Is anyone else trying to have a less wasteful Christmas this year?

[GrinchWithAConscience]

Every year there’s a new Christmas craze, this time it’s Labubu toys and White Fox, last year it was Stanleys and skincare.

It just makes me sad seeing how much of it ends up as waste or forgotten tat. Wouldn’t it be better if kids got things they genuinely like and will use, instead of whatever’s trending for five minutes?

I really wish more people would pause and think about what all this buying actually means, for the planet and for the kids themselves.

Absolutely!
Adult kids:
1 main present of their choice (eg a lovely new coat)
1 smaller surprise present eg a book I think they’ll enjoy
1 posh bubble bath
Stocking = half a dozen things, all good, decent, lovely, sensible, usable. No tat/ novelty items (plus clementine and chocolate coins)

Decorations:
Real tree 5 foot white lights
Real wreath on the door (made by me in a class with girlfriends)
White fairy lights and greenery on the fireplace
No new purchases
^ that’s it

Food - the important/ traditional (for us) things that we all love, done well. I don’t go mad picking up all sorts of random crap ‘just in case’

Last Boxing Day, someone left a 6 foot artificial tree standing outside my house complete with lights and all decorations still on it!

I've just realised one of my big night time t-shirts was bought for my by my mum when I was 14. I'm 38!

I LOVE this!

Me im not buying the extras that I normally do.
I normally try to get kids main present and a handful of extras (books, toiletries, small surprises) reality is they don't get looked at.

Oldest will get main gift & a hoodie.
Youngest might end up with a couple of gifts & football Strip.

Wasteful? I can’t recall the last time I bought anything for Xmas that was wasteful. I only buy for my family. My kids get one big present (they are 20 & 22 so cash is king), and about four or five smaller ones. My step grandkids get one present each, as do my sisters, and I make sure it’s something they’d love.
I guess my ‘waste’, in that I really don’t need to buy more, is Christmas decs. I can’t resist.
I do spend quite a bit on food at Christmas, but we eat it all so that’s not wasteful.

That's the sort of thing I would take in (providing it's clean and in good condition) and reuse for decades.

I've heard about people who throw away their Christmas decorations each year and buy new and it just does not compute with me.

Our Christmas tree is around 15 years old and our most of our decorations are 30 years old this year and still like new so I just wouldn't think of replacing them.

I’m sort of lucky that things don’t get wasted here as such - my nearly teen is not reallt in to things like labubu and what water bottle is in fasion. She couldn’t care less about white fox 🤣 she does collect anime figures costs be far too much each head but it’s been a solid 4 years and no sign of changing her interest anytime soon.

Surely a re usable water bottle and item of warm clothing over winter is the opposite of wasteful or it is the money spent on branded products you don’t like OP?

Because most people don't drink in that way. One or two drinks does none of that.

My almost 7yo DS has asked for and is fully expecting a switch 2 but he got the OLED version 2 Christmases ago and I only recently paid £100 for a repair on it. He honestly barely plays with it anyway. We took it on holiday over summer to use on the plane and such and it hasn’t really been touched since we returned. He literally wants the new switch just because it’s new. I can’t see any reason to do this, it’s just pure capitalism and he’s only 7 so I don’t want him to think this is normal.

DS GF has a Stanley cup, she is at the gym every other day and also plays a competitive sport so uses it all the time. I wouldn’t consider that wasteful.

We really don’t buy much, never have.

Last year I did some charity gifts for the 3 people I only buy for, hay and medicine for donkeys and horses abroad. As usual though, I will get appx 3 black bin bags of total crap and plastic tat from a rich bored friend who just insists on buying this stuff, i donate the lot to a toy bank as its usually board games and childrens toys...our dc are now in their 40's and long moved away..she never gets the hint and has been told not to buy stuff, each year she buys new decorations as cant be bothered to go to her storage unit and retrieve her mountain of stuff and always buys 3 new trees each year and lights..such a waste.

Been doing that for more than a decade now, OP.

Bloody aded it. Will be doing same!!!

Aced!

I'd like to do this, I wish people could tell me what they wanted but I always feel like I have to guess what they would love. I do pay close attention to what people say through the year but people also say how they dislike certain things, how they are trying only to use cruelty free, eco friendly products, how they are avoiding toxins, going plant based, becoming minimalists which is great but it means buying things gets really hard. I try to suggest not doing gifts but using the money for a shared experience or a donation but it's Christmas and people want pressies.

I used a disposable roasting tray and wrap gifts for stockings but I don't buy gifts that the person either doesn't want or won't use. I buy for adult DC now though so I can ask them for a link for something they want and a stocking with bits I know they will use and need. I usually buy DGC a season ticket to attraction DD tells me which to get. They get a Lego set, a hoodie or coat a game, and chocolate Santa or selection pack.

And then you see so much of it at the bootsale and people get hardly anything for it x

I’m not so much thinking waste, but how I can resist buying into the hype, food-wise etc… And toys from Santa.
I’m thinking less in general. I don’t like mince pies, but I do like sweet things. So, maybe one good box of chocolates?
And one or two big toys for DS instead of stockings of tiny tat.
More winter experiences (not big Christmas specials).

Yes, we have my brothers wedding to save up for next year as it is in Spain so we’re trying to be very frugal this year. We have 2 kids and we’ve decided to not exchange presents between each other we will just buy for the children which will make it a lot cheaper as we end up spending at least £80 on each other and my husband is incredibly hard to buy for and I just end up buying him tat as well x

What is the etiquette with fabric wraps?

If someone gave me a gift in the Guest fabric do I then leave the cloth there?

What if you need to send a gift elsewhere, do you just trust them to re-use the cloth wrap?

Arf…no.

We ditched crackers as they upset the dog.

This year it looks like I'll be spending Christmas with my DH, who has dementia and my youngest DS. He's vegetarian so we will be too. Money is very tight and I'm wondering how I'll be able to afford the gifts I usually buy. It's grim. If I could go back to the days of 13 friends and family round the table and the booze flowing, I would. Make the most of your big family Christmas because you never know when they'll end.