I’ve been looking forward to this upcoming weekend for awhile. Since December, to be exact. This weekend, my partner and I will head to an AirBNB on the other side of Puget Sound. The trip was my Christmas gift to him last year.
I covered this concept a little in last week’s blog, but I wanted to talk more about zero waste gift giving today. While I could take this opportunity to Tumblr rant about how birthdays and holidays are fuel for the capitalist machine, I’d like to focus on an actual solution to wastefulness without sacrificing the spirit of giving gifts.
You see, gift giving is not inherently evil.
The intent is to show someone that you appreciate them. We’ve just been led to believe that appreciating someone means giving them an object.
I’m not arguing that we should stop giving objects to one another altogether. Sometimes, an object is the perfect gift, especially if it’s something that the recipient really wants or needs. I only propose that before we default to a physical gift, we start thinking outside the box.
For example: Last Christmas a friend of mine was stressing about what she was going to get her partner. “I’m just tired of getting him things he’ll never use,” she explained. “Last year I got him all this rock climbing equipment because he said it was something he wanted to get into, and he only used it once.” I suggested that she get him a membership to a rock climbing gym instead. Voila! A zero waste gift that encourages him to pursue a new hobby.
In my experience, experience is the most worthwhile gift.
My partner and I have been following this pattern and it’s worked out pretty well for us. Some of our adventures include:
These gifts are extravagant examples, but they don’t have to be. We’ve isolated ourselves from our community in the name of convenience. Everyday things we used to do together–cooking, laundry, even bathing–are now carried out alone in our separate homes. I believe that by sharing experiences together instead of physical gifts, we can rebuild that community. No, we don’t have to start bathing together. But we can share a meal, a walk, a show, a moment. Let’s use experiences to bring us closer together.
Update: I’ve decided to just add our other gifts of experience to this blog as a sort of photo album in hopes that they may spark an idea for your loved one. Enjoy 🙂
