It feels weird that it is already the holiday season! This year has been incredibly slow at times, but it has flown by as well! This holiday season (and moving forward), I want to be more conscious of the environment through meaningful gift-giving and gift wrapping. I encourage you to do the same if gift-giving is part of your holiday traditions. Here are a few things that I am doing this holiday season to be more sustainable!
Consciously buying and giving gifts
When purchasing gifts for others, it is important to ensure that the recipient’s gifts we are giving are wanted or needed. This ensures that the gift will be used and will not be donated (and likely ending up in a landfill). I have a blog post that talks about being a conscious consumer. While that blog post talks about consciously buying items for ourselves, I believe we can also be conscious consumers when purchasing gifts for other people.
Going digital and reducing plastic waste
For certain items, reducing plastic waste can be simple. When giving a gift card, digital gift cards are a great alternative to physical plastic gift cards when trying to reduce waste. Another example of reducing plastic waste is giving digital versions of games instead of physical versions that are often enclosed in a plastic casing.
Ditching wrapping paper
The most sustainable way to wrap a gift is not to wrap it at all! However, I understand the fun and joy that comes with unwrapping a present. While some wrapping papers can be recycled, others cannot, especially with foil or glitter decorations. Additionally, recycling is not the most sustainable practice (read more on my blog post here to learn more about recycling!). Alternative forms of wrapping, such as using fabric or paper bags that can be reused over and over, is a more sustainable way to wrap gifts!
I hope that this post has inspired you to be more thoughtful and conscious with your gift-giving practices this year and in upcoming years as well. Have a happy and safe holiday season!
Cheers,
Christine
Christine Song 