KATHLEEN CORBIN

As I become more eco-friendly and realize the effects that all of our behaviors have on our planet, I have become less enamored with holidays. But I am not a “Scrooge”.  My heart is with saving our environment and not with participating in excess consumerism. I love our wildlife more than I love “stuff”.  I love the dark skies now more than all the lights that decorate or light up our exterior homes and buildings.

Originally our holidays were a period of gratitude and family time. Somewhere along the way, they morphed into a massive consumeristic time of the year.  Happiness and a successful holiday are now characterized by an overconsumption of material goods and wasteful excess decorations.  Mountains of wrapped presents fill the area around the Christmas tree. A successful Christmas is often equated with the number of gifts we give and receive.

When I was a kid, my parents did not have much money.  We had a very limited number of gifts and often the gifts were items we would need anyway such as a new pair of shoes, a coat to replace the one we had outgrown, or supplies for school.  In addition, we always received one or two toys like a doll, erector set, chemistry set, bicycle or something else we pined for all year.  Even if my parents could have afforded more, I sincerely don’t believe they would have indulged us more than they did.  They were both very consumer conscious and ahead of their time when it came to wastefulness and conspicuous consumption. My parent’s generation lived through the Great Depression and learned to be economically careful and thrifty.

It seems that society has a fixation on the purchasing of consumer goods. Not only are we encouraged to over-buy at holidays, but now Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday are used to exploit our attraction to sales and a “great” deal whether we “need” the purchase or not.  As an adult, I carried my parents philosophy of simplicity with me into my own life although I’ve become even more conscientious as the years go by.  When I was younger, I let myself buy into the consumeristic holiday mindset to some degree.  I bought more gifts, put up more lights, and wasted more food. I’m now more aware of the costs of our behavior on all living things thanks to the vast amounts of information available.

Let’s look at some of the ramifications of holiday over-consumption.

• Financial and emotional strain.  We often spend more money than we can comfortably afford in order to buy gifts for those we love. 

• Food waste.  Family celebrations are often events that create a huge amount of excess food.  Many holidays are synonymous with specific meals such as Turkey at Thanksgiving.  Although leftovers are a staple of holiday meals, much food is simply wasted and ends up in the garbage.  Food waste is a leading driver of global climate change as it releases methane gas.

• Over purchasing of cheap and trendy clothing.  The fashion industry alone accounts for 10 percent of annual global carbon emissions. (How many items of clothing do we need vs what we want?)

• Christmas lights.  There is just something about the colors and lights that trigger a festive feeling! I love them too. I know! I know! I’m a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to the lights. If they are lit, I will come. So, don’t get me wrong…..I enjoy the lights as much as the next person and still indulge in the beauty of the lights when they are on display. But in my heart of hearts I know that massive light displays are not good for our planet and other living things. I am learning to appreciate a simple wreath or single Christmas tree. In fact, I think the simplicity of decorations is just as attractive and actually more nostalgic than massive light displays. Holiday lights have many bad effects on the planet.  Lights waste energy and confuse nocturnal life. 

So how can we enjoy the holidays and protect our planet at the same time?

• Fewer gifts. Gift an “experience” instead of more “stuff” that will eventually end up in a landfill.

• Fewer lights.  If you put up lights, be sure to use LED.

• Fewer decorations.  Simplicity is the key to resource conservation.

• Careful menu selections.  Eliminate meat and dairy which are huge polluters. (also very abusive to animals….not the Christmas spirit at all).

• And last, but not least, buy second hand.  If you really need to go all out with the decorations, thrift stores are great places to shop.  They sell vast amounts of previously owned decorations. You can also buy some wonderful gifts at resale shops from home goods to clothing.

We can all celebrate holidays with family and friends through good company, family outings, low-key decorations, and careful food selections.  If we are less environmentally destructive, we can all be a part of the grand solution.