A while back, Beth at EasyEcoLiving tagged me to post about one thing I did at the holidays to lessen my footprint. I've avoided responding to her tag thus far because I couldn't think of anything. Then it sort of dawned on me that, maybe, my laziness with all things Xmas this year might somehow be viewed as a good thing. How's that for revisionist thinking?;-)
I didn't waste gas running around too much to buy gifts; I didn't waste trees because I didn't send any Xmas cards nor did I do very much wrapping.
Oh wait! I thought of one thing I did - I bought lots and lots of organic produce to feed to the multitudes that showed up here for dinner on Christmas Day. So there. I did something.
;-)
Feel free to play along if you like, here in comments or on your own blog. Share some tips for how to make next year's holiday greener!
In case you haven't already seen it, have a look at The Story of Stuff and maybe you'll feel a little less inclined to ever do holiday shopping again.
5 comments:
Maybe it's just an age thing - I am beyond the target demographic after all - but I am feeling less and less interested in buying more stuff and more interested using up and getting rid of the stuff I have (And that's a LOT of stuff!). When I do buy something, I'm trying to choose things I really like and hope to keep for a long time, to the point of wearing it out. I hope to avoid disposable made-in-sweatshop junk even if it is ever so cheap. On those rare occasions when I do go shopping, I find myself reading all the labels to see where things are made. Remember L.L. Bean? A new retail store opened near here recently. I had to search long and hard to find anything made in the USA, let alone Maine. It's all about image without soul these days. All about maximizing profit. That's what I want to do for the holidays and from now on: Buy less, but when I do, buy stuff with soul.
Oh the "Footprint" Issue. Such a good thing to try to reduce. But sometimes what we might do to reduce has a cost that is more, just hidden.
And, there is endless pressure from advertising and social and subliminal pressures to do things that grow our footprint too, even as we try to reduce it.
Tough question. Big issue.
Yes, yes! I was pushing The Story of Stuff over at my place too. Very well done and so very sobering. As in, any fool should be able to figure out that what we're doing isn't working. We have definitely entered the less is more phase of our lives over here. Now if we could just do something about all the fuel we use when we fly- it drives me nuts to think about.
Buying less is always a good thing, whether you can measure the smaller footprint or not. And I second mojoman's frustration when trying to find clothes and goods made in the USA. It's almost impossible.
I love the idea that not sending Christmas cards leaves a smaller footprint. Eases my guilt a bit!
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