"First do no harm" Hippocrates
As I see it life should be for living, but not in a way that harms. I try remember the phrase "first do no harm" in all my actions. Yes, this was originally stated by Hippocrates in the oath for medical doctors. But I believe this is probably the most important phrase to remember in all aspects of living our lives.Seeking Zero Waste
To do no harm then is significant to how we leave the planet for future generations. One of my goals in life is to see if I can enjoy life while creating as close to zero waste as I possibly can. While I do pretty well most of the time, holidays, especially Christmas is the hardest time to accomplish this goal.
The biggest waste during the holidays seems to me to be in packaging and wrapping paper. I decided to make reusable gift wraps last year. I had acquired quite a bit of fabric over time from people who would pass it on to me when they saw I had made a quilt.
I say made a quilt. I found I really don't have the patience for this activity on a regular basis, I just don't enjoy it. But in other people's need to purge I found myself with an abundance of fabric and had no idea what to do with it, until now. I realized I had a goldmine here for reducing waste this Christmas.
Making my own gift wrapping
By Christmas, I was able to wrap each gift without spending a dime in supplies. I have a small box with plenty of threads and found other supplies in places some people may not have thought of.Moving into my new home I found I needed a new set of curtains. I am handy enough to make my own, but none of the fabric I had either was what I wanted or large enough to use. Pricing fabric and ready made curtains I finally decided on a pair of ready made. This set came with a valance and a pair of tie backs. Since I wasn't going to use these on my windows I decided I would use them in my wrappings.
The valance was perfect for using in my gift bags as it already had a pocket for a rod, I was able to thread found cording or fabric through to tie the bags closed. The tie backs had small pieces of velcro sewn on them. I removed the velcro and used it to close a couple of other bags.
Personalizing my bags
One hobby I have mastered is cross stitching. I had several holiday patterns I thought I would like to complete, but had no idea what I would do with them when finished. I completed a few of them, added these to the fabric for one of a kind gift bags. This went over well, recipients remarked on which bags they liked the most and the small children took the time to see what was on their bag as opposed to just shredding the wrapping paper on packages.Other ideas for wrapping gifts, and their drawbacks
- towels
- pillow cases
- sheets
Another drawback is simply that to wrap a gift in a gift means that come the next occasion I would need to figure out, again, what I was going to wrap the gift in. It made more sense for me to make bags I could reuse, not something I would have to replace as needed.
Gifts exchanged that don't create waste, well almost
Gits that don't create waste are much harder to find with each person having things they want or need. I decided to give gifts that would be useful to each person.- slow cooker. One person expressed a desire for this, so that's what she got. Try to find this made in the United States, good luck. but when I thought further I realized that even though I couldn't do anything about how or where it was made, every part of the wrapping could be reused or recycled. An added plus is that the use of a slow cooker costs less to operate than an oven. In addition, if more people took a few minutes to add things to a slow cooker in the morning they wouldn't be tempted to stop for take out.
- Kitchen storage. Again, I would have to recycle the packaging, but this would be used for an extended time period
- Books for children Since we use the library almost exclusively for books, getting a gift of a book they can keep is special.
- Games. Aren't just for children. A great way to enjoy time with friends is to invite them over for a pot-luck dinner and play a game. Inexpensive and no waste.
- Home-baked goods. Okay, I don't bake but both my daughters-in-law do as does my brother. So plenty of cookies were brought to share
- Fruit baskets This is something my sister has given for Christmas for several years now. While I don't think she eats much fruit herself she knows everyone one of my immediate family loves fruit.But don't order a fruit basket, make your own it's much cheaper. A basket with 2 of each of the following: apples, pears, kiwi, orange, bananas ran my sister $25.
- Hand-made gifts One example of this came from my sister as well. She recently taught herself to crochet. She enjoys making dishcloths and gives them out for gifts. This year she brought with her several pairs in different colors and let everyone choose what they liked.
Best gifts come from the heart and represent family
The best gift this year was one I received from my children. My children are grown and each have their own families. They live one hundred miles apart. This year they got together secretly and had a large family portrait done for me. It was meaningful, and was actually something I had wanted but wasn't sure how to arrange around their work schedules.This was also the gift with plenty of stories behind it. The story of what made my grandson laugh hysterically while having the picture taken which was the photographer asking who had stinky feet when attempting to get smiles from the children, to how impressed they were that the 3 year olds were able to keep the secret from me that they saw their aunt, uncle and baby cousin.
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