Green Gifting
Thanks to Katharine Hayhoe for sharing this shopping list of Great Ideas in her Talking Climate post.
Read the full post here.
Katharine invites us to, ‘Shop smarter, cut holiday waste, and give back’ throughout the post.
As so many neighbors struggle with food and healthcare sustainability, waste in all its forms feels disingenuous. How might gifting be both more environmentally friendly and neighbor-conscientious.
In her Good News section Hayhoe lists well-vetted companies that are ‘genuinely committed to sustainability’, placing them in categories including:
- outdoor activities
- everyday clothing, shoes, or accessories
- personal care
- stocking stuffers
Her Not-So-Good News section highlights how ‘the holidays bring joy – and a dramatic spike in consumerism and waste… much of it unrecyclable due to glitter, foil, and plastic coatings’. ‘Food waste also rises sharply‘, she writes, and, ‘Even gifts themselves often go unused’, noting that many presents ‘go unused’, ‘end up in landfill’, or are returned, meaning, ‘retailers [send… billions of] pounds of returned products straight to landfills’.
Hayhoe’s conclusion: ‘the holidays concentrate a massive amount of consumption into a few short weeks, with consequences that endure long after the decorations come down’.
The antidote is simple, says Hayhoe: ‘rethink holiday gifting’ – which she follows up with specifics like:
- repurposing used items
- thrift shopping
- homemade gifts
- gifting experiences rather than things
- ‘give gifts that make a difference to others’
- help families recover from climate disasters
- [help] plant tress
Given current climates in which our neighbors live in fear of their safety, health, and ability to provide for themselves, how might Christmas gifting move beyond our own households to include people whose needs exceed our own?
- food shelves – or bringing food to [ICE] shut-ins
- clothes closets – particularly warm outdoor clothing
- actions that advocate for housing and healthcare
- bringing warm food, clothing, blankets, etc., to unhoused neighbors
- attorney fee financial support
Read the full post here.
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In a later post Hayhoe expands her climate-friendly gift guide with over 200 gift ideas. including art from crowdsourced Nicole Kelner.
She also offers a guide to wise holiday travel, reminding us that ‘flying carries a high carbon footprint’ and encouraging us to ‘be thoughtful’, suggesting:
- a staycation
- a direct flight
- offsetting flight emissions
- advocate for reduced emissions options
Please read the full post here.
Blessings this holiday season. May your Advent & Christmas be seasons of sustainable peace and climate-friendly joy.
