans: Give your older children money to fund global microloans of their choice: with organizations such as Kiva and Pro Mujer - microloans for women in Latin America
Give the Gift of Community Service: Sponsor a family in need or purchase presents for less fortunate children. If your kids love animals, talk to your local animal shelter. Give back to the elderly. Volunteer your family's time.
Gift Ideas for Adults
Consider the environmental impact of what you buy including excess packaging, usefulness of the gift and waste. Research the impact of your gift ideas before purchasing. Consider Fair Trade gifts to enhance the livelihood of individuals around the world who are striving to build a better life for themselves. Eat and shop locally. Avoid disposable goods. Choose natural rather than synthetic goods. Use your purchasing power to create change.
Look for consumable, durable, reusable gifts such as: a refillable thermos, a canvas tote, solar chargers, gifts made from recycled materials, home baked goods, tickets to a movie, ball game or concert, gift cards to a bookstore, restaurant, spa, theater, favorite store or movie rental. Give Fair Trade gifts. Agree to make donations to favorite charities instead of exchanging gifts. Make a book of favorite family recipes or ornaments from family photos. Give certificates for a promise to babysit, wash the dishes, or clean the house or car.
Gift Wrapping and Cards
Gift wrap may be festive but it also is destructive to the environment. Each year, Americans throw away 25% more trash between Thanksgiving and New Years! That is an additional one million tons per week! If every family wrapped just three gifts in reused materials, It would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields. The 2.65 billion Christmas cards sold each year fill a football field 10 stories high. If we each send one less card this year, we will save 50,000 cubic yards of paper. (Stanford Univ}
Use reusable fabric or paper gift bags. Wrap gifts in pages from magazines, the Sunday comics or maps. Use cloth ribbon so it can be reused. Save and reuse wrapping paper and ribbon. Buy wrapping paper and cards made from recycled paper. Send electronic cards or make a holiday phone call instead. Make gift labels from used cards.
Decorating
Purchase durable, reusable decorations rather than flimsy disposable ones.
Use LED lights. Set them on a timer so they are only on, a few hours each evening. Buy a live tree that can be planted after Christmas. If you purchase a live cut tree, be sure it is composted and not placed in the trash. Artificial trees may be a good long term investment as an alternative to a live cut tree. Compost poinsettias after the holidays. Avoid excessive wasteful decorating.
Entertaining
Avoid use of disposable paper and plastic plates, cups, silverware, tablecloths and napkins. Use washable cloth napkins and tablecloths. Instead of serving bottled water, offer pitchers of chilled ice water and glasses. If you must use paper products, compost them. Compost food and paper waste. Clearly label and display recycling, compost and trash containers.
Children
https://selfsufficientkids.com/gifts-to-make-the-holidays-less-materialistic/
https://www.parentmap.com/article/9-holiday-traditions-that-replace-materialism-with-meaning
Older Children and Adults- Charitable loans
https://promujer.org/b2b/en/about-pro-mujer
Adults
FairTrade
www.tenthousandvillages.com/cary#fndtn-home (Nearest NC store: Asheville)
http://www.fairtradeamerica.org/
Waste Prevention
For more resources and ideas: http://www.zerowastechurch.org/2017/12/01/december-shrinking-consumerism-for-christmas-and-beyond/ (We thank The Church of the Nativity for encouraging us and sharing their environmental educational resources)
We wish all of you a joyous, blessed, Christ centered Christmas and New Year!
This updated article first appeared in Pullen News in December, 2018
Sheila Read
Gail Powell
Pullen Earth Ministry
