You’re walking around the shopping centre looking for the perfect gift for a loved one, and the present options are coming at you thick and fast. From iPads to undies, everything has a price… and a cost to the planet.
Whether it’s the resources that went into the item, or what happens when it’s chucked away, young people are becoming more aware of the impact that stuff has on our natural resources.
So how do you decide where do you draw the line? And how can you still enjoy the tradition of gift-giving without turning into a Christmas Grinch?
Ask what it is they want
The first solution is the most obvious, and yet, it’s amazing how few people do it. If you’re unsure what to get your cousin Fred - ask him.
It means he’s less likely to chuck it away and use up landfill.
“We know that quite a high proportion of gifts that people receive are unwanted,” Rebecca Gilling from Planet Ark told Hack.
In the last 20 years population has increased 23 per cent, but waste has increased by 170 per cent.”
While that increase isn’t all due to unwanted gifts, it’s worth considering where your pressie will end up if it’s unwanted.
Consider what goes into an item
Ask yourself - is that disposable, use-once-and-throw-away item really necessary? Are there biodegradable alternatives?
And if you’re buying things like electronics to replace old devices, do you know what the gift receiver is going to do with the old item?
“E-waste is one of the fastest growing areas of waste and we know that over this period, people buy massive numbers of new devices,” Rebecca said.
But as Dr Matthew Beard from the Ethics Centre said, built obsolescence - the idea that things are built to break - makes it hard for us to actively choose things for their lasting power.
“Even people who opt out of the consumerist process find it really difficult to do, so that suggests that it’s not just about consumers trying to find that cheapest option, but it’s a broader reflection of market settings and the way we’ve built our world, in a way,” he told Hack.
Think outside the box
The amount of money we spend over the festive period is increasing.
“Australians are expected to spend $50 billion on Christmas presents over this period. That’s an increase of 2.6 per cent on last year,” Rebecca said.
That’s despite wage growth being a record lows and household spending flatlining.
Rebecca said people should consider giving friends and family things they’ve made - like sauces and jams - or explore good quality second-hand retailers when looking for that perfect pressie.
“We’ve got a fantastic resource on our website, which is the recycled resource directory, which contains products, many of which would make good gifts,” she said.
And if you’re super skint, consider giving up some of your time as a present.
Offer a service for someone who just can’t provide it for themselves."
“Cleaning their house, providing them with meals. There are all sorts of ways you can show your love and care for people,” Rebecca said.
But Matthew said that can only go so far.
“The only question I would ask around the exchange of time, for example, my gift is going to be coming to look after Grandma’s garden because she can’t look after it any more. I think there’s a reasonable question of whether that’s a gift or that’s just something you should be doing as a grandchild,” he said.
“The concern is that we shouldn’t let material limitations stop us from participating in gift-giving, but we don’t want to use the veneer of gift-giving to do something that we should be doing anyway.”
Don’t shun cash
In a lot of cultures around the world, cash is king when it comes to gifts.
I think we’re at a moment where the pendulum is swinging against stuff.”
In fact, as Matthew points out, couples are increasingly opting for dollar bills in place of a wedding registry.
“I would say that on the one hand there’s a cultural hangover and people think they have to give a physical thing, they feel strange about only giving cash,” he said.
“But on the other hand there’s a push-back on that where we’re saying, ‘We don’t want stuff; don’t bring us stuff. We’re too cluttered and our houses are too small.”