Christmas isn't Christmas till we stop buying junk.

So much has happened in the year 2019.
I don't think there has been more news regarding animals with plastic filled stomachs more in any other year than this.
The Amazon Rainforest Fires, Venice flooding, Australia's bushfires...
So much of the world is crumbling.
With Christmas round the corner, and as you start thinking about Christmas gifts, I hope to urge you to think green. We have enough junk at home. Our kids have enough toys, we all have enough clothes, and we still have our box fill with white elephants from years of Christmases. So please, stop. Do something different this year.

1. Buy experiences.
There are the usual suspects: The zoo, the aquarium, the museum, the amusement parks... But if nothing looks good, gift a hands on lesson! Pottery classes, macaron making classes, baking classes... Or if that doesn't tickle your fancy, gift a spa experience or an all expense paid trip to a good restaurant! I assure you that they will have more fun and remember more of it than that game their face is stuck to in that Nintendo switch.

2. Pay for classes.
So many children now have music classes, art classes, swim classes, etc. Just inform the parents that you would like to pay for X number of classes. Then couple that with a card and a handmade voucher stating the class you are paying for. I'm sure the parents will be very appreciative and you don't have to guess which educational toy would be less likely to end up spending its life under the sofa.

3. Take an old jam jar to the bulk shop.
Take all those clean jam jars sitting in your recycling box, wash it again and dry it and take it to the nearest bulk shop. Fill it up with fancy chocolates or nuts or snacks. Tie a ribbon or use some paint markers and decorate the bottle! It will be a more unique gift than that heavily packaged, marked up chocolates and biscuits from the store.

4. Organize a make and take gathering.
Instead of the usual Christmas party where everyone cooks too much food, eats too much food and leaves the floor littered with torn up wrapping paper and crumbs, organize a make and take gathering. Do something intricate like sugar cookies or something super simple like bread sticks or a pound cake. Make it together, have fun, chit chat, make some tea and eat some treats you made then take the rest home. It will still be filled with fun, laughter, opportunities to catch up on each other's lives, just without the massive amounts of leftover food and packaging waste.

5. Pay for a service.
Everyone could do with a professional house clean, or an aircon servicing, or a mattress deep clean, or a carpet clean, or even a professional complete car wash. Pay for it. Seriously. It would be SO much more useful and appreciated than that expensive candle in a jar that you are thinking about.

Some might say this takes away from the joy of Christmas. I don't agree. I believe that we can still be happy without a mountain of presents at Christmas. I hope that my children will learn that Christmas does not mean presents, but instead mean love, friends and family.