Today Sadie had a birthday party. Last week, I would have run out to the toy store to buy a gift bag, tissue paper, a card and some random gift probably made out of plastic for a kid we don't know very well. Today I tried something new. Sadie's friend was having a dinosaur party, so I looked through our stuff to find something dinosaur-related. I found a big cool dinosaur encyclopedia in our book collection that we've never read, made a necklace out of beads Sadie got as a gift for her birthday and wrapped everything up in wrapping paper made from a brown paper bag. As the gift chooser, I felt much more connected and thoughtful about the process of giving than I usually do. It also felt great not to consume gas to go buy a bunch of stuff no one (neither us nor the birthday girl) really cares about. And then there's the meta gift of saving those resources for another day. I think I might actually start looking forward to birthday party "shopping", especially if it's in our playroom.
It was interesting to notice my thoughts and discomfort as I trolled through our stuff: "They're going to know it's used and be offended. This is rude. You're supposed to give people new things. You're supposed to impress people with the things you give them." And then to wrap the book up in that paper bag and give it anyway. The whole experience was so liberating! I've been such a good dutiful consumer, so well versed in the American way. So now I'm wondering what else is rattling around in that subconscious of mine. Guess I'll find out with each new step I take.
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4 comments:
Kristin, this is so exciting. There is an old tradition from some European culture where you take the gift wrapped in your own favorite scarf. The receiver opens the knot in the scarf, finds their gift and you take the scarf home for the next event. I've tried and it seems to be appreciated. You go, girl! Amongst my 4 daughters and their 10 children, their Christmas gift exchange is between pairs of children who search through their own treasures and choose an item to give away. One wonderful year, my daughter was sadly complaining that they didn't feel they could afford the pink convertible for her daughter's Barbie. On Christmas day's gift exchange, her came her daughter's older cousin bearing the very pink convertible as her pick for her younger cousin. Imagine the smiles all around. Happy Birthday's to you.
Kristin, you are an inspiration. With your very busy life, you are making the time to become informed, and make this a better world for all of our children. My goal is to become more aware of what I can do, and what my family can do, to play our part. I love Betsy's scarf idea, it seems so much more personal than a git bag, too. I will keep my ears open to ideas to share on the blog, and here's a question - does anyone have an idea as to what household cleaners are out there in addition to Simple Green? Thanks!
Thanks for the encouragement and support - it's so nice to be working on this stuff in a community. This is starting to be fun! I'm really getting into the idea of carefully giving things away that you have loved/still love yourself. So different than what I've been doing all these years.
On the household cleaner front, I'm just starting to think about that myself. I read this article on making your own from baking soda, vinegar, water and castile soap (http://tinyurl.com/2stnzh)
It sounds easy and I bought all the stuff but I haven't tried it yet. Anyone else have suggestions or tips on cleaning supplies? That might be a good question for the listserve too.
Goodmorning, Green Mammas. In my posting to the list serve, I mentioned Oprah's green program for Earth Day. Take a look at the Get Clean products by Shaklee: http://www.shaklee.net/dawn_finney/prodHou
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