{"id":518,"date":"2012-12-10T11:25:32","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T16:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecooptimism.com\/?p=518"},"modified":"2013-07-07T15:44:41","modified_gmt":"2013-07-07T20:44:41","slug":"here-comes-the-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecooptimism.com\/?p=518","title":{"rendered":"Here Comes the Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t buy me any gifts for the holiday season.<\/p>\n

Not that you were planning to (I assume!), but that\u2019s not the point. I\u2019m \u201cconsumed,\u201d as it were, by the quantity of things surrounding me and by emotions like garbage guilt. I look around at most of the stuff in store windows and catalogs, and realize that, not only do I not need most of it, I don\u2019t even want a lot of it. Our place is full. If anything, we need to shed possessions. Clothes we rarely wear. Books we rarely read. (Why is it so hard to get rid of books?) Sentimental things we\u2019ve been given but don\u2019t know where to put. Unthinking things we\u2019ve been given and would rather not find a place for.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy that we have no hamburger-patty-maker type kitchen appliances, and not only because we don\u2019t have anywhere to store them.<\/p>\n

When I look at those things, I can\u2019t help it: I see all the materials and energy that went into making them, and I see the space indefinitely occupied in the landfills that they\u2019ll end up in, often sooner rather than later. That\u2019s what I mean by garbage guilt.<\/p>\n

Yeah, I know that\u2019s no way to look at a festive season, or at the well wishes and good intentions of those who give gifts. Bah humbug, Grinch and all that. But really I\u2019m happy with \u2013 and prefer to have \u2013 those well wishes of my relatives and friends, just without the material encumbrances. Let\u2019s have a meal or go to a movie together. Or send a donation to a charity.<\/p>\n

Plus I\u2019m picky and hard to buy for, but that\u2019s another topic entirely.<\/p>\n

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What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ~Dr. Seuss<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

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Our apartment is decent sized by NYC standards, though tiny, I\u2019m sure, compared to many a suburban home. It\u2019s certainly much larger than Graham Hill\u2019s Life Edited<\/a> apartment ten blocks away or many of the other micro digs featured these days in TreeHugger and Inhabitat. But it\u2019s overflowing with stuff, as is our storage space crosstown. Factor in that I\u2019d much rather be a minimalist, and it really doesn\u2019t (or does!) add up.<\/p>\n

And this is without venturing into the even more guilt ridden point that there are others who need things far more than I do. So I don\u2019t think I\u2019m being a killjoy in dampening the consumer wave. \u00a0(You know, the one that\u2019s supposed to rescue the economy.) What\u2019s the point in having (or being given) something you don\u2019t need \u2013 or worse, don\u2019t like? Actually, I think the concept is quite positive.<\/p>\n

When you start looking at stuff this way, it quickly becomes a weight on your shoulders. I don\u2019t want go all Buddhist or something on you, but I truly think I\u2019d be happier with fewer material things. I\u2019m not alone in that either. On Grist.org this week, a post is titled \u201cMarried father of two seeks Best Christmas Ever. No presents allowed.<\/a>\u201d But Greg (the author of the post) and I are apparently far from the norm. His idea was deemed so unusual that it warranted not one, but two, film crews and interviews.<\/p>\n

Like Greg, I grew up with a mountain of gifts, piled in our case beneath a \u201cHannukah bush.\u201d (In my teen years, we developed early eco traditions of using the Sunday \u201cFunnies\u201d for wrapping paper and buying live trees, which I would lug out the patio door and plant in the back yard on New Year\u2019s Day \u2013 having dug the hole at Thanksgiving.) I remember not being able to sleep on the Christmas Eve when I strongly suspected there was a train set awaiting me on sawhorses in the basement. For theoretically Jewish kids, we made out great. Of course the holidays should be joyous for kids and gifts are part of that. But let it be things with meaning, not plastic throw-aways. I loved that train set and spent many a weekend building elaborate landscapes for it. There were many other gifts, though, whose longevity could be counted in hours.<\/p>\n

Fortunately I don\u2019t work in a company where we have Secret Santas. If I did, would it be acceptable for the wrapping to enclose a card acknowledging a charity donation? Or perhaps a gift certificate to a local business? I\u2019d be plenty happy receiving either.<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re still unconvinced, there are of course things I covet. (That enlightened I\u2019m not.) \u00a0But they tend to be expensive and electronic, so I\u2019ll settle for a fun dinner at a local joint.<\/p>\n

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