Mindful Gifting...

Gifting is an art form. Something that should have thought put into it. Never to be gone into lightly. When one thinks about gifting the individual should be thought of completely, never what one thinks the other person wants, but knows the other person wants or needs. This is a key component to proper gift-giving. As of recent, it has also become imperative that we think about what footprint any gift we give has, as we need to think about our footprint in general. So this art form has taken on a new level of dynamics that make it open for more creativity, in my opinion, of course.

Gifting should be something above and beyond the tangible. While someone may want something tangible, and that should be the go-to, it's important to think of how that gift can be given in a more sustainable way. For example, anyone giving a phone this year can always buy "renewed" as that's one way to cut down on how many new phones are produced because the demand will eventually fall. This will help the cell phone industry cut down its own footprint. Another example is to look to experiences instead of things. Taking a kid to a favorite movie, drive-in movie nowadays. This will make for a memorable experience instead of the new hot video game that promotes isolation from living contact and life in a virtual world that doesn't hold up in the real world. If you drive a Tesla to the movie you'll be cutting down on the carbon footprint. Another example of sustainable gifting this year should be something homemade. While parents aren't looking for 1000 pictures of what a dot can do all over the page, homemade Christmas cards to parents can be a way to reduce less trash as we are more likely to keep something homemade than we are something mass-produced.

If something mass-produced is something that the gift recipient is set on then maybe try for a collection of it. This way they are more apt to keep it, take better care of it, and it stands as an investment because if they ever do "grow out of it" they can sell it to someone else who likes to collect "it". That in itself is a gift that keeps on giving much like buying gifts of stocks. Stocks are not only another example of a sustainable gift and a gift that keeps on giving, but it's also a way to get anyone interested and knowledgable about finances, and let's face it, doesn't the world of finances rule the world. Bonus this doesn't really come with any footprint at all.

If none of these ideas appeal to you and you're thinking "well they mass produce everything whether I make a conscious effort or not" at the very least think of maybe using reusable bags instead of wrapping paper or not even using wrapping paper at all, just wait till Christmas Eve night to put all gifts out. That way it reduces the amount of garbage made in your personal household, the cost of gifting in general, and the amount of waste going into our landfills.

Mindful gift giving should always be at the forefront of our minds, pandemic or not. It just makes good sense to think of the other person and what that gift is saying as well as doing to our world. We want to leave a lasting impression on the gift recipient as well as a positive lasting impression on our world so that our future generations have the ability to participate in gift-giving too.