Buy Nothing Christmas

Christmas. The holiday founded to celebrate the birth of the man who cast the money changers out of the temple and exhorted the rich man to: "sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." (Luke 18:22) How ironic then, the Western world has turned this day into a mad orgy of consumerism that seems to expand yearly both temporally and financially.

Christmas marketing now begins the day after Halloween when rational humans everywhere are suddenly transformed into a ravening species known as Consumers who then plunge themselves enthusiastically into a morass of credit card debt, buying anything and everything that comes into their line of sight. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when retailers' budgets traditionally move from red ink to black, throws open the gates and the hoards of Consumers burst forth, scrambling to the nearest mall. The waste involved is enormous. One million tons of extra garbage are produced during the month of December alone.

Christmas insanity isn't confined to Europe and the United States either. The outbreak of this yearly mass hysteria also strikes in nations like China and Japan almost as fiercely as in the West.

There are those who would see this trend reversed if they have their way, though. A slowly burgeoning consciousness is gaining popularity around the world, and it isn't confined to people of a single religious outlook. Rather it has roots in both secular and religious cultures that find a common interest in reigning what they perceive as out of control Christmas insanity.

The "Buy Nothing Christmas," is catching on. Buy Nothing Christmas was a phrase coined by Canadian Mennonites some years ago to try to refocus Christmas on more Christian values than unbridled consumption. The movement to free Christmas from its commercial bondage started in the United States with a group founded in 1979 called SCROOGE, or "Society to Curtail Ridiculous Outrageous and Ostentatious Gift Exchanges." The group encourages people to buy less, giving more handmade gifts and to create less waste by eliminating as much packaging and gift wrap as possible.

Proponents of the Buy Nothing Christmas might opt for creating a recipe book, teaching someone a special skill, giving often used consumables like fair trade coffee, baking, writing stories or songs, in short - whatever they happen to be good at. One enterprising student group held a gift exchange where everyone brought something he or she had but didn't use and then people traded. Some give gifts of time in the form of coupons for free babysitting, housecleaning or other services. Some families have opted for giving the money they would otherwise spend on gifts to charity while others work at a soup kitchen serving Christmas dinner to the needy, thereby teaching their children a lesson Jesus would approve of more than the usual mindless shopping frenzy.

Today the most visible anti-shopping activist is Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, otherwise known as performance artist Bill Talin. Reverend Billy's slogan: "What Would Jesus Buy?" Reverend Billy travels around the country spreading the word about the shopocolypse by evangelizing in retail environments. His message includes raising awareness of how goods are produced, whether in sweat-shops in Vietnam or by child labor in Latin America, and how industrialized nations and their wasteful ways impact people we've never seen and likely don't think much about. His web site includes all kinds of suggestions for having your own happening in the retail environment of your choice.

The stop shopping movement has followers in many countries throughout Europe and in Asia. In Japan anti-shoppers have a mascot called Zenta Clause who encourages people to forgo greed and devote their energy to higher callings, like helping the poor. Zenta Clause's jingle: "Buy Nothing Christmas; Rise Above it."

Of course the idea of giving gifts is all about generosity, but most people will admit that it has gotten out of hand when we find ourselves buying so much stuff of such dubious value as is currently the norm for most households. With most families drowning in debt and personal savings at the lowest rate since the depression it might be a good time to step back and consider whether a simpler approach to the holidays is in order. Economists predict $435.3 billion in sales this holiday season, but the down side to that is the yearly 25% jump in people seeking credit counseling in January. The truth is that the expectations people have at Christmas are creating incredible stress for many.

When it comes to scaling back a lot of people feel trapped. Though they might like to cut expenditures they don't know how to broach the subject with friends and family who have come to expect lavish spending. Nobody wants to look cheap, so everyone continues to feel compelled to buy, even if they can't afford it.

The best thing to do if you're considering doing Christmas 'lite' is talk to family members and work out an agreement that everyone can abide by to limit Christmas spending. It may be no gifts or it may be name-drawing, so each person buys one gift, or even placing a limit on total spending. Maybe a pool into which everyone places a gift certificate for a service he or she can perform. A good way to start might be by discussing the real meaning of the holiday and trying to focus more on relationships than on material goods.

There are some good ideas, both for introducing the idea, and for Christmas alternatives online at Buy Nothing Christmas and at Reverend Billy's Church of Stop Shopping. You never know. Raising the subject may bring relief to other people in your life are thinking some of these things, but are afraid to speak up.