Are you stuffed out? EcoSmart Holiday Ideas

 

Source: http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/1688784/

 

It may be hard to resist the latest and greatest toys on the market, especially when it has been advertised for the last couple months and your child is chomping at the bit to get one. Some of these toys have been engineered according to the latest research on childhood development and others have just been cleverly advertised. Not that it is wrong to participate in the market of goods, as this helps drive our economy, but we do have to ask ourselves, are our kids really better off with more stuff? The most fun I have ever seen a group of 5 year olds have was when their teacher gave them a bunch of cardboard boxes and set them loose on the playground. Within a matter of seconds they were organizing themselves into playgroups; one group played house, another morphed their boxes into a train while others declared theirs a car. The second most fun I have ever seen a 5 year old have is playing with shaving cream spread out on a table. Unfortunately I only have anecdotal evidence to back this up at the time, but I have just seen so many toy graveyards in homes with young children.

 

In case you are looking for a change, running out of room in your house, or just don't have the money to spend this holiday, here are some alternative ideas to buying more stuff. They also happen to be more ecofriendly because buying new manufactured goods uses more resources in the making and delivery and chances are, will end up in a landfill. Many of these ideas are adapted from http://voices.yahoo.com/top-eco-friendly-christmas-presents-kids-4832026.html?cat=57.

 

1. Instead of goods, give services. You can sign your kids up for classes or lessons that they would be interested in or make a coupon book of fun activities. For example, you could give them a coupon for a movie they have been begging to see, a trip to the zoo, a stay up late night, a have a sleepover night, chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, etc!

 

Source: http://www.resumebucketblog.com/humor/top-5-gift-ideas-for-the-unemployed/

2. Rummage through your toy graveyard and host a holiday toy exchange. This is a good way to build community with your neighbors, friends, or even your office place. Unless something is broken, chances are it won't make any difference to your child, especially if they are under 5.

 

Source: http://bmeadow4p.wordpress.com/category/rainforest-topic/

3. Give the gift of giving. Find an organization in which you can adopt an animal or part of a rainforest, or provide for a family and set up a pen pal relationship for your child. Search for something that you can actively involve your child in so they can take ownership and get excited about it. Also,consider buying gifts from companies that give proceeds to charities.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Buy goods from eco friendly stores that offer recycled products and less resource intensive products.

 

 5. Wrap your gifts in recycled wrap. Use newspaper, brown paper bags, used computer paper, old pillow cases etc. and spruce it up with magazine photo cut outs or old photos from around the house. It can be just as beautiful and more meaningful! 

 

 

Gift wrap photo sources: http://www.enviromom.com/2008/12/alternative-gift-wrap.html