Is green shopping like jumbo shrimp or deafening silence?
The whole idea of living green is to reduce consumption.
I understand the foundation of our culture is marketing. But sustainable living is not about marketing. It’s about making our own conscious decisions.
I’m not convinced that gift giving is a pleasure for many people. I was traumatized after working in a retail store for one holiday season. People were grumpy. I even saw one shopper take something out of another shopper’s hands and march up to the register with it.
I feel the same stress trying to sincerely gift someone who may not share my lifestyle. One way I deal with that is to shop all year long.
I am much more likely to buy something directly from an artist or from an enterprise that supports sustainability. So, when I see something that reminds me of the person, I can get it and save it for gift giving.
Gift giving is not about spending a lot of money to support some corporate brand name. It’s about acknowledging the person in the relationship. A gift can be a poem, a relic with shared meaning, or quality time. One of my favorite gifts of all times came from Kiva. I have an opportunity to use my gift money to give a micro-loan to a small business. What a great opportunity to teach a child about business - and you get the money back when the loan is repaid.
I lived with a shopaholic roommate for several years. I get it that shopping brings the same joy for some people, as finding morels does for me.
If you love to shop, by all means do your best to support sustainable enterprises by purchasing their products. I look for the Green Seal logo. But if shopping means rushing to the store for designer items at bargain prices, take a moment to think. The person you care about might prefer an afternoon at a museum or a walk in the park.