Celebrating the holiday season environmentally responsibly
The Christmas season celebrating the birth of Jesus has turned into a hodgepodge of celebrations around gift giving. Even though Jewish Hanukkah is an eight-day “Festival of Lights” commemorating the rededication of a Jewish temple, gift giving has become part of this celebration of hope.
Diwali (Divali) as practiced by those of Hindu faith is their five-day “Festival of Lights” in the fall where joy and renewal are marked by gift giving and sweets. Santa Claus provides gifts too.
Purchases of all those gifts includes big candle sales too, especially now. Perhaps, since first discovered, people have used fire in rituals to chase away the darkness. Fire was used symbolically during winter solstice (Dec. 21) to get rid of dark and assure a good harvest in the future. Sure enough the next day more daylight began to reappear. Now that’s worth celebrating by putting lit candles on a tree and dancing around it as the pagans did.
Given this amalgamation of holiday traditions and festivities, gift giving has set in. Oh, economic joy! What gift would you want? Something expensive? Something you truly need? Something handmade by a child? A trip? A new outfit? Jewelry? A car? Furniture? For many small businesses, holiday purchases guarantee existence through the next year.
A poster board Santa Claus face hangs in my house. In his cotton-ball beard are pockets for family members to place their wish lists for Christmas. It seems that the older the grandchild, the longer the list. Americans have taught our children well to embrace materialism and capitalism.
One of my grandchildren did put world peace on her list one year, but that was an exception. From Black Friday, Small Business Saturdays and Cyber Monday we are inundated with enticing sales that we are assured will make your loved ones the happiest.
Thinking green during the holiday season is both difficult and important. How would you approach gift giving and still meet the expectations of children expecting those marvelous toys they see on TV or social media? How can one justify buying energy intensive products knowing that greenhouse gases were emitted to make them? Should you buy an item made in China given transportation causing more greenhouse gas emissions? How much short-lived stuff made of plastic is enough? Do we really need another new piece of clothing when thrift stores exist? Of course, Scrooge or the Grinch would say forget gifts altogether, but that doesn’t seem right for a holiday of love.
There are no easy answers to these questions, but just thinking green could lead to greener decisions. Critical things to remember are that we are overtaxing the capacity of our planet’s natural resources and that all life needs food, water, and shelter in a suitable habitat—and nothing else. Okay, clothing is good in our civilization. Therefore, as you shop, prefer edibles and reused or locally made items from local businesses using natural or recyclable materials.
Choose energy efficient items and those that reduce energy use. Purchase local experiences. Honor someone by donating to an environmental non-profit organization. These will serve you as greener shopping guidelines.
Environmentally speaking, here’s my wish list: I wish our leaders would prioritize saving our environment over development and growth. Legislators would then believe that climate change action is needed; that steep slopes, floodplains, forests and agricultural land need strong development ordinances; that solar and wind are the way of the future, not fossil fuels or nuclear, and that they would see the importance of saving the diversity of our ecosystem in order to have quality of life.
On Friday, December 21 at 5:23 p.m., we mark the passing of the Winter Solstice. On that day, can we leave ignorance behind, and awaken to wisdom and meet responsibility with hope and renewal for all? To that end, in solidarity with the nature rituals that started long before our present religious rituals, I will light a candle to chase away the darkness.
You are invited to do the same.
Sandra Kurtz is an environmental community activist, chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance, and is presently working through the Urban Century Institute. You can visit her website to learn more at enviroedu.net