To think we should probably buy our children less this Christmas if we care about their future?

[verdantverdure]

What do you think? Where are you on the spectrum between an all out Christmas as usual with all the consumption of the earth's resources that involves and a Christmas that prioritises the planet we leave our children over a lot of things we could probably cheerfully do without?

YABU Christmas as usual in our house.

YANBU We have thought about it and reined things in a bit.

We it all depend what and how much people are buying in the first place.

People are cutting back generally due to cost. Literally nothing you do in the UK will matter when it comes to AGW so might as well do you what you want.

We never go ott, but have decided to cut back further.

I'm not doing anything different this year, but I always buy pre-loved toys and clothes at Christmas and all year round. All our Christmas stuff gets used year after year. We could be more eco friendly by not eating meat for example, but I think we do our bit and not anything different this year.

The problem is we should all have cut back a loooooooooong time ago, along with voting for parties that prioritised the climate crisis. Plus stuff we can’t control, like the endless pursuit of fossil fuels. Having a bit less of a capitalist Christmas at this point is just rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Still keeping it low-key and recycled over here, obviously – even my work secret Santa has to be homemade, second-hand or reused! – but the world is going down in flames regardless. Sorry.

We are having a scaled down Christmas because of the cost of living makes that more affordable but also because I am sick of all the consumerism. We never go over the top buying huge shopping trolleys of rich food and drink anyway. I'm going to do each of my kids a small hamper, a couple of vouchers, a few chocolates etc. they are late teens/ early twenties though. Dh and I usually just get each other a voucher for a nice meal out, we have never bought each other useless crap.

No I'm not reigning it in. Life is miserable enough I'll make Christmas as special as I can afford.

I'm not cutting back on anything. If anything I've probably done more this year. It's the one time of the year for my kids where I try and get whatever they ask for and I'm not going to stop now or start cutting back.

@Stressedmum2017 Same.

Christmas as usual. It's way too late to save the planet and has been for some time. Enjoy life while you can. I chose not to have children for this reason.

I'll buy what I can afford. The same as I always do.

Ebay and charity shops for me this Xmas. Toddler can't tell the difference anyway.

And yes, really sick of consumerism too!

YANBU. Many kids get way to much anyway, all well intentioned of course but no doubt most of the stuff doesn’t even get looked at again after December. I don’t think it’s any kind of sacrifice to make to be honest, better for the wallet, better for the environment, better for your storage space and especially for the very young ones it’s much less overwhelming on Christmas morning.

Neither.

Because we have never embraced the tat fest ethos of Christmas. Kids ask for "experiences" like cinema tickets or a day at the zoo rather than stuff. We don't do all the excessive nonsense like elves on shelves, christmas eve boxes, north pole breakfasts, house kitted out like Blackpool Illuminations. So we don't need to pull it back because it was never excessive in the first place.

I don't know why children are always targeted on these threads, look at all the over packaged crap for adults. Years ago we stopped doing adult presents. Also, cards and crackers.

"even my work secret Santa has to be homemade, second-hand or reused"

Someone will still end up with something that they don't want and it will go in the bin. Do workplaces really need secret Santas?

When I was a child, back in the 70's, the (WC) adults would take a bottle when visiting and the present back would be the hosting. If gifts were bought, they'd be personal, because you would buy for close family only and give a tin of quality street as a family gift, not like now, buying for everyone, people just couldn't afford to.

I’ve always tried to be green but it’s mainly the toys that are plastic so I’ve tended to buy quality toys like playmobil and Lego that can be given away / sold for generations. Fortunately dc are moving away from toys and plastic so have asked for merchandise / hoodies from their favourite YouTubers and books.

Mine are adults. They get money. They will get the usual amount. Christmas dinner will be the same as every other year.

I won't be changing anything as I have never bought a lot. As a working class family we never had the money to spend. We've always kept a mix of new, and second hand where available, carefully chosen presents. I prioritised DS being able to enjoy normal childhood experiences like Cubs/Scouts rather than saving everything to go all out at Christmas.

Yanbu. Although this isn't a new approach for us. Most clothes books snd furniture etc are second hand . We drive tiny cars etc. We could afford a far more lavish lifestyle (in terms of consumables)

But it is frustrating watching neighbours drive big 4x4s, replace kitchens and furniture every few years and coat their lawns in plastic grass.

It's never too late to try and make a difference. I want to be able to look my children in the eyes and say I did my bit

Those poll choices won't work for a lot of people though because a lot of people don't overdo it at Christmas.

I'm in Cairo at the moment. Just stop oil would have a coronary at the place. The air is like a smog, you can taste the pollution, and with petrol at 30p a litre why not drive everywhere. I'm no environmental warrior, I flew here after all, but even I balk at the amount of plastic bags you end up with. Realistically nothing we do in the UK is going to make the blindest bit of difference until the lower and middle income economies can afford to come on board.

Christmas as usual but we never bother much with gifts anyway, waste of time and money.

Don’t have kids - the easiest way to cut back on consumption

If you think your buying less is going to make any difference, you don’t understand what the other 7.93 billion people on the planet are consuming.