Holiday stress and consumer excess

Americans will send 750 million greeting cards this season. If 10 percent of the cards were sent electronically, 30,000 trees would be saved

By Environmental News Network staff

The holidays are upon us, blood pressures are rising and trash bins are already overflowing with 5 to 7 million tons of extra garbage produced in the five weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

All the extra trash is a fraction of the environmental impact of our annual holiday buying binge. The damage ranges from unsustainable resource consumption to greenhouse gas emissions to toxic byproducts to sky-high energy use.

A recent survey found that 84 percent of Americans want a less materialistic holiday and a greater emphasis on things that money can't buy.

"People hate the commercialization of the holidays. They are looking for a better quality of life, not more stuff," says Eric Brown of the Center for a New American Dream, a nonprofit foundation devoted to sensible consumption and protection of the environment. "We've done the survey for the past four years, and the results are fairly consistent."

Americans will send 750 million greeting cards this season. If just 10 percent of the cards were sent electronically via the Internet, 30,000 trees would be saved, according to Brown. To aid that effort, CNAD's web site offers eight free cards designed by children as part of a "What I Really Want That Money Can't Buy" essay/art contest.

Despite the desire to "dematerialize" the holidays, a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation found that 82 percent of consumers expect to spend as much or more during the holidays this season as last year. "People feel an awful lot of pressure from relatives, and especially their kids to buy stuff," says Brown.

"Advertisers target children and that increases the 'nag factor,'" he adds. :It takes time to learn a new tradition and people need to be a little creative. We've designed our web site to help people make that transition by offering ideas and tools, including a 14-page downloadable brochure."

The conspicuous consumerism of Christmas isn't just an environmental disgrace; it's "confused us about what we really want from the world," writes Bill McKibben, an environmental journalist and the author of "Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas". McKibben has long championed a movement that advocates a $100 spending limit per family as a way of "reclaiming the holidays."

"The point is not to stop giving; the point is to give things that matter," he says. And the things that matter to most people these days are time, attention, memories and joy. (See sidebar for gift suggestions from his book.)

"What makes us really happy are relationships, being creative and working towards a larger purpose than our own lives," says Mark Burch, author of several books on voluntary simplicity including "Stepping Lightly: Simplicity for People and the Planet".

Holiday consumption is an environmental disaster, say organizers of a movement that advocates a $100 spending limit per family as a way of 'reclaiming' the holidays

The annual holiday spending spree is "an environmental nightmare that keeps us running ever faster on the work-and-spend treadmill," Burch says. "And it's tough to get off when you're deep in debt and moving too fast to consider alternatives."

He recommends looking to others who think along the same lines for support and ideas.

Instead of gift exchanges with friends, Burch recommends getting together for a potluck supper and caroling around the neighborhood. For special people in your life, he says, "what could you give them for $1 that would express your love?"

After contemplating that challenge, consider what Erika Conant, 14, from Johnson City, Tennessee, wrote as part of her entry in the "What I Really Want That Mney Can't Buy" essay contest sponsored by CNAD:

"What I really want is for all parents to just spend time with their kids. America would be a happier country."

Here are some environmentally responsible on-line shopping tools that might be useful:

If you're wondering whether the gift you're considering was made in a "sweat shop," tested on animals or harmful to the environment, look up products and companies on the Responsible Shopper site.

Also, try the Ethical Shopping site, which screens products for social consciousness, community awareness and ethical standards, and offers a wide variety of products.

An extraordinary site with handcrafted works of fine art and home decor sourced directly from artisans in developing economies is Novica. The company is funded by Scripps Ventures and partnered with National Geographic. Have a look at the site.

Overconsumption, argue organizers of Buy Nothing Day, is wrecking the environment and compromising the quality of life. Here's your get-free, get-out-of-consumption jail card: A Christmas Gift Exemption Voucher.

Copyright 2000, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Earth-Friendly Living: The $100 Christmas

Inexpensive, Creative and Eco-friendly Gift Ideas
  • "What I Really Want That Money Can't Buy" Wanda Urbanska's 12 Tips For Creating A Simpler Christmas
Nancy Twigg's Give the Gift of Time: Giving Timely Gifts

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