Alissa MacMillan
Q: Every year around this time, I find myself doing lots of mindless last-minute shopping, buying who-knows-what for friends and family, mostly leading to rubbish gifts, overspending, and lots of waste. Any suggestions for how to avoid this?
A: When our pre-Christmas shopping days are numbered, that’s exactly when we can be at our most wasteful. Like food shopping while hungry, we fall for sales on things no one wants, buy over-wrapped food no one will eat, and acquire a heap of stuff that will only make its way to the charity shops come January.
Looking back at tips from the eco-experts I’ve spoken with over the years, I’ve gathered up a few bits of their advice, and included some of my own, for making sure your final-seconds Christmas scramble doesn’t leave environmental disaster in its wake. If you can use holiday bags and wrapping paper saved from last year or go for the biodegradable kind, avoid toys with batteries as much as possible, and steer clear of the over-packaged, all will go toward a greener holiday season.
It’s become nearly a mantra by now, but shopping locally is key, so buying from locally-owned shops and purchasing locally or Irish-made items, really does make a difference. Not only are you supporting businesses and employment in your own town, be it Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Tallow, Mallow, Midleton or anywhere nearby, helping them to thrive and keep the community flourishing, but buying locally comes with a significantly smaller carbon footprint, thanks to less packaging and transport, and supports Irish craftspeople and producers, whose creations are often of much higher quality. They are also nearby, so are the quickest places to get to when the clock is ticking.
An easy and local last-minute idea is the experience gift, which hardly ever goes wrong. Tickets for concerts or the theatre, either in your town or even at The Everyman, Cork Arts Theatre or the Cork Opera House, where you can see anything from comedy to plays and musicals to shows for kids, gives everyone something to look forward to in the new year.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Then there’s one of the more magical gifts: workshops and classes. For those in your life who have been experimenting with baking or cooking, there are one-day sourdough making courses with Well Bread in Cork (wellbread.ie), one-off, €30 classes at The Cookery Cottage in Cork, to learn how to make Indian, Mexican, Thai or Italian food, and a range of courses through the Limerick College of Further Education and Training, Ballyhoura Community Development, or the Tipperary Education and Training Board. Some might seem like the path to a new profession but others, like creative writing, could be a fulfilling extracurricular in the making.
In the arts, there are plenty of fun events, like painting classes at The Glucksman in Cork, even 90-minute sessions for older people, at only €15. You can find sewing and knitting courses given by fivelittlegoldfish at the East Park House in Cork or check out local colleges to see what kind of evening and weekend courses are on offer.
For the coffee lover, as I am, there are one-day or even half-day barista classes at places like the Cork Barista School (corkbaristaschool.ie) or Barista School Ireland, also in Cork, which has gift cards for the holidays to go towards a future course (baristaschoolireland.ie). For the more athletic, you might give the gift of one-on-one tennis instruction and the musical might love local guitar, piano or singing lessons, again, all keeping money in the local economy.
The gardeners in your life might adore any of the tons of events and workshops you can give, from tickets to the Bord Bia Bloom Festival in Phoenix Park in Dublin over the June bank holiday weekend (bordbiabloom.com) or the Clare Garden Festival at the end of April (claregardenfestival.com), to horticulture and gardening courses like those with Klaus Laitenberger, who offers workshops around the country. You can even buy his “Complete Online Gardening Course,” of 23 sessions for €100 (greenvegetableseeds.com). There are also classes through Irish Seed Savers (irishseedsavers.ie) or enquire about workshops at your local garden centres.
You can also give the ultimate gift that keeps on giving and helps the earth: trees, even a small apple tree, pear tree, or gooseberry bush to plant out back. Donations to charities in someone’s name can also be a heartfelt gift, like supporting the Donkey Sanctuary in Liscarroll (thedonkeysanctuary.ie), the Irish Wildlife Trust or Wolfgang Reforest, an Irish tree-planting charity which will email you a certificate for the gift, let you know the forest where it’s planted, and keep you posted (wolfgangreforest.ie).
Of course, as a very last-minute gift, there are always edibles. As long as you’re sure someone will eat them or they can be frozen for future consumption, any locally made goodies like jams, sauces, cookies, cakes, cheeses and chocolates, make those on the receiving end quite happy. Even a gift certificate to a favourite stall at Cork’s English Market will likely be appreciated.
On the fly but staying eco-sensible, your best bet is going as local as possible and giving gifts of minimal stuff, little to no packaging, more meaningful moments and memorable experiences, and those things which help the earth, like tree planting. And be creative – you might have some of the most eco-friendly ideas of all.
Most importantly, stay safe as you’re dashing into town and enjoy your holidays.
