Christmas is only a few weeks away and no doubt you are all thinking about buying presents for your friends and family. Perhaps you are more organised than me and have started already.
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CHALLENGE FOR YOU ALL
The School of Veterinary Nursing staff have set themselves a challenge of a Sustainable secret Santa this year for their end of year Christmas lunch. I would like to extend that challenge to all our school staff, polytechnic staff, students and other blog readers to do the same, not just for the work Christmas do, but for all your Christmas gifts. Instead of buying "bargains" at the malls and big box stores that may not be wanted and may not have a decent life span or be recyclable, how about setting yourself a sustainable challenge - purchase only goods that are sustainable to the best of your knowledge.
Remember also - it isn't how much you spend but the thought and effort that goes into a gift that counts.
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Remember also - it isn't how much you spend but the thought and effort that goes into a gift that counts.
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Think and support:
- Local - try visiting some local craft or farmers markets. The Otago Farmers market is one such example. But these are now widespread throughout the country.
- Homemade - nothing like some homemade sweets, biscuits, preserves or relishes (made with sustainable ingredients of course) from the home chef or for the sewing or knitting enthusiast - what about making small personalised gifts like aprons, cushions, socks, hats (again using sustainably sourced fabrics/wool if you can) or make a book up of your own favourite recipes to give to a friend.
- Natural - when purchasing cosmetics and moisturisers select those with sort ingredient lists, preferably made locally
- Time giving - A voucher for time is an awesome gift. Offer time to clean a car, babysit, weed a garden
- Something living - seeds, seedlings or a more mature plant. You can purchase ladybirds which make a great gift as natural pest control for gardens or tiger worms for the home compost bin. You can purchase heirloom seeds from the Koanga Institute and I believe they are also available from Blueskin Bay Nursery in Waitati.
Robust, long lasting, sustainable and recyclable - Avoid cheap plastic stuff for kids presents. If you can buy locally sourced and made timber toys for kids - these last for many generations (my kids love playing with the ones I had as a child, they will still last more generations) and can still be recycled at the end of their life. Kilmarnock Toys in Christchurch is an example of place to source these. - Second Hand - check out TradeMe for example.
- Products which have no or recyclable packaging
- Wrapping - Use recycled gift wrap and cards or old newspapers, brown paper make great gift wrap with personalised drawings or cut outs attached for example, or paint a picture and use that as gift wrap
Looking forward to your feedback, ideas and links!
Kind Regards
Francesca
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I feel quite ill at the sight of all the spent wrapping paper after presents have been unwrapped, so I've been trying to be a little more sustainable and thoughtful about wrapping.
ReplyDeleteOld wall paper can be cheeried up with some touchs of glitter / gold paint. It needs to be tied with ribbon (make from old clothing if you're super sustainable), because sellotape doesn't always stick well to it. Wallpaper makes for sumptious wrapping, because its thicker that the usual budgety stuff and often has patterns embossed into the paper. Even the plain stuff can be used, just have the kids stencil Christmassy patterns or pictures on it :)
Another fav is wrapping with material instead of paper.
For the sustainability of your own sanity, shop early and try to give gifts that are thoughtful and appropriate, rather than waiting for Christmas Eve and buying anything thats left! I always try and think a little out of the box. For example one year I gave horse riding lessons to a friend. I attached the certificate to thick card and tied it to a horse shoe.
Our family traditionally gives special tree ornaments in place of other "stuff" - especially to children, who can then take theirs when they leave home.
You can easily do something similar - as Francesca said above, give a gift such as baby-sitting, and add movie tickets to it. The point for me is to give a fitting gift, rather than a gaudy present.
This came through from one of our students (Thanks Emi):
ReplyDeleteCheck out this website for some awesome upcycling ideas. I particularly like the suitcase drawers.
http://unconsumption.tumblr.com/
There's also The Big Shwop on in Wellington soon - swap your clothes for new for free!
http://www.thebigshwop.co.nz/shwops/the-big-shwop-wellington-2011
(NZ's largest eco-fashion event)
Very interesting and useful information. I had seen it many times yet not felt the urge to blog on it. When you blogged, it made interesting reading. sustainable gifts
ReplyDelete