Nov 2019: Gift-Giving for the Holidays
- Kaili Brande
- Nov 15, 2019
- 4 min read
Hi All! Welcome back to the blog! I hope you’re all still with me now that we’re posting every other month. :)
This month’s post will focus on gift-giving and how to be sustainable in the midst of the holiday season. With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I’m sure that many of you are starting to plan what you will give your family members, friends, colleagues, etc. When planning out this list, consider giving more SERVICES rather than GOODS.
What do I mean by SERVICES and GOODS? These terms come directly out of “economics 101”. Services are things that you pay someone to do for you, while goods are objects that you buy to use, eat, or keep. Examples of services are paying someone to wash your car, buying a concert ticket (essentially paying the artist to perform for you), and a gift certificate to a nail salon (paying the salon to eventually do your nails). Examples of goods are toys, a new shirt, and new perfume. While all of the above services and goods could be good gifts for people, the more sustainable option is to give SERVICES. Given as a gift, these are “experiences” like concert tickets or organized wine tastings.
This is why SERVICES are more sustainable than GOODS:
· Little to no waste produced: When the SERVICE is given, it usually comes in the form of paper tickets (i.e. concert printed ticket), and after the experience/event is over, there is no waste leftover (except for any waste you produced while at the event, i.e. maybe a food wrapper from the burger you bought at the concert). Therefore, the waste produced from the event is minimal. If you instead buy someone an object, that object can be wrapped in plastic or paper packaging, and once the object has lived out its shelf life in the person’s home, it will eventually be thrown away in a dumpster. The concert experience never produces any objects to be “thrown away”; you simply have fun memories.
There are also other reasons why SERVICES are better than GOODS:
· recent psychology research: has shown that experiences (SERVICES) bring people more happiness than possessions (GOODS). Even though people feel good when they buy or receive possessions, the happiness often fades quickly because “we stop appreciating things to which we're constantly exposed”. Experiences are fleeting and therefore more valued, even long after.
· they are more often used: people usually go to the concert (or give away the tickets) so that the experience is never wasted. On the other hand, if people are given a piece of jewelry they don’t like, it might just sit in their house unused for a long time. This would mean the piece is “wasted” and all of the resources (mining, metal extraction, plastic production, etc.) that went into making it would essentially be wasted too, because it is never being utilized.
· better remembered: When you ask someone what they remember about the year 2015, they will probably say they remember wine tasting with their friends in Napa rather than what object their mom got them for Christmas. Experiences stand out more!
The trend has already been rising among millennial-aged folks, who have been valuing experiences over stuff so much that companies like Macy’s have tried to offer “miniconcerts, yoga classes and cafes to draw consumers through its doors”. The caveat to this trend is that some of these people may be doing the experiences in order to “keep up with the Joneses”, get more Instagram likes, or conquer their fear of missing out (commonly shortened to FOMO). However, the key is that you give these experiences or participate in these experiences with the purpose of being present and actually enjoying your time there. That is the true value of experiences.
Other benefits of SERVICES in general might be more socialization time (catching up with friends), saving time (don’t have to wash my car myself), or finally checking something off “your bucket list”! When you gift someone an experience, you can essentially be giving them these benefits too.
Just like the northern lights example above, below are some examples of experiences that you can give your loved ones. Special deals on many of these activities can be found on websites like Groupon!
· wine/beer/coffee tastings
· “tickets” to a home-hosted wine tasting or cooking party (we did it and it was so fun!)
· concert tickets
· festival/fair tickets
· money toward flights/train tickets/bus fares
· money toward other experiences when traveling (i.e. for visiting museums when touring London)
· gift card to an experience-based restaurant (i.e. a beautiful/lively ambiance where the person and their partner (or a friend!) can bond and enjoy the experience together, not just the food)
In the end, what you give to your loved ones is up to you. However, if we take some of these principles to mind when shopping, we can make more sustainable choices (even during the holidays!). It will inevitably cut down the amount of packaging waste and “stuff” that accumulates in our house, and your loved ones will better remember what you gave them. ;) Let’s shop thoughtfully, live sustainably, and enjoy moments and experiences, the way the holidays are meant to be!
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