It is the beginning of November and I am already done with Christmas shopping; early I know but I have my reasons. The main reason being I am pregnant and my due date is very close to Christmas. I wanted to make sure everything was done before December in case someone made an early arrival. Another reason is shopping early gives me more time to find used options. That is the main point I have, why don’t we give used gifts more often?
It seems our society is really into gift giving around the holidays but for some reason all these gifts are new. Which means not only are we adding to our consumption but we are teaching our kids gift giving only counts when you go to a big store and buy something in lots of new packaging. I don’t really understand what is so wrong about giving used gifts, especially when they are still in good, usable condition.
My top choice for gift giving is a really good book. I don’t see anything wrong with giving a used book, but maybe that is because I prefer to be gifted a used book. Amazon might not be the best company (they are dominating many book markets), but they do offer used options for books (and many other items), so it is nice to be able to have that choice. Not only is it more cost effective, it doesn’t add to our ever increasing consumption.
I also went to a massive children’s consignment sale this fall (it took place in September) and purchased gifts there. They have a great selection of toys, books, clothes, etc and the items are all still in really great shape. For my son I found a scooter there and purchased books and puzzles at a thrift store. I highly doubt he will enjoy the gifts any less because someone else loved them before him.
So why is our society so prone to buying new? It is a cultural thing? A habit? Or does it just prove how much money we have versus our neighbor? I don’t really understand why we always buy new, but I am hoping to teach my child a different path. That gift giving is about giving to someone you care about and giving them something you think they will love. It doesn’t have to do with how much it costs, what store you got it from, or how much packaging was involved. Anyone else agree with this?
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