Buy nothing for Christmas
December 5th, 2007
Gift giving was never a strength in my family. Sure, we gave gifts, we just didn’t do it well (”Hey, here’s your annual CD/book/cake that’s indistinguishable from what I got you last year”). Later on, through friends and girlfriends, I’d figure out what it meant to give a good gift: something clever, personal and thoughtful that they’d enjoy or need, but probably wouldn’t think to buy for themselves.
But with the web, and the same 15 chain stores in every mall in every city, it’s harder to actually buy truly good gifts. Everything is available everywhere. And I’m loathe to buy people more stuff they don’t really need: I don’t know many folks who complain about empty storage rooms, closets or kitchen cabinets.
So this year I made two rules:
- To buy only experiences. Tickets to plays, events, massages, meals, things that they’ll experience and own as a memory instead of as a thing. Perhaps I can baby or pet sit for friends, gifts that really could be useful to them. This also has the benefit of low environmental impact if you’re into that sort of thing.
- To make things for people. If I make it with my own hands then it’s impossible to get at the GAP, or at their local mall and as ugly or fragile as it might be, it will be personal. It will will represent more of the the most precious thing i have, my time, than anything I could buy.
The problem is I don’t really know how to make anything. I can do great lectures and write essays, but those don’t fit the bill for a personal gift for anyone I know.
So while I figure this out, if the basic idea intrigues you, you’re not alone.
Buy nothing Christmas is a movement of sorts, with an alternative approach to the holidays. There are various flavors, from simple tips for inexpensive and creative gifts, to tips for parents and kits for simplifying the holiday season.
Of course there are folks who take a more aggressive stand on the whole idea. Xmas resistance offers stickers, posters and other aids to help spread the word about their boycott of the entire idea.
The less militant and more philosophical Canadian Buy nothing Christmas group, asks the question “What would Jesus buy?” with a humorous catalog of free things to give (includes the ever popular seaweed), advocacy, and even a well written FAQ. Check it out.
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Are you kidding, Scott? You can’t make anything? Come on–think outside the box.
You make analogies, draw connections, build metaphors, tell stories, and so on. Why not do it with, about, and for the people on your “gift list”?
Just heard on NPR that the average American spends $800 on Christmas, not including an additional $100 in purchases for themselves.
They also mentioned that 27% of people can’t recall anything they received last year for Christmas.
Of course they don’t say where they got either stat from (I hate that - I’d love a law that says if ever you quote a stat, you have to provide a reference).
Anyway, they mentioned a few other resources:
Experience gifts has mostly high end experiences for sale.
Waste free holidays is a Seattle area program to make gift giving easier on the environment, which includes discounts on various gifts that support the program.
A few years back my family decided not to buy Stuff(tm) for Christmas any more (for the adults at least - children still get presents); and we’ve been doing smaller scale Christmases just with immediate family. We still do presents for birthdays.
So now instead of going half broke and insane dealing with shopping centres at Christmas, running around desperately trying to find gifts… we save stress, money and we don’t add detritus to our lives (since any gift other than The Perfect Gift usually doesn’t add significantly to your life).
Having saved on presents, we’re able to spend more on good food and drinks; which we consume with gusto and greatly enjoy our Christmas.
I thoroughly recommend it :)
The problem with buying only for the kids is that there will be no one who will appreciate your gift(s).
[...] Berkun wrote about Buy Nothing for Christmas. How appropriate. We (as in our society “we”) have become so good at producing, [...]