If Christmas is only about presents, then my family and I will never have a ‘real’ Christmas. I mean we’ll have the caroling and the uncle playing the piano and the cousins running around with my daughter and the delicious food. In other words, we’ll have an amazingly good time.
What we won’t have, though, is the average American’s $800 hole in our bank accounts, gouged out by Christmas-present spending. Nor will we have the credit card debt still unpaid by June. Nor the forcing of smiles for gifts we don’t really want. Nor the buying of extra luggage to bring home all of those unwanted gifts. Nor the stressful rush of last-minute crowds at the mall.
Without any presents, we won’t have the sensation that I, at least, normally associate with Christmas — the stress. And without stress or presents, it’s not really Christmas, right?
My Life as No Impact Man
Back in 2006, my then little family and I — one wife, one toddler, one dog — embarked on a lifestyle experiment in which we tried to live with the lowest possible environmental impact. The experiment included not making trash, not using any form of carbon-producing transportation, and not buying anything new.
This may sound like a lot of meaningless self-deprivation, but the question we wanted to answer was this: Does consuming fewer resources actually feel like deprivation, or is it possible that consuming less opens up another way of life that provides more enduring satisfaction?
Could we find a win-win way of life that might be happier both for us and for the planet? Sometimes the answer was no. It would be better for the planet if we all decided not to buy big hunks of metal otherwise known as washing machines, but believe me washing my family’s clothes by hand did not make me happier.
On the other hand, eating local and riding bikes instead of driving cars allowed us to lose the spare tires around our guts, cure ourselves of longstanding skin problems and insomnia and become generally healthier. And not using electricity to power entertainment devices drew us closer together as a family and made us spend more quality time with friends.
Is it Possible to Celebrate a No Impact Christmas?
So as the holidays approach us, the more pressing question is, will the season’s huge consumption of resources add to the Christmas experience or detract from it? Since one-sixth of all American retail sales (and as a consequence, a hefty proportion of our national planetary resource use) occur during the holiday season, it’s a question worth asking.
Interestingly enough, even though oodles of presents at Christmas is the dominant American paradigm, it turns out that people who spend less and have less spent on them and emphasized time spent with families at Christmas actually enjoy the season more (see Journal of Happiness Studies by Tim Kasser and Kennon M. Sheldon).
Of course, we all know in our hearts that treasuring meaningful experiences and spending time in valued relationships make us happier than getting more stuff. But try telling that to the grandparents at Christmas time! Try living out these lofty principles when the rest of your family and friends are swapping presents at the same rate as ever. You may find “bah humbugs” shouted in your direction more than once. That’s problematic, particularly if you’re hoping to inspire more sustainable lifestyle choices in other people.
Buy Experiences as Holiday Gifts Instead
The trick to a happy, sustainable, no impact Christmas is not to ignore the expectations of the people we celebrate with. We never want our loved ones to feel badly. Those who expect presents should get them. Gifts, after all, are associated with the exchange of love.
For us, the answer is to buy presents that don’t require the exploitation of large amounts of planetary resources. In the past, my mother was very happy with the two massages she got. My father and his wife enjoyed the gift certificate to the fine dining, local-food restaurant in their neighborhood. Friends appreciated the theater tickets we bought them. And unlike those unwanted trinkets one sometimes buys for the ‘person who has everything,’ our sustainable gifts, we felt, actually improved the recipients’ lives.
Wrap up Hand-Me-Downs for a No Impact Christmas for Kids
Still, my wife, Michelle, worried at first that it would be hard for our daughter if all of her cousins had presents to open. Try saying, “The research says you’ll be happier with less,” to a child. So Isabella’s Aunt Maureen gave Isabella wrapped toys that her children had outgrown. Isabella, meanwhile, didn’t care whether the presents she was opening were for her or not. She didn’t even want what was inside. She just wanted to open them and participate. And when her Uncle Joe started playing the piano and singing, she got bored with the present opening and went to sit with him on the piano bench.
Much to our surprise, when the Christmas vacation was over, she didn’t even want to take her cousins’ old toys home. She’d already had her presents. What was important to her was what turned out to be important to us: the singing, the charades, and the laughter, the time spent with family and, of course, the celebration. This is the tradition that we’ve continued ever since then and I hope to inspire a few of you out there to try it, too. Happy Holidays to everyone, but without all of the stuff!
Adapted from a story by Colin Beavan that appeared in Yes! Magazine.
Copyright (c) 2014 Colin Beavan All rights reserved.
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Sage advice, Colin!
This year my gift giving was focused on experiences (a dining gift certificate and a pair of theatre tickets), and books — poetry for kids and a compendium of New Yorker cartoons that the whole family can enjoy. I prided myself on wrapping my gifts last year all in recycled newspaper (inspired by our own Kate Gloede). But this year I took a wasteless step in the right direction by wrapping my gifts in cloth bags that my cousin, Mike had made. Apparently, there’s no end to kinds of pretty Christmas-y fabrics you can buy (and for not alot of money) and he sewed them on a machine with some pretty ribbons attached. The bags and the books inside were a big hit; in fact, two family members kept the bags which I’m happy about so they’ll help spread the tradition to others.
I had a festive Christmas eve dinner — and even recycled the leftovers, taking them to friends in North Salem, NY who cherished every bite!
So thanks for the inspiration — and I hope you and yours had a very No Impact Christmas this year, too!
First of all, Colin, I was mesmerized by the documentary that chronicled you and your family’s experiment. And I deeply respect your subsequent work on the No Impact Project. Thank you for this great post and the reality check. You describe so clearly the element of Christmas that I often dread – the forced smiles for gifts that I really don’t want or need. My parents used to go ‘nuts’ at Christmas, but now we don’t exchange any presents at all. A true no impact holiday is exactly what you write about – just enjoying being with family. Many people will quickly agree with this, but then they’ll hypocritically fall prey to the shopping panic themselves. I hope that with 355 days left until next Christmas, readers have time to ponder this important message and do something meaningful instead of gouging their wallets to buy more wasteful and unwanted gifts!
I am always wondering what happened between the previous generation and now. I remember my mum telling me about her Christmas when she was still a kid, she had only a few presents. But they were all somehow special, one book she was eager to read or one new winter coat and one hand-made toy my grandfather made for her. Those were happy Christmas times when they were enjoying the dinner, the family moments and the happiness in the air. Nowadays, we tend to have a table full of presents, children shouting and screaming while opening frenetically their presents to jump on another one before finishing to open the previous one. At the end, we have a table full of plastic and wrap and kids not even happy about what they got and already asking for a new toy.
On the other hand, we have people like Colin who want to come back to a real life with real moments that are lived in the present. What about second-hand wood toys for children? or a hand-made special one? I feel like those presents are the best ones because you know the person spent time looking for it or even making it. I am more happy about the process behind the present rather than the present itself. We should enjoy the true moments, the one with our loved ones. Finding alternatives is easy as Colin showed us, a massage or a nice restaurant! those are moments that will be remembered. And if we really really want to offer this pair of funny socks, what about packaging them like they do in Japan? using a simple piece of fabric and wrapping around will give it a trendy look and it is even reusable!