Buying nothing might just bring you the joy you're seeking.
 | By Indrani Sen Culture Editor, Opinion |
Over the last few years, Christmas Creep has nudged the beginning of the consumerist frenzy known as holiday shopping season back from December to November and into October. This year, the season has crept even earlier: A global supply chain crisis looms and retailers have been urging us for weeks to shell out any cash we squirreled away during the pandemic on gifts. |
It's tempting to acquiesce. We're all pretty frazzled, and a shot of holiday cheer sounds good. Expressing our love with the ritual handing over of consumer products seems a welcome return to normalcy. Why not stock up now on the Funko Pops and Paw Patrol gear and Nintendo Switch games that our kids are coveting, before they sell out? (I have two little boys, in case that wasn't obvious.) |
But I'm going to heed the advice of Annaliese Griffin, and try to resist by going with secondhand gifts this year. Griffin's guest essay for Opinion is a convincing argument for the magic of thrift shopping as an escape from the materialistic grind. Using a combination of yard sales, vintage boutiques, online resale sites and Buy Nothing groups, Griffin manages to make the whole process feel like a delightful treasure hunt — one that's filled with gems such as retro film posters, repurposed terrariums and well-crafted wooden doll houses. |
Griffin isn't taking an extreme stance; her kids won't go without Christmas chocolates or a Pop It! toy or two in their stockings, and she admits that a no-gifts holiday season probably isn't on the horizon for her family. She also points out that individual consumer choices won't solve our environmental crises. But as national leaders gather in Scotland to grapple with the daunting reality of climate change, anything we can do to reduce our impact on the planet is appealing. |
"This is not about being a Grinch, canceling Christmas or trying to pass a minimalist purity test," Griffin writes. "It's about breaking out of a consumer mind-set that demands we constantly buy things — things that we then must care for and eventually dispose of." |
I'm willing to give it a try. Actually, it sounds pretty cheerful. |
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