Gifts of Minimalism!
Instead of traditional gift giving, encourage a minimalist holiday in yourself and with your loved ones. This is easier than you think!
Instead of getting physical gifts, do a kind gesture, such as having trees planted (One Tree Planted, who we’re partnered with, is a great, affordable organization for doing this) or donating to a charity, non-profit, or other cause. If you know they love animals or the environment, consider donating to a shelter or environmental organization.
You can also get a subscription or membership to some organization or service, such as a program that lets you “adopt” an endangered animal or support feeding a child in another country, a subscription to a streaming service or online content site, perhaps a membership to an artist’s Patreon community, a movie pass, or anything else you can think of that the person would get the most out of!
If you know someone who likes working out, you can even consider getting them a membership to a gym that they’ve mentioned wanting to join, or pay for their next year at the gym they’re currently a member of!
Lastly, you can try to find items in your own house that you know others would like and gift them that instead of buying something.
This sounds inherently like regifting, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be. If you want to regift something that is fine, but if you are interested in being more minimal and into letting things go, take a look around your house, and see what you don’t use or haven’t used in a long time. Maybe it’s a book you bought months ago and either read it already or got bored of it. Or maybe it’s your favorite book and you have been telling people about it forever. Consider gifting it to a friend who likes to read.
Or perhaps you like to collect figurines and things, like myself, and have a decent sized collection of your favorite animals or perhaps some pretty rocks or shells. Consider giving some of these things to people you know will appreciate them. If I couldn’t find an elephant at the thrift store for my aunt to go with her Christmas drawing, I would look at my own personal collection of things and find an elephant I was willing to part with.
Maybe you’re also like me and you have a large movie collection, and either you’ve managed to get a couple duplicates of movies or have some that you’ve never even opened because you bought them on a whim. Consider giving those movies to someone who will enjoy them. I’ve managed to get extra Disney movies over the years, which I end up gifting to the kids of some of my friends because I know they will watch them.
Or perhaps it’s an appliance that your bought on impulse and never actually used, or maybe used it once or twice. Think about gifting it to someone who will actually use it. If you have a friend or family member who comments about it on occasion, they would be a good candidate for this type of gift.
Whatever it is that you think is of value, but not of much use to you, there is more than likely someone you know who would enjoy to have it and get good use out of it. Just make sure it is in good, usable conditions.
That being said, if you want to get rid of some things, but don’t know anyone personally to gift them to, you can also do this on your own and donate things to local youth homeless shelters, animal shelters, libraries, schools, and more! Just call ahead and ask them what they need and what they can take that you have.
However you end up implementing minimalism into your life and your holiday, you will feel a lot better after decluttering some of your life, and you can give things that you’ve been holding onto a second life.
Gifts of Food!
Everybody loves food, so you can never go wrong with gifting it! And there are plenty of food items that are easily made and shareable!
Homemade cookies and sweets are always a go-to item that just about anyone will love. I have a friend who makes cookies every year to give out to people, and I always look forward to it. Some years I’ve even helped decorate them!
Homemade popcorn is also a great choice, especially if you know how to flavor them differently. There are so many different recipes out there – including ones to make candy popcorn! You can even make your own popcorn tin, with a home-made mix of cheese, caramel, and whatever combination you think they’d like.
Something I just learned how to make myself is roasted pumpkin seeds! They’re super easy to make, they taste amazing, and they’re super healthy. You can also roast things like almonds, cashews, or other nuts and seeds. And as far as flavor goes, you can make them salty, sweet, or a mix of both! You can even take it a step further and make a trail mix with your roasted snack.
Home-made rice krispies are also delicious and easy to make! And generally all you need is a bag of marshmallows, you choice of cereal (fruity pebbles are great!), and some butter. You can make bars, balls, or any other shapes you can think of!
And, chocolate candy, or anything chocolate coated is always a hit, whether it’s nuts, seeds, pretzels, or whatever. My grandma used to always make homemade chocolates, barks, and other candy for Christmas and send out boxes of everything mixed together, and they were always a hit with both kids and adults!
Now, if you don’t want to cook, there are others ways to gift food as well!
If you know someone who loves coffee, find a store, coffee shop, or tea house that sells loose, ethically and/or locally sourced coffee grounds or tea mixtures to put into mason jars and gift to people! Put this into or with a coffee mug (especially a reusable one!) and gift them a little drink kit! As an added bonus, you can add a reusable K-cup pod if they use a Keurig at home – especially if they still use disposable pods!
Another option you have is to go to a store that selves dispensed dry food in bulk, and make gift packages with those items! You can get whole jars of nuts, oats, candy, cereal, dried fruit, and other things, and either gift them individually, or make a layered or mixed blend of snacks!
And, lastly, you can always give the gift of a home-cooked meal to someone, either as a surprise or planned things. Sometimes even just making a meal together is a gift in itself.
Gifts of Experience!
In the spirit of minimalism, and of not gifting ‘stuff’, you can always gift experiences to people! And, in doing so you’ll make memories and, if you’re with the person while they’re enjoying the experience, you get to spend quality time together with someone you care about!
A simple option is of course going out to the movies, but you can also take it a step further by going to a concert, a play, or other type of show. Maybe their favorite band or musical is playing, or Disney On Ice is going to be in town, and you know they’d LOVE to go.
Maybe they’re an outdoorsy person, and you can take them on a hike, a walk, or some kind of recreational activity that they’d enjoy.
You can also take them on a picnic in the park or some other place out in nature like the mountains, beach, or elsewhere.
If the person really enjoys food, taken them to a really nice dinner, or take them somewhere new or to a place they’ve been wanting to try forever.
Museums, art galleries, exhibitions, zoos and other educational experiences are also great to give as gifts! If you know what the person really likes, you can find some great places to take them – no matter what their age! You can even take the person to a class, or something like one of those wine and canvas places where you can drink and paint together!
As we covered in the last part of this series, you can also throw a zero-waste party or potluck for your friends and loved ones to show your appreciation for them, and celebrate them being in your life. As I write this article, I am getting ready to host our second annual Day of Friends party, where we will be inviting people over to spend the day with us making food, playing games, and giving out time to them. Follow the ideas in my last article, and you can cut back on waste while enjoying the festivities!
And lastly, you can simply set aside a chunk of time to enjoy each other’s company. Remember the idea here is presence, not presents. You can do this simply by hanging out, making food, playing games, watching movies, or doing whatever, as long as it’s together!
Miscellaneous Ideas!
To wrap up the gifts portion of this article, I just wanted to quickly run through some random, extra ideas that you can try out to be zero-waste or mindful with your gift-giving!
One thing you can do is get a gift from an environmental company or non-profit, such as one that uses recycled materials to make new items. A prime example of this is 4OCEAN, a non-profit organization that pulls plastic trash from the ocean, recycles what they collect into jewelry to sell, and then use the revenue from sales to fund their operations! They also sell water bottles, apparel, and other items. And, with every purchase, it guarantees a pound of trash being taken out of the ocean!
You can also gift e-gift cards instead of physical plastic ones, or put credit on some account of theirs, like the PlayStation Store, Nintendo Eshop, Kindle Books, and so on.
For friends and family who enjoy the outdoors, get them an annual pass to a state park they go to, or the annual pass that covers all state parks! If you happened to get them zero-waste gifts such as a tumbler or mug, you can hide the pass inside the container to give them an extra surprise – and they can bring the reusable cup with them on their hike or camping trip!
In addition to the donation idea, you can also buy donations to donate on someone’s behalf as a gift if you’d rather do that instead of giving money. Whether it’s food or toys to an animal shelter, clothes and shoes to a youth shelter, or anything else the person would appreciate, there are many options out there to make someone’s holidays more merry. You can even donate some toys to a toy drive on someone’s behalf and put a smile on more than one face.
If you absolutely want to buy physical gifts for people to unwrap, try to buy from local, small businesses! This will benefit your local economy and community, the environment, and job growth, as well as help a local business owner put food on the table for their family and even gifts under their own tree! If you need more reason for why this is a great idea, check out my other previous article on this topic! And, if you’re avoiding shipping items to people, you’ll reduce your emissions impact!
Plants are also a great gift for people! Just male sure you get something that the person will be able to take care of, depending on their lifestyle and the climate they live in. And, be mindful if they have pets, some houseplants are toxic to cats and dogs!
And lastly, everyone needs help, whether for the holidays or in general!
Perhaps one of the best things we can do for our loved ones, is ask them specifically what they need the MOST, whether it is a specific thing, an action, or otherwise.
Maybe it’s help with a bill that’s coming due that they might be short on. Maybe they just need help getting gifts for their kids because money is tight this holiday season. Perhaps they need a full tank of gas, or need some minor work done on their car that has been put off for awhile. Heck, you can even offer to pay off a part of their credit card or make their minimum payment for that month.
Or maybe they just need time – whether it’s yours or time to themselves. In which case offer to take them out, or to watch their kids for the night while they take themselves out.
You can do this by asking them if there is anything they need help with the most this holiday season, or ask them a question or questions to take a guess at what would help them right now. Some people don’t know how to ask or what to ask for, or don’t like asking. If you’re like me, and people ask you what you want for Christmas, you might suddenly not have a single clue about what to ask for, or you don’t feel comfortable asking. So consider asking others who are close to them how you can help them!
No matter what you end up getting people for Christmas, or even for their birthday or other holidays throughout the year, try to use your knowledge and understanding of that person to come up with the best gift to give them! To the people who matter, getting them an nontraditional or otherwise alternative gift that adheres to the idea of zero-waste, minimalism, and/or mindfulness, will be the best gift you can possibly give them.
Don’t go broke or in debt this holiday season in an attempt to make others happy. It is so much easier to do that than you think, and buying more ‘stuff’ is rarely a key to happiness.
Wrapping Paper
The rest of this article will be short and sweet, after going down the rabbit-hole on the gift ideas. So to begin wrapping things up, let’s discuss the wrapping paper!
In case you didn’t know, regular wrapping paper usually has a plastic, foil lining, which means it is not recyclable and ends up contributing to a LOT of waste during the holidays. Especially for an item that is used for a very short period of time to cover up a gift, just to be ripped apart, and thrown away.
One alternative option is to use newspaper instead! Comic sections are great for kids; the sports section is great for people who like sports or are getting sports related gifts; recipes are good for cooking/baking related gifts; and so on.
You can also get some blank wrapping paper that is pure paper, and keep it simple. Or, you can also draw on it, decorate it with stickers, or find other ways to make it pretty or festive!
And, you can also use reusable bags to wrap items, and let the bag be an additional gift! If you want to get really creative, and maybe know how to sew, you can turn old shirts and towels into reusable bags as well, and use those to wrap gifts.
Whatever you choose, try to adhere by the 5 R’s, as laid out by the 5 R Revolution group, and refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot (or compost).
Traveling and Shipping
Lastly, I just wanted to briefly touch on the traveling and shipping that happens during the holidays.
Whether it’s flying to another state to visit family, or driving across town to shop for gifts or see Christmas lights, emissions usage spikes during the holidays, which means more junk in our air and more greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. You can check out this article from Yale Climate Connections that breaks this down more.
To mitigate this, there are a couple of things you can do.
If you can avoid flying, do it. In some cases, depending on how far you’re traveling and what kind of vehicle and gas mileage you have access to, it can be cheaper to drive, and potentially more environmentally friendly. Especially if you’re carpooling.
Which brings me to the next suggestion – to carpool, rideshare, or use public transportation. If you’re going shopping for gifts, going to look at Christmas lights, or going around town visiting friends and family, see what options you can use to to reduce the emissions you contribute to by going with other people in some capacity. Make it a day by carpooling or ridesharing with a friend to shop for gifts or holiday meal ingredients, and maybe get lunch after. Or gather the family and some friends to go drive around and see the lights.
Public transportation and alternative modes of transportation are also an option, such as buses and trains, depending on what’s available in your area, or between cities and states that you might need to travel to.
With avoiding shipping emissions (and costs) while getting gifts, you can buy things locally to do this, while also supporting your local community and economy.
And, if you need to get gifts for people in other states, you can also place an order for an item online to be picked up in a store or be delivered locally in that other location to the gift recipient. If you’re a gift-card giver, recall the suggestion earlier about giving e-gift cards and virtual gifts like subscriptions and memberships, or with planting trees and donating to charities or nonprofits. There is generally no shipping involved.
Whatever you can do to mitigate your emissions impact this holiday season, every little thing helps! Do what works best for you and your family’s needs.
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Well, thank you for sticking with me for this long. I know we covered a lot, and I hope I didn’t overwhelm you with everything I discussed.
The issue of reducing waste is a big concern for me, and even I struggle with managing and mitigating it in my own life.
So as always, I don’t expect people to adopt everything I discuss in my content that focuses on making changes in your habits and life. Do what you think is manageable, and works best for you, your budget, and your lifestyle, and I promise you’re doing plenty.
What it really comes down to is being mindful and being aware of our impact on the world around us. And, while it’s up to individual actions to start making a difference, the majority of the interrelated issues surrounding consumption and wastefulness, is largely in part by our economic systems, our societal habits, and the enticement of major companies.
Christmas and other holidays have become less about spending time with others and celebrating what’s important, and more about consuming things we don’t need and spending money we don’t have to feel like we’re achieving some sense of fulfilment or happiness, whether in ourselves or in others.
If you haven’t gathered from this series, I am advocating for us taking back Christmas and to not fall into the cycle of expectations that surround the holidays, feeling like we HAVE to buy things for people to show that we love them.
Just spend your time with people, and it will be more meaningful. And you and the people in your life will be happier (and less stressed) for it.
So this holiday season, remember to be aware of your impact on the world through all the choices you make and actions you take.
Disclaimer: None of the brands, companies, or people linked in this article are sponsors of this or any of the content on the site! I mention them because I wish to share my own experiences, and help out some local businesses/artists that I’ve met who may be able to meet your zero-waste needs or otherwise! In the case of One Tree Planted, we are partners, but we do not get paid by them for mentioning them in out content! We simply support their mission, as well as many other organizations/people mentioned herein, that we want to raise awareness for and share!
Resources
- https://thedoodlingnomad.com/collections/all
- https://www.costco.com/Brita-Lake-Pitcher-with-2-Filters.product.100387650.html
- https://minimalmarketlv.com/products/cutlery-wrap-fully-stocked
- https://minimalmarketlv.com/collections/all?page=2
- https://mimmag.com/ways-to-go-plastic-free-part-1-health-and-beauty-switches/
- https://www.lushusa.com/
- https://www.lushusa.com/customer-care/returns.html
- https://zerowastecartel.com/collections/toothbrushes/products/bamboo-toothbrush?variant=16935020953689
- Fashion: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdLf4fihP78
- The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGF3ObOBbac
- https://kandipatterns.com/
- https://onetreeplanted.org/
- https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/759/desserts/candy/popcorn-candy/
- https://mimmag.com/how-to-be-zero-waste-for-the-holidays-part-2-the-holiday-parties/
- https://4ocean.com/
- https://mimmag.com/the-impact-of-shopping-locally-and-3-reasons-to-make-it-a-habit/
- https://www.facebook.com/5RRevolutionLV/
- https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/09/evolving-climate-math-of-flying-vs-driving/
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