Survey: Are your holiday habits different now because of climate change?
Title
Survey: Are your holiday habits different now because of climate change?
Description
In this December 2021 ABCD survey from our newsletter (and on our website), 13 people responded (including a few later responses up through July 2022).
1. Have your gift-giving habits or holiday traditions changed because of climate change considerations?
2. Tell us how!
I try to buy local or at least in-state gifts and source special holiday meals locally.
Our family group participates in a Secret Santa exchange every year. This year we all agreed that instead of asking/giving a gift, each of us would make a charity donation in the name of our recipient based on what charity our recipient chose.
We recently emptied a house in New Jersey to get it ready for sale and we found ourselves with the seemingly impossible task of dismantling 33 years of accumulation of stuff. It was a herculean task, and we emerged from this journey with a new commitment to stop the crazy consumerism that has infiltrated our living over the decades.
Cost of shipping to others are too expensive! When shipping the shipping costs more than the item.
Buying less consumables and less "things"
We asked relatives to make donations to food banks instead of gifts so less consumerism. Only send a few Christmas cards.
Other than helping relatives who have small children and could use some assistance for Christmas, we have not exchanged gifts. We did not really need anything .We had one string of Christmas lights outdoors, for a short time right around Christmas. I debated even that, but we do have solar panels. This has not been a real change - we have been in this mode for a number of years.
I'm making an effort to shop locally
Creative packaging (rather than purchasing wrapping that will burden the trash stream).
I stopped automatically giving holiday gifts a decade ago.
I am givng experiences and not things, like a class tuition or a local camping trip, no longer going to fly to out of state family holiday gatherings, unless it is a one-time event, like a graduation.
I've been living as low consumption as i can since 1970
Outside of this survey, in our 2021 “climate-friendly holidays” ABCD newsletter, we shared climate-friendly gift giving ideas submitted by local businesses. (You can read other past ABCD newsletter issues here.)
1. Have your gift-giving habits or holiday traditions changed because of climate change considerations?
69% of respondents said yes, their habits or traditions had changed.
2. Tell us how!
I try to buy local or at least in-state gifts and source special holiday meals locally.
Our family group participates in a Secret Santa exchange every year. This year we all agreed that instead of asking/giving a gift, each of us would make a charity donation in the name of our recipient based on what charity our recipient chose.
We recently emptied a house in New Jersey to get it ready for sale and we found ourselves with the seemingly impossible task of dismantling 33 years of accumulation of stuff. It was a herculean task, and we emerged from this journey with a new commitment to stop the crazy consumerism that has infiltrated our living over the decades.
Cost of shipping to others are too expensive! When shipping the shipping costs more than the item.
Buying less consumables and less "things"
We asked relatives to make donations to food banks instead of gifts so less consumerism. Only send a few Christmas cards.
Other than helping relatives who have small children and could use some assistance for Christmas, we have not exchanged gifts. We did not really need anything .We had one string of Christmas lights outdoors, for a short time right around Christmas. I debated even that, but we do have solar panels. This has not been a real change - we have been in this mode for a number of years.
I'm making an effort to shop locally
Creative packaging (rather than purchasing wrapping that will burden the trash stream).
I stopped automatically giving holiday gifts a decade ago.
I am givng experiences and not things, like a class tuition or a local camping trip, no longer going to fly to out of state family holiday gatherings, unless it is a one-time event, like a graduation.
I've been living as low consumption as i can since 1970
Outside of this survey, in our 2021 “climate-friendly holidays” ABCD newsletter, we shared climate-friendly gift giving ideas submitted by local businesses. (You can read other past ABCD newsletter issues here.)
Creator
ABCD Team
Date
December 2021
Collection
Citation
ABCD Team, “Survey: Are your holiday habits different now because of climate change?,” All of Belfast: Climate Dialogues, accessed April 27, 2024, https://abcdbelfast.omeka.net/items/show/140.
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