Ethical goat gifts for Christmas

[redwellybluewelly]

I've only been on MN a year or so therefore shall offer apologies in advance if this is a well worn topic

DH, DD, and I were given the gift of a herd of goats in africa this christmas by a relative. Part of me thinks this is a great idea, part of me thinks this is someone making the point that they think we are materialistic and have everything we need and the money should be given to the more deserving.

This is mostly driven by the fact the giver of the goats gave the rest of the extended family ethical gifts (as we do too when the recipient likes them) of soap, food and pretty things. We got goats.

The goat giver has in the past made it clear that they think we live a wasteful life. We live within our means but we do recycle and try hard to live a low impact life

I think you're hard to buy for, and they know anything they choose you'll hate anyway so might as well do this rather than purchase something that'll go unused/unwanted and wasted. That's why I'd buy someone a goat

A friend did this a few years ago and it is shit.

In othr words they are saying, I am not buying anyone any presents this year, I am donating the money to charity instead. (while reaily accepting gifts for themselves from others )

A really generous person would ask others to get them charity gifts, not get them for others.

I want a goat. I have been dropping goaty-hints for years. I imagine its little goaty beard and smelly goaty hair and goaty bleatings from a mountain top... And best of all, it would be a goat I didn't even have to look after!

Sadly, my only gift-givers are my bro, who is distressed by the thought of a virtual gift, and my children, who don't have a goaty-sized budget!

I've bought flocks of goats in the past. This year my family choose Crisis at Christmas. It makes me feel happier to know someone is getting a hot meal and a place to stay for the night than a pair of novelty slippers ever could.

I considered an ethical goat type present for extended close family who we don't really do presents for but opted for a save the children wish list gift of full vaccines for a child...somewhere. Now I'm questioning how the gifts were received....

I'm not hard to buy for. Not at all. Anything for urban wildlife, gardens, canoeing, seeds, bee plants (we have a bee garden) and DD is also a fan of just about any book.

The goat giver received a variety of very useful (and not cheap) presents such as a a set of wheels for their extremely expensive road bike, some new clothes, a camera lens etc.

I was given a similar gift and was delighted. It was thoughtful and happy to receive it

Anyone who bought me a gift of a goat like this would be given short shrift from me.

If I want to donate to charity I will decide what to donate and to which charity (and I do donate frequently).

A gift like this is someone deciding to donate on my behalf while making themselves look good. If you want to donate do so, but please don't pretend it's a "gift" to me.

glamourousgranny42 - The number of people who are moaning on here about their crap presents should maybe think about others for a change
Gifts like this should only ever be by express agreement, and what makes you think we don't think about others?

Now I'd quite like an ethical goat. I live in a very small house with sod all storage space. I'm not loaded, but there's very little that I want and even less I need...

If someone buys me something I honestly think how nice, very grateful for nice stuff, and pleased they thought of me, but where the hell will I actually put it? Will I ever need it? Will I use it - I feel sort of guilty if it isn't something I'd actually use?

A latrine or ethical goat would save me the angst! Someone else would have to work out where to put it. And I'm sure a latrine would get used.

So a goat would be guilt free for me.

Are you calling the goats, Mutt? > looks hopeful <

This sort of thing pisses me off because it's not a gift for me if it's not a charity I support, frankly. I refuse to donate to Oxfam for various reasons and one friend insists on buying me their Unwrapped charity gifts. There are other charities I would much rather give to so it's very frustrating.

Though I am always happy to receive wine, tea or chocolate obviously.

We do give to charity, but tend to give to local sustainable wildlife groups (e.g. donated when a wildlife trust needed money to extend a nature reserve) or to the cots for tots nicu fundraiser for our local unit

does anyone think they're hard to buy for?

and IMO you might not be hard to buy for in general, but the individual gift givers might find you hard to buy for, there are some people I feel this way about - other people find them fine to buy for but I try and try then always get it wrong (e.g. get them post coffee cause they say they like coffee then go to their house and find out that they only use those pod things, or get them bath stuff then find out they've converted their bathroom to just a shower - that sort of thing!) so I give up trying

My sister bought goats in Yunan province for a family in our name this year. I though it was a lovely gift & not a comment on our lifestyle.

Hmmm, maybe DH and I are the weirdo hippies I feared we would become!

I have a relative who gives charity gifts every year. Her church organises it directly with projects that are vetted by church representatives. We get a card with details of the gift. Mine this year was a school uniform for a child in Tanzania. DD got one of art supplies for a school child. We are also given a small "real" gift of something like toiletries (nice but not fancy). I'm perfectly happy with this and so are DH & DD. I don't expect to be consulted about it beforehand because it's not me making the donation. It's the giver's money and their choice. Receiving a gift is not my right so it's not my right to dictate what it should be.

The gift givers are probably MN'ers and are probably having a good laugh at your expense.

I would call their billy goats bluff and go on and on about what a fantastic present it was and how you only ever want to get goats for presents for evermore.

Next year buy them this ,this ,this and this

Don't let this get your goat. It could be lots of fun.

Cahohohootz DH and I have just giggled ourselves stupid over your links, thank you!

love it! you have to give "because we know you love goats" gifts then other people will start doing it because they'll see all the goat tat in their house

happened to someone I know, someone gave them a load of elephant tat as a joke, then other people saw it and genuinely thought they loved collecting it.. they ended up with a real elephant-tat problem LOL

Blimey I would never have thought a charity / goat / donation gift would get some of these reactions! My sister did the Oxfam goat for me this year, I thought it was a really nice thought, haven't munched the chocolate goat yet that came with the letter bits!

Mutt any chance I could copy and paste your eloquent paragraphs above into our thank you card to them?

This thread has been good for my soul, because whereas I was a bit pissed off I couldn't quote fathom why and several statements really have hung true. Not least this "gift" being about how amazing the giver is and how grateful the three of us should be.