RE: [greenyes] How about alternative gifts?

[Nicky Scott <NScott@no.address>]

Hi Nickie - Gary - Greenyessers

I really like this approach 
I quite agree - in fact my next book is going to examine - well really - our
whole approach to shopping and if it gets off the drawing board i hope I
will come back to you to quote you!
I've only had a quick scan so far as i'm catching up with loads of Green yes
c e-mails form this week alone.  

As my wife is a feltmaker and I dabble in ceramics - i would say 'support
your local artisans' - Try and keep the cash in the local economy - buy
quality handmade items - this also goes for the 'fair trade' co-operatively
made goods that by passes the trans- national routes (support local wherever
it comes from but especially close to home!)  Check out local foods - i
think food can be a great present and local food producers need all the
support they can get - I'd love a string of garlic for christmas - and a
local plum pudding - or some local honey or fair trade chocolate! 

I would just say on the wrapping paper issue - For me and my kids especially
i would think - wrapping paper is important - BUT I have made my own - years
ago I did some paintings on big tough paper (scrapstore end of roll reuse
stuff )  This paper was used to decorate a space at first - like glorified
wallpaper - it couln't be thrown away so was reused as wrapping paper - i
first painted that paper nearly twenty years ago and there are still some
pieces bieng reused to this day!  I have also bought some really nice hand
made indain paper with red with gold marbling and green with silver marbling
- agiain very high quality tough paper that can be re-used over and over.
Small kids tend to rip open presents but if you tie them up with nice ribbon
and can be quite loose or have easy bows to undo you can save the paper
whole.
Plus you can even use just ordinary newspaper and paint on that - laods of
possibilities and you can always compost the paper after.  But I think half
the fun is in having a pile of wrapped up presents!

Thanks for the links I'll check them out

Nicky Scott
Community composting network - UK
Author 'Composting for All' and 'reduce reuse recycle' both pub Green Books
UK (this second book 3'r's already has quite a lot on the 'reduce' side
pertaining to not shopping in the first place etc which made me realise that
there is another book in there! )

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Nickie Polson [SMTP:npolson@no.address]
> Sent:	01 December 2004 06:07
> To:	Gary Liss; greenyes@no.address
> Subject:	[greenyes] How about alternative gifts?
> 
> I have just been writing some columns on alternative gifts for my local
> newspaper.
> 
> Alternative gifts, as defined by some, are those that capture some of the
> essence of the season - reaching out to help someone in need. A couple of
> hens and a rooster for a family in Africa. A vaccine for a family camel in
> Ethiopia. Freedom from indenture for a family in India. That sort of
> thing.
> You donate for a particular purpose, and the person on behalf of whom you
> donate gets a card in recognition.
> 
> Check out www.worldvision.ca, and www.gearthatgives.com. (For the second
> one, click on the cause you would like to support, then on its page look
> down the left side for "support the cause". Following that link leads to
> targeted donations such as the ones I listed above. The site also has
> items
> you can buy to actually give to your aunt, etc., and in doing so you also
> support these causes.)
> 
> There are alternative gift fairs around the US that might give you
> something
> more local. From the New Dream site, alternative gift fairs are for
> "honoring friends and relatives with donations to causes that fit their
> values. What's more, Alternative Gift Fairs provide critical support for a
> diverse collection of local, national and international organizations with
> established track records of helping people and the environment."
> 
> For a list of alternative gift fairs in the US, check out
> http://www.newdream.org/holiday/altgift2.php Some have already been held;
> some are yet to come.
> 
> Oh, and there's also www.altgifts.org - a great place to nose around in
> for
> alternative gifts that benefit social and environmental purposes.
> 
> Nickie Polson
> Freelance writer
> 
> > Does anyone have good suggestions for alternate rules for Holiday
> > gift-giving that reduces the commercialism?  The following are ones
> we're
> > considering in our family.
> >
> > Gary
> > ******************
> > PURPOSE STATEMENT:
> > 1. avoid needless commercial excess;
> > 2. retain spirit of giving
> >
> > PROCESS:
> > 1. Each person should bring a certain number of gifts agreed upon in
> > advance by all involved (e.g. 3).
> >
> > 2. Gifts should not be labeled who they are to or from.
> >
> > 3. Suggested types of "unbought" gifts:
> >      a. something you already have;
> >      b. something you make; or
> >      c. a promise to perform some service.
> >
> > 4. Wrap gifts?  (Not sure if they should be wrapped)
> >
> > 5. Gift exchange
> >       Ideas for how to execute the exchange
> >       a. Auction off the gifts one at a time.
> >        For each gift, we hold it up and anyone interested raises his/her
> hand.
> >        If multiple people want it, whoever already has fewest items gets
> it.
> >        For a tie, then the tied people have 1 minute to negotiate.
> >        If they can't decide within a minute, then it's randomly chosen.
> >        Unclaimed items go back into pile; item list repeats until no
> more
> > gifts.
> >        Use decreasing order of value, so people don't "save their
> votes"???
> >       b. Same as 5a, except for ties go back into the pile.
> >       c. True auction using $100 monopoly money.
> >       d. Display all items at once, and everyone writes the 5 things
> they
> want
> >          What if everyone wants the same stuff, and a bunch goes
> unclaimed?
> >       e. Barter--some people show their items, and other's trade theirs
> >
> > 6. Special gifts <Save this for future years???>
> >      a. Each person will receive one special gift
> >      b. The family will agree, case-by-case, to an arrangement for each
> > person's special gift.  Once someone's special gift is arranged, his/her
> > name should be crossed from a master list of all planning to attend
> family
> > event.
> >      c. Gifts can be gotten by an individual or a group.
> >      d. Special gifts are labeled who they are to, but not from.
> >
> > Questions that have come up:
> >
> > Should this year be experimental???
> > If experimental, then everyone will still get gifts for everyone else,
> but
> > some people will also bring "unbought" gifts for the new exchange.
> >
> > Do we need to accommodate both the new and the traditional type of
> > gift-giving at the same event?  If so, how do we handle people who bring
> > individual gifts, but not gifts for the "new" exchange?
> >
> >
> > Gary Liss
> > 916-652-7850
> > Fax: 916-652-0485
> > www.garyliss.com
> >
> >
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> 
> 
> 
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