It’s the season of giving once more and now that it’s actually December, it must be panic buying time for those of us who feel obligated to give presents every Christmas.
The rising cost of living and runaway inflation we are going through these days has most likely changed many of our gift-giving strategies and priorities this year, as we experience the struggle of making it through this year and at this point, wish for a better 2023.
Aside from everything becoming more expensive while income remains the same these days, we also need to keep our mind our obligation towards our planet that is still hurtling towards a climate disaster that our kids and grandchildren will certainly inherit if we don’t do our share right now. Our “poor” government may be content with blaming the rich countries for their contributions to global emissions and the resulting warming, but it is definitely high time that we did something about it, even in our own ways because those contributions do add up.
This is also most normal Christmas we’ve had since the pandemic and its various states of lockdowns started, so it is understandable how some people will be on revenge Christmas spending mode, but with so many concerns that we have to keep in mind, most of us will have to seriously consider reining that urge back as much as we can.
The first order of business which may hurt some serial gift givers would be to cut back on trinket gift-giving. The reason for this is that trinkets, which are rarely practical and useful, also add up in terms of impact on the personal budget and the environment. Cheap trinkets are not cheap if you buy them by the dozen to give away, and out of the dozen recipients, only a small percentage will appreciate the gift itself more than the thought. Also, if you come to think of it, the production, transport and distribution of such trinkets surely resulted in greenhouse gas emissions somewhere along the line, so patronizing that industry can’t be good for the planet’s future too.
If you come to think of it a bit more, irresponsible Christmas gift giving can take a big toll on the environment, in terms of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the entire value chain, and even the plastic pollution those gifts generate, especially if they end up being forgotten after a few days and ultimately thrown away.
Perhaps it is time we considered making cash king when it comes to gift giving. It is always appreciated, it goes to use only when actually needed, it is reusable or can even be electronic, and aside from the ampao envelopes, there is no paper or plastic packaging to dispose of. It may seem like a lazy gift if you look at it from a traditional perspective, but the world is changing and the recipient and the planet surely wouldn’t mind.
If giving cash simply doesn’t sound or feel right, then maybe we should find better ways of targeting and crowdfunding gift giving so we generate less waste but still maximize happiness. I, for one, wouldn’t mind if there was an app or a part of social media where people can put up wish lists or perpetual gift registries that gives potential gift givers a place to check and ensure that their gifts are actually needed or wanted.
For more expensive gifts, there should be an easy way out there of coordinating a crowdfunding effort so such gifts can be sponsored by a group, if they wish to chip in for one big gift instead of bombarding the intended recipient with multiple useless or lower quality items. Again, this would be good for both the recipient and the planet, while at the same time keeping the givers within their budgets.
But, if you’re really out of ideas for gifts this Christmas, why not give some of the newest luxury items in this country: onions and salmon or pompano. Everyone has been missing onions these past few months, making it the must-have flex veggie of the season.
As for salmon and pompano that look like it’s going to be unavailable in wet markets soon because our government has decided Filipino life isn’t difficult enough as it is, getting your friends a couple hundred grams of this soon to be rare and expensive fishes, in a land where common items are suddenly becoming expensive and rare, might score brownie points and put us in Santa’s good column.*
