A Reduce our Waste Christmas

I love Christmas.  For me, Christmas is the most magical and exciting time of the year. Strangely, I have maintained my childlike love of the holiday season.  I love the music, the decorations and the food.  Even though we weren’t particularly well off, my mother and father always managed to make Christmas special. Our tradition was that we could eat whatever we wanted at Christmas.  Chocolate or chips for breakfast?  No problem. Growing up, our Christmas meal was fried chicken, French fries and fried donuts.  No wonder my brother was always sick to his stomach (or worse) on Christmas day.  Music was also a large part of the festivities.  My mother loved to sing, as did we.  I used to make my brother and sister do a Christmas show with singing and dancing for our parents.  To add to the musical festivities, we always had a Vera Lynn 8 track cassette on continuous play leading up to and during the holidays.  

Finally, there were the gifts.  Even on a very tight budget, my mother always managed to surprise and delight us with gifts.  One year, my father built me a small armoire for the handmade Barbie clothes that my mother lovingly and painstakingly sewed for me.  I have fond memories of my Barbie’s metallic green, long evening dress with a halter collar and open back.  I suppose that my love of fashion (and sparkles) started with that dress.

Before this year, Christmas always meant a lot of shopping : both for the people that I bought for as well as myself.  It was hard to resist, especially as there were sales starting:

Anything glittery caught my eye and soon I had amassed quite an impressive sparkle wear collection:

Seeing my collection of 8 tops, 2 cardigans and three bottoms makes me realize one thing: I have an unhealthy addition to glitter.

For the annual office Christmas party, I decided to look into my closet and wear a previously worn outfit.  Style does not mean wearing something “in fashion”.  Style is wearing what looks good on you and makes the authentic you shine.  Being true to your personal aesthetic is much better for you and the environment than buying something new of poor quality at H&M or Forever 21 that is supposedly “in”.  My friend Marianne, who has faithfully joined me on my one year of no shopping, and I were both outfit repeaters at our office Christmas party.

This is proof that you can still look stylish and wear something that you’ve worn before.  #Be an outfit repeater.

Given my history and Christmas tradition with gifts, in planning our 2018 Reduce our Waste Christmas, it did not feel right not to have any gifts.  My daughters did insist on some wrapped gifts. However, we did make some important changes. 

Contrary to previous years, many of the gifts being exchanged are experiences as opposed to things. One daughter wanted a spa certificate and the other a treatment at an esthetician.

I treated the whole family to tickets to Cirque du Soleil to see their new show, Corteo.

Gifts purchased were mostly books and a few sustainable clothing items.

I minimized the gift wrapping by reusing bags that I had previously received and saved. And my husband showed me how he was embracing zero waste with his creative wrapping:

In the past, I would always buy a new Christmas ornament or some decoration.   This year, I used the same ornaments and decorations. I even made a box of my less used Christmas items to give to my daughters when they move out. Less stuff, especially Christmas stuff, feels good. I think I am getting the hang of our new Reduce our Waste Christmas.

Next year, maybe I will do what my friend Tony did with his family one year:  make all our own gifts.  He actually made suede fur slippers for his son with size 11 feet! 

Challenge for the Week:  What did your Christmas look like?  Did you simplify your Christmas as well? Or will you make some changes next year?