Kate Wing's Blog
Presents of mind
December 20, 2007
Posted by Kate Wing in Living Sustainably
Rumor has it that upon hearing that NRDC was preparing our annual "Green Gifts" guide one staffer replied "Well, I hope we're telling people not to buy anything!" Um, no. No, we're not. If you want to go present free, be our guest and of course there are some fine reasons to do so. But the more Grinchy we are, the more people don't want to have us at their Who-ville parties. Come on enviros, if you don't have some punch and enjoy yourselves then Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shallenberger will have won and we'll have to suffer through another one of their books.
So when my friends called on Sunday and asked if I would be willing to help wrap Christmas presents while they distracted their two young kids, I said "Absolutely." I haven't really wrapped presents in ages, since my family uses fabric to cover our gifts. Towels and sheets in a pinch, but mainly holiday fabric my mom buys on sale after Christmas each year. While it has an enviro benefit, I think it was originally prompted by expenses and my mom's frustration at the hassle of storing rolls of paper. After twenty or so years, it's a tradition.
My paper wrapping skills were sorely tested on Sunday. One box required multiple taping strategies. But we covered most of the gifts for the under 5 set while enjoying the festive sounds of the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack. I told my friend of my mom's fabric wrapping strategy, which has also been adopted by my mother-in-law, and who knows, perhaps my friend will give it a shot one day. Or not. I'm not using wrapping paper as a litmus test for my friendships. I got time with good friends as a holiday gift, and that's something to savor.
This time of year there are more than the usual number of 'green gift' lists online, some more trite than others. It's a sure sign that I'm in my thirties that what I want most is more time, and frankly, that's what a good present means to me. It could actually be time, like a coffee date or a hike, or it could mean that you recognize how much I hate to shop and you took the time to go to the store and get that vacuum cleaner I really need so I didn't have to do it. Extra bonus points for getting it on Craigslist. I'd rather have thoughtful gifts at random, throughout the year, than obligatory gifts at Christmas.
So that's one of my New Year's resolutions: to use presents as a way to stay connected to friends and family, not indebted. It's one of the things I learned from Leslie Harpold, thanks to 43 Folders. I'm still working on the Thank You notes.
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