Seven bins aflowing
On Christmas eve this post popped up on my Facebook feed
Black bin bags at the ready indeed. Christmas creates so much waste. We buy things with the sole purpose of throwing them away. Christmas cards which get put up for a couple of weeks then thrown away or at best recycled. Wrapping paper which gets torn open and scattered across your living room. Crackers. There is a Michael Macintyre skit where he asks what happened to the things we won in crackers. You don't get people saying anyone fancy a game of cards with this set of miniature cards that I won at Christmas?
Because they end up in the bin that's why.
To be honest, my least favourite Christmas tasks are writing cards and wrapping presents and to have an environmental excuse not to do them is somewhat of a relief. Last year we used blankets and reused paper bags to put the presents in.
Were my children, then aged 2 and 5 disappointed not to come down to beautifully wrapped presents? No. They were more concerned about what was in them.
This year we made a treasure hunt and hid the presents around the house, unwrapped. They loved it.
I have also seen beautifully eco-wrapped gifts - reusable fabric wrapping or recyclable brown paper. But I would rather go for the low effort frugal option of not buying them at all.
Unfortunately my 6yo is really into LOL dolls which are basically £11 of plastic packaging and because unwrapping them is part of the experience it's not something she would be happy with second hand. So I can't claim to be entirely eco and waste free. I would love to be able to buy my kids non- possession things for Christmas - experiences, days out etc. But at their current age they expect toys and have told me so.
I think that's the crux of the matter -expectations.
We feel that we are letting others down if we do not achieve societal expectations of Christmas. All the Christmas films which idolise the Christmas scene of a large shiny tree with hundreds of nicely wrapped presents beneath them. And we try to provide this same experience to our families. People get into debt trying to meet these expectations.
This year my mum forgot to buy crackers (We spent Christmas day at my parents house). She was very apologetic. The environmentalist in me leapt with joy and reassured her.
Did not having crackers ruin Christmas? No.
Did anyone even notice?
No.
Did I have to manage an argument arising from child 1 getting a toy and child 2 getting golf tees?
Thankfully no.
Because they end up in the bin that's why.
To be honest, my least favourite Christmas tasks are writing cards and wrapping presents and to have an environmental excuse not to do them is somewhat of a relief. Last year we used blankets and reused paper bags to put the presents in.
Were my children, then aged 2 and 5 disappointed not to come down to beautifully wrapped presents? No. They were more concerned about what was in them.
This year we made a treasure hunt and hid the presents around the house, unwrapped. They loved it.
I have also seen beautifully eco-wrapped gifts - reusable fabric wrapping or recyclable brown paper. But I would rather go for the low effort frugal option of not buying them at all.
Unfortunately my 6yo is really into LOL dolls which are basically £11 of plastic packaging and because unwrapping them is part of the experience it's not something she would be happy with second hand. So I can't claim to be entirely eco and waste free. I would love to be able to buy my kids non- possession things for Christmas - experiences, days out etc. But at their current age they expect toys and have told me so.
I think that's the crux of the matter -expectations.
We feel that we are letting others down if we do not achieve societal expectations of Christmas. All the Christmas films which idolise the Christmas scene of a large shiny tree with hundreds of nicely wrapped presents beneath them. And we try to provide this same experience to our families. People get into debt trying to meet these expectations.
This year my mum forgot to buy crackers (We spent Christmas day at my parents house). She was very apologetic. The environmentalist in me leapt with joy and reassured her.
Did not having crackers ruin Christmas? No.
Did anyone even notice?
No.
Did I have to manage an argument arising from child 1 getting a toy and child 2 getting golf tees?
Thankfully no.
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