While the practical goal of reducing GHG emissions and our overall environmental footprint is "simply" to save the planet, we can't ignore the philosophical underpinnings needed for our conversion to a greener consciousness to be sustained over time. These values seem to naturally encourage attention to people and the planet, and to discourage materialism and greed that will harm the world - and since grandparents and grandBabies are the perfect vector for developing that consciousness, one important behavior to examine is gift giving.
Probably nothing exemplifies American grandparenthood better while also highlighting some of our most green-defeating behavior than our habits during the winter holidays of Christmas and Chaukah. What began as a few oranges and mittens, dreidels and coins - and a toy or two - has now become observance of a great orgy of buying and giving that is expected and automatic and sometimes almost random.
Giving is good; giving mindfully is better, and since both holidays call us to remember and reflect upon the miracle of abundant gifts, this is as good a time as any to start working on giving greener to all our grandchildren, family members and friends. We can make 2007 the year of Giving Green while Giving Greatly.
My children decided during the years that everyone was in college or graduate school that gifts would be given voluntarily, that they should be within the real budget of the giver, and that not everyone needed the same sized or priced gift. This immediately changed the terms of engagement, and allowed them to review the past years' giving, and they came to some conclusions:
None of us needed a lot more stuff;
Most of what we needed we could get ourselves at other times of the year;
Most of the big items we 'just' wanted couldn't be afforded by the rest of the givers;
We buy stuff all year around, so the windfall soon passed out of memory;
The gifts most-loved were ususally not the most expensive ones;
Too many expensive gifts became a burden to recipient and giver alike.
This year, our discussions about Christmas and Boxing Day have already begun, with the twist that grandBaby will be old enough to enjoy opening some gifts and participating in preparations. Here's what we've come up with so far:
Three family members are coming from the East Coast and will need to fly in order to meet time constraints: My major holiday gift will be a contribution to airfare - this gift gives back to me: I get adult offspring home for a few days. Air travel comes with a lot of carbon, but without the need to shop and wrap - leaving me with the time to supervise earth-friendly decorations and food preparation for family and friends.
This Mom/Grandma has all the pretty-pretties she will ever need: she would like company at a play, dinner at one of our favorite ethnic restaurants (most of the group eats little or no meat, so a vegetarian Indian restaurant is a high probability) or some time walking along the bluffs with that wretched dog we rescued and now seem stuck with (and love);
Giving to one another will be only token gifts: One daughter makes jam from organic fruit she picked, and will probably insist on providing more photos of the world's fanciest grandBaby; another worked on a CSA farm, and it's possible that the garlic and shallot garlands she braided will feature in her giving; another works for an energy development NGO and has no time to shop - I'm betting we each get a couple of ducks or a goat or clutch of reforesting seedlings sent in our name to Heifer International.
We do love a local store, ReGift, that offers home accessories and personal items made of recycled materials that have been made useful and lovely in some new form, so the daughters' young men are likely to receive a made-new-again gift from ReGift (I covet one of the purses made from old auto license plates, but that will have to wait for another occasion) or a couple of pounds of shade-grown fair trade coffee from a company like Peace Coffee in Minneapolis; of even something very cool from Cool Planet Goods.
And general re-gifting should be cool with those of us interested in being greener: last year, old vinyl albums that I couldn't deal with were gratefully received by a young friend who's taken up collection them; the espresso machine a well-intended friend gave me went to another who would appreciate it; the third copy of a new novel given a daughter is now in my bookcase.
The grandBaby is a huge temptation to indulge in a lot of conspicious consumption. But we may be able to stick to our plan and still have a great time:
His parents have decided that he will be receiving a large collection of baby-safe small cars and trucks that they played with years ago - to go with a refurbished track they found at a resale store (totally free of lead and other bad stuff). Mom has her eye on some age-appropriate toy musical instruments (which will not be staying at Grandma's house); Dad is refurbishing a small red wagon that was abandoned curbside. "Nothing with batteries" was the request.
His greatgrandmother is making a rug for his room from old coats she salvages from thrift stores, cuts into strips, braids, and sews into unique heirlooms.
His Green Grandma has found an old baby buggy from his mother's girlhood, and will make a ragdoll boy doll to ride in it with his babydoll and the stuffed panda, squid and pupdog. Most of the fabric for this ragdoll has languished in a trunk since his mother became too cool for me to sew for during high school; some is from her dresses.
The aunties have decided to shop at a second-hand kids shop that has a large selection of organic cotton items, and at stores like Peapods that are perfect for a green baby. They have even have offered child care during the daycare provider's paid holiday.
Because children love being part of meaningful work, and have fun doing it with people they love, and everyone's time is short, the cookie bake this year will feature fewer fancies in favor of smoosh sugar cookies flattened with a cup, whole grain cereal "glops" that he can form with his hands, and gingersnaps that are rolled in sugar and baked as a ball. Of course, he won't be eating most of these, and we know they're full of sugar and fat - the time spent with happy family bakers is said to be an antidote to all of those concerns.
The adults in our extended family have, over the years, made holiday gift-giving casual and voluntary - a bottle of wine or a book by a favorite author (sometimes gently pre-read), the recipe for my sister-in-law's mother's date bread, or a CD of music performed by the nephews are all lovely - and we've stopped keeping count.
Greatgrandmother has come up with one of the best ideas of all: instead of shopping in stores, she gives each family personal items that would otherwise come to us after her death - she gets to enjoy seeing us enjoy them, now.
For her and some great aunts we avoid anything that has to be dusted or landfilled. They love rolls of postage stamps, bookstore gift cards, having help updating their computer software, help in the garden in April when everything is so messy here in Minnesota, and novelty food items that tend toward locally vinted wines, wild rice, a bread gift-card for a local artisanal organic baker and dinner out or at our homes (so far, they've tried Turkish, Ukrainian, Thai, Greek and Scandiavian cuisine in this way). Membership in a CSA farm like Harmony Valley Farm is a great foodie gift. Tickets to concerts and plays are also appreciated: some like the giver to attend with them; others enjoy the freedom to treat a friend to share the event.
Not all of these gifts come with reduced carbon - but they do come with a less materialistic orientation than our family has had in the past. For me, this is part of the ethos of sustainability - honoring not just the Earth but the people who ride upon it, being respectful of people's needs and limits, and rethinking what is important to us - and what values we want to emphasize with the younger generations.
We can sometimes do best not by buying to give, but by giving a cheerful example of the joys of moderation.
Sustainability can be its own reward.