Alternative Gift Giving and Plastic Avoidance

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With holiday season in full swing – even with the staggering economy – people are in the middle of gift hunting.  Although the stores are not as full as in past years, come Christmas morning or Chanukkah evening, the presents will be piled up.  In many cases, chunks of talking or rolling plastic will be played with and fought over for minutes or hours and then discarded.  Or in cases where parents buy gifts for teachers or workmates play Secret Santa, the 37th coffee mug doesn’t hold the same appeal as the 14th one.  However, there is another way: alternative gifts.

Alternative gifts provide a way of honouring someone without giving them the physical present. This includes buying chickens for an African family or mosquito nets for malaria prevention in the name of your son, daughter, mother-in-law or Bob, your yoga instructor.  Organizations, such as World Vision and Alternative Gifts International, allow for the purchase of alternative gifts online.  Project Tembo, a small organization based in Ottawa that helps with education and small business opportunities for women in Longido, Tanzania, also provides alternative gifts.  “Thanks Bob, for guiding me through the tree pose.  Here’s a llama.”

Another option is Kiva.  This organization provides micro-credit for budding entrepreneurs in countries such as Togo or Peru.  Kiva sells gift certificates, which fit nicely into a stocking.  With the gift certificate, the receiver logs onto the website, registers, chooses an entrepreneur, and makes a loan.  This really is the gift that keeps on giving because once the entrepreneur re-pays the loan, the money can be loaned again.

In the real world, parents can’t really get away without giving some sort of toy to their children.  So the makers, transporters and retailers of Elmo and Polly Pockets fear not.  This idea will not further decimate the retail economy.  But as part of the gift giving, parents and others could add an alternative gift. It cuts down on the plastic and the stress of present pile creation, while providing something useful to someone in need.  It also teaches children and reminds co-workers about the spirit of the season.