| This holiday season we’re going to be bombarded with a multitude of ways and reasons to spend our money and occupy our time all in the name of giving. The Retail Council of Canada is predicting these carefully constructed commercial messages will work – to the tune of up to a 5.5 per cent sales increase over last year when weary Canadian shoppers racked up an average of $1,100 on holiday-related costs.
But what’s giving got to do with it anyway? The Worldwatch Institute reports that "gift giving… is now a growing burden on both households and the Earth." The Vatican tells us that commercialism and consumerism are ruining the spirituality of Christmas and AdBusters is once again challenging us to take part in their Buy Nothing Day campaign on November 28.
All these warnings don’t come without good reason either. According to WWF (formerly called the World Wildlife Fund) ecological footprint calculations, if everyone in the world lived the average North American’s super-sized lifestyle, five planets would be required to satisfy the appetite for stuff, things, objects and items. This bad habit is growing out of control as another season of getting begins. We’re gearing up to drink too much and eat too much. We’ll deplete a small forest for the sole purpose of a few weeks’ decoration, and another to wrap up presents for our family, ourselves, our friends, our neighbours, our work colleagues, the paperboy and even the dog – didn’t anyone hear that trees are not just good for human use
Name-brand clothing, electronic gadgets, CDs and tools top the Christmas lists of the world’s "haves" this year. The "haves" are the few and these "haves" are taking the most. The UK’s Buy Nothing Day campaign states "only 20 per cent of the world population are consuming over 80 per cent of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth."
TV advertisements effectively mock the holiday consumer insanity and somehow still manage to entice us to buy their products. Women especially are revealed in an unappealing light. Recall last season’s favourite train-wreck of a commercial featuring a hefty homemaker who, in preparing for dinner guests, has forgotten to put on her pants?
The message is clear: consumer pandemonium is out of hand. Consuming less doesn’t mean you need to pull out the Grinch outfit, cook up a tofu turkey (although I’ve heard they’re tasty) or scoff at the cheerful carollers. Instead, why not make this holiday something beyond crazed consumerism and consumption? Think outside the gift box and try something new like donating to a local charity, volunteering, sending a hand-written letter to a friend or taking a walk outside to visit a few real-live trees. You might just save some money, create a new tradition, catch up on some sleep, and get to know your loved ones.
Sidebar Facts:
Available ecological footprint per person, based on a global population of approximately six billion people: 1.9 hectares
Average African or Asian ecological footprint: 1.4 hectares
Average Western European ecological footprint: 5 hectares
Average North American ecological footprint: 9.6 hectares
Calculate your ecological footprint at http://www.earthday.net/footprint/info.asp |
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