We are coming up on a holiday where we exchange lots of plastic...

[Anonymous]

that will be thrown away, probably within two years.
Suggestions for an environmental holiday season appreciated.
I am trying to consume less, buy fewer more valuable gifts. I am not giving plastic, even the clothing will be natural fiber.
I would like more of a focus on food and family.

[Anonymous]

We switched to secret Santa a few years ago. One nice thoughtful gift is better than a ton of junk and let's the family focus on spending time together

[Anonymous]

I love experience gifts, like tickets to a show. Best are cash gifts, because then I can just get what I want.

[Anonymous]

I ask for experiences or only things I really need. When buying things (except for my small kids) for others, if they aren't experiences, I try to only buy from brands that are sustainable or have some other socially beneficial angle.

[Anonymous]

Best thing we did was an agreement among adult siblings that we weren't buying gifts for each other or each other's kids. It cut down on the waste and the stress a lot.
Books are a good non-plastic gift for kids.
Sometimes I can find like new quality secondhand items for my younger kids (Santa's workshop doesn't encase toys in plastic packaging!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love experience gifts, like tickets to a show. Best are cash gifts, because then I can just get what I want.

Same. My older relatives don't want any more stuff, especially. They're trying to downsize! We focus on experience gifts, and consumable gifts. That includes subscriptions (Disney Plus for the grandparents, Spotify for the teens, etc.).

Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous]

I love cutting back on gifts exchanged in general, but it's so fun to give gifts to little kids. So, my sister and I made an agreement a few years back that all the gifts we exchange between our families (six kids under 11 total) would be green or small-business. We've bought second-hand books, toys from small businesses, and lots of handcrafted stuff from local Christmas markets.

It's fun, and I think in a way it recaptures the spirit of giving because we are looking for unique and fun gifts -- not just sending each other links to toys the kids want. One year, I bought a huge lot of costume jewelry from an estate sale for my niece to play with for dress-up, and another year I found the original My Little Ponies (like the ones I had in the 80s!) on eBay.

Kudos to everyone for trying to be kind of the earth this season! I'll be following this thread for ideas!

[Anonymous]

I’m going to try to buy local and locally sourced. Experience gifts. And plants to people I know would enjoy them.

[Anonymous]

We've never given a lot of gifts, and never junk plastic toys, since I can't stand them. We're also great with left-over food.

However I LOVE stationery and wrapping paper. I will do better trying to find sustainable wrapping paper that isn't super ugly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
We've never given a lot of gifts, and never junk plastic toys, since I can't stand them. We're also great with left-over food.

However I LOVE stationery and wrapping paper. I will do better trying to find sustainable wrapping paper that isn't super ugly.

Fabric wrapping. Furoshiki, maybe? The Japanese have some of the coolest, whackiest wrapping ideas and the fabric wrapping is one of my favorites. It can definitely be expensive, so maybe that only for those who will appreciate/return it.

For parents/grandparents who have it all/downsized/don’t want anything/don’t write letters (remember they always used to suggest stationery and stamps?), sometimes we like to give to a charity in their name and I’ll wrap a little silly something that symbolizes it - like if I gave money to a food shelf or Every Meal I wrap a can of beans. I only do this for people who don’t love getting gifts, obviously.

If anyone has figured out a way to stop the Grandparent Gift Avalanche, please let me know.

[Anonymous]

Our Santa never wrapped. If yours did, announce that Santa is no longer wrapping gifts to help save the earth. Or he can use newspaper if you are really committed to wrapping.

[Anonymous]

Fabric wrapping “paper,” or paper bags decorated with ribbon for an old fashioned look. Or gift bags.

[Anonymous]

On this topic, not just at the holidays, but smaller families, like 1 kid = far less waste, food, plastic, energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On this topic, not just at the holidays, but smaller families, like 1 kid = far less waste, food, plastic, energy.

You've made your point, several times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On this topic, not just at the holidays, but smaller families, like 1 kid = far less waste, food, plastic, energy.

Okay, Thanos.