Consumerism at its worst

It's Christmas and for lots of people December 24 seems to be THE day to shop for all gifts. Unbelievable to me how full the parking lots were all day today (we still across from a mall, 2 more days). According to a survey what people hate most about Christmas though is all the eating and all the shopping. All the eating involves to shop for the food to start with. So if those are the worst two things why the heck do we keep them up so stubbornly? Why don't we just tell our families "sorry, no turkey this year, we'll have a simple salad instead." A lot of people (especially women) are on a permanent diet anyway, so why bother with the effort of preparing this huge meal!? 

As for the shopping, keeping it small really shouldn't be an issue. Kids always want lots but they are attracted to just about anything that passes their eyes. But most adults live in a cluttered space already - why add on to this? At least that's the reason why I never buy anything materialistic for my parents. How about a service instead? The massage college across the road sells gift cards for massages. I can't imagine anyone would not enjoy this gift. Some might prefer a concert or cinema ticket or a voucher to a restaurant. Or make a donation on behalf of someone, preferably to an organisation that protects nature, contrary to what standard consumerism does. My husband 'bought' an acre of Canadian Habitat for me - he keeps joking my gift will arrive by mail (the piece of paper that confirms his 'purchase'). We decided to make donations more often anyway. Either way you will not have to elbow your way through the crowds in the box stores that in the end help fill up our landfills a bit quicker. After all, a considerable number of unhappy people will run to the store in two days trying to exchange their gifts, or otherwise throw it out, maybe after keeping it hidden for a while. 

By the way, in two days one of the most ridiculous events to me is going to happen. - Boxing Day Sale! That's for the hardcore consumer countries .... It's not happening in Germany. In Germany Christmas is still Christmas, a family-at-home event. Everything closes at noon on Dec 24 and does not open until Dec 27 again. Germany had for a long time shops close at 6 PM while Great Britain had 24-hour-stores. I agree open until 8 PM is not a bad thing but all night and day? Seriously? I don't think Christmas was ever meant to be a stupidly big shopping frenzy but it certainly does not sadden shop owners and economists. Marketing once more wins over the bit of bounded rationality of Homo Sapien.  

There is the occasional exemption of course to both, eating and shopping. My husband can eat anything and does not put on weight. I am not that type of person but I can't wait for the Christmas dinner to come since I want to put on weight again. Thanks to baby and no car but lots of activity I have become too slim. And last year when we just started up our own household we were happy and lucky to get Christmas gifts that helped us fill this household with the basic items. But now we have got those and we take care not to need replacements on a yearly basis.                           


Last but not least a suggestion - second hand! Buy gifts second hand, maybe add your personal touch to them, or turn Christmas into a swap. Family members could consider what they have but not really need and that might be exactly what somebody else is looking for. You never know until you have tried it. Remember Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.    

Greening my baby

Ruby does not have any choice but she also does not care as long as she gets food, sleep and a clean diaper on a regular basis. Babies are so simple, but they can be a huge garbage producer. Diapers, change mats, nursing pads, wet wipes, formula and baby food packaged in small portions to stay fresh are just the beginning of a disposable life. Ruby wears mostly second hand clothing, her crib, sled, change table, most toys, bathtub, high chair, bed sheets are all second hand, too. Her room's decoration I made myself from recycling.A towel covers the change table, wash cloths clean her bottom and I use cotton wipes as nursing pads. Ruby eats organic produce, grains and oats, organic yoghurt. Sometimes cooking baby food seems a lot of work but it's worth it and since we've got a manual food processor even Dave helps because he likes to crank the handle around chopping up carrots & Co.            
Here's something I really love in Canada that we don't have in Germany: I-have-it-outgrown-sales, garage sales, second hand store like Goodwill, Salvation Army and Value Village, as well as Once-upon-a-child and several independent consignment stores. The way to go, treasure hunting at its best. We still ended up buying new car seats and a stroller. 
The worst about her simple, easy to wash and dry cloth diapers are the plastic pants that cover them up. For the next baby I'll get nice fabric diaper covers. Ruby wears disposable diapers only when we go out for more than two hours. I dread carrying the dirty cloth diapers around. Actually, lots of public change rooms do not have a toilet so it's difficult to dispose of certain diaper contents. Browsing www.grassrootsstore.com which has tons of eco-friendly products I found a wet diaper bag that is "designed and constructed to be durable and absolutely leak resistant". Hey, I was given one of those before Ruby was born but did not quite know what to do with it. I guess it's time to dig it out. 
I found something else on that website that I once thought about. What did women do before disposable menstrual pads were invented? They most likely used cloth. It's the same as with babies but nobody talks about it! But imagine my husband's face which I think represents a lot of people in their thinking: Yuck baby poop; yuck, blood -while I'm more like 'it's just baby poop, it's just blood'. Those are natural products after all. I think we've lost the connection to our very own bodies. Using disposable, non-recyclable products to catch and contain these biodegradable substances is contra-productive because they likely prevent the substances from decomposing while our landfills fill up quickly. That's yuck!