Yesterday, my sister sent me a link to a story from the Boston Globe about how more and more people—millennials and post-millennials in particular—are asking their family members and friends not to buy them new stuff for Christmas. Instead, they're requesting secondhand gifts or gifts of experiences, such as museum passes and event tickets. In addition to the individual stories, the article provides survey data to show that nearly half of all Americans would consider giving secondhand gifts, and well over half would be willing to receive them.
In other words, I have once again found myself—to my complete surprise—ahead of the curve.
Because, as you know, Brian and I have been giving secondhand and otherwise green gifts for years. I frequently post a green gift roundup article after the holidays about which of the gifts we gave that year were eco-friendly, and how they went over, as well as about any gifts we received that will help us lead a greener life in the coming year. I even have a column labeled "green" in my holiday Excel spreadsheet (because yes, of course I keep track of all our gifts with an Excel spreadsheet. I am the nerdiest person in the whole entire world.) It denotes what percentage of the gifts we've given were secondhand, purchased from local businesses, or otherwise earth-friendly, and each year I aim to push the percentage a little higher than it was the year before.
This year, I'm pleased to report, we're off to a good start. Earlier today, Brian and I dragged out the box of items we've picked up at yard sales and other events as possible gifts, and we went through it to figure out which of them might be suitable for this year. Some of them didn't make the cut—in particular, an assortment of books, mostly from yard sales, that we'd been holding onto for years in hopes one of our niblings would like them. We finally concluded that any kid in our family who wanted to own these probably already did, so we set them aside to donate to our local library's first annual Children and Teens Book Sale. (We also culled some board games that we never play from our collection for this purpose.)
However, other items in the box were more on-target. Without getting too specific (since some of our relatives occasionally read this blog), we found books we'd acquired at the library book sale, toys and clothes picked up at yard sales, works of art bought from the annual Arts in the Park Event, and pre-owned games that some of our niblings should be just the right age for. Between those and subscriptions to eco-friendly publications, we've already got over one-third of our holiday gifts covered with items that qualify as green.
As for the gifts we still need to buy, we have several ideas about where to shop for additional green items. The aforementioned Children and Teens Book Sale is two weeks from now, and it will afford an opportunity to find not books and games for the children and teens who aren't covered yet—as well as for game-playing families. I've also been cruising eBay for potential clothing gift items, and I've watch-listed a couple I have my eye on. And I can always check out Alibris for specific books I'm hoping to find secondhand.
We've already bought a few gifts that didn't qualify as green (such as the game we gave my cousin, which we encouraged him to open right away so we could play it together over Thanksgiving weekend). And there are a couple of gifts we're making (mostly homemade foodstuffs) that aren't especially eco-friendly. So our gift list won't be 100 percent green this year, but with a little luck, we may be able to come closer than we ever have before.
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