At this time of the year, fellow humans approach us, sustainability researchers, to ask something along these lines: What can I do to to make winter holidays more sustainable? It's wonderful when fellow humans reach out. Most of the emails I personally receive are still from academics, but I am so happy to see that there are more and more messages from non-academics too.
What makes me feel sorrow is the usual response to the question above offered by fellow researchers. I am seeing and hearing the same response: "the issue is systemic", often followed by a long lecture on how capitalism works. Obviously, the issue is systemic. I think that everyone, in and outside academia, understands it. Those who don't understand, usually reach out to ask for some more information about how capitalism, its various systems and structures work and how these systems and structures interact with (empower and constrain) human actions. They ask for articles, book recommendations and about free workshops and lectures that they can attend in person or online.
Right now, people are overwhelmed. They/we feel stressed. In fact, we experience many conflicting emotions. We might be happy about spending time with our loved ones and at the same time feel scared (to overspend, to not buy the right thing, to give worse presents than someone else, to cause harm to nature via our consumption and so on).
Lecturing fellow humans can wait. I hope that when a fellow human approaches us, sustainability academics, to ask what they can do, right now, in practical terms, it is most appropriate to share real tips. Please share real tips! There are thousands of small ways how we can make winter holidays greener. Of course not all of them will be equally useful for everyone. But every human being can find their own constellation of practices that will be useful to them and their unique circumstances. And many of these practices would apply to other holidays too.
Systems do not change from without. They change from within: human beings (individually and collectively) reproduce and transform social structures.
Here are some tips for a more sustainable Christmas (or any other holiday):
- Give time and skills. In my previous entry, I shared an example of a wonderful woman in her 80s who bakes traditional Danish Christmas cookies with her grandchildren. It can also be a workshop.
- Give experiences. I bought tickets to take my partner and his child to a Botanical Garden.
- Give craft supplies to children (instead of plastic toys) and make something together with them.
- Give homemade gifts (cookies, jams, lip balms, knitted items etc.)
- Give family heirlooms instead of new items
- Give second-hand items instead of new ones
- Keep a box at home where you can put unwanted gifts. You can donate them. I ask my guests to see if there is anything they want or need.
- Regift unwanted gifts
- If a child is interested in nature and is old enough, give them a plant that is easy to care for (you don't have to buy it, you can grow it yourself in advance) instead of a plastic toy. Or give them a stone, or a shell that they can keep forever.
- Give zero-waste gifts (e.g., a bar of soap - I've noticed that generally fellow humans like to receive them as gifts)
- Donate to humanitarian and environmental causes on behalf of those who do not want gifts
- I don't think that money is a bad gift. You can give a gift card too, preferably to a place where a person shops. I personally avoid supporting large businesses though.
- Make your own winter holiday cards
- Give locally made products
- Give food (e.g., locally made jam, honey, apple wine, blueberry wine, unusual fruits and vegetables). I gave myself a pinecone as a gift (in the picture above). When my stepchild visited me, she asked me about it. I told her it's a magic pinecone that can open if she kindly asks it to open, and reveal pine nuts. She was so fascinated by it. We put in the oven (it took 2 or so hours at 100 degrees C) and it opened. We took the pine nuts out and ate them together.
- Make your winter holiday gifts in advance, in summer and early autumn (e.g., homemade jams are such a wonderful gift). You can forage or grow herbs, dry them and give them as gifts.
- Feel free to ask if the person genuinely needs or wants something
- If you buy something more conventional, look for certified products, consider the products' sustainability credentials
- Use fabric scraps for gift wrapping. I also keep ribbons, jute thread, old gift wrapping paper and boxes to wrap gifts, or use cotton pouches.
- Make your own Christmas décor
- Give supplies to those who have gardens and are interested in growing their own food or flowers
- Wear what you already have for Christmas parties. Or buy second-hand. Or borrow from fellow humans.
- Offer to cook something and bring food if you are attending a Christmas party
- Avoid shops as much as possible, go for a walk elsewhere
- Make vegan and vegetarian dishes
- Give knowledge: share your sustainability tips with fellow humans