With Christmas just around the corner, we thought we would gather a list of our top ideas for buying better this Christmas. Adding to our latest blog post about finding your way to buying better, we have collated some top tips to help you get through the season of gift giving and beyond.
Reducing the amount of stuff you buy is an easy and simple way to start buying better at Christmas. Perhaps you don’t need to buy everyone in the office something and perhaps you don’t have to buy both sweaters for your Dad. People won’t notice they only got 1 thing instead of 2, your kids will start to see that more is not always better and your bank account will also thank you after the Christmas break.
Instead of wrapping piles and piles of presents why not stick a ticket or voucher in a card? Investing in experiences rather than stuff will have much more of an impact for your gift receiver. Concert tickets, sky-diving, restaurant vouchers, spa treatments. The list goes on!
Throw presents out the window and celebrate by doing something. Have dinner at that awesome restaurant you and your friends have been wanting to try, go stay at the beautiful beach house with your family for a weekend, take the kids to musicals and concerts, treat your siblings to a day out. Instead of buying things, buy shared experiences and time with your loved ones.
Your KK is into art? Instead of scouring the stores to find something arty that you assume they will want (and like) why not get them tickets to an art exhibition or money towards a gallery membership. Your friend loves jewellery, but do they really need more jewellery for Christmas? What about getting them a voucher for that jewellery making course you heard about that one time? Be creative with your gift ideas!
Who doesn’t love a handmade gift? Making something for someone goes deeper than just giving a gift- you are giving them your thought, your time and your care. When someone unwraps your handmade gift, they can see how much time and effort you put into creating something especially for them. And that is the real gift, right?
Pool your family Christmas dollars and support something that really needs support. Look around your local community and see what projects or programs are happening and find a way to be a part of helping all families have a safe and happy Christmas. Browse online and check out crowd-funding campaigns that are doing something that you and your family love. Spread your Christmas dollars a little wider and give to something that aims to make some serious positive change.
Go local and support businesses that are doing great things in your area. Support a local artist, musician or small business selling products made from ingredients sourced locally. Help them to grow their business, know where your money is going and see the impact your purchase has.
If you’re going to hit the shops, think transparency. Where you can, buy from companies that provide information about their supply chains and production standards. Have a quick Google of ethical Christmas gift ideas and we bet you will stumble across a few ethical/ transparent/sustainable/organic etc. products or brands that have exactly what you need!
For the things that you do buy, make sure you say no excess packaging in store, take cloth bags on your shopping expeditions and buy the version of your desired item that comes in the least packaging. Ditch the wrapping paper trend and go organic! Piles of wrapping paper at the end of the day is a sad waste and also a pain to clean up. Give presents in reusable bags or make like Santa and deliver presents to your guests from one big Santa sack (no wrapping needed!).
After the seasonal hike in buying in and consuming, incorporating these easy actions into various parts of your lifestyle can lead to great shifts in purchasing behaviour and ultimately cast your vote in a global shift in the production and consumption.
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