Stuff it!

Unless you have the good fortune to live under a rock, you have probably noticed the increased advertising for the holiday season. It is amazing how many different merchants claim to have "the perfect gift for fill in the blank"! If holiday shopping was that easy then I probably would enjoy it more!

I recently caught a snippet of a television interview with David Suzuki who commented that one of the causes of our poor environmental situation is our excessive consumerism and never ending craving for "stuff". I chuckled when just before the inevitable commercial break Suzuki looked straight into the camera and said "NO MORE STUFF".

With this in mind, I would encourage you to think of some "non-stuff" gifts to consider this holiday.

For example, how about tickets to a play or other event. It does not even have to be an organized event, it could just be an afternoon skating or a dinner out somewhere. How about a mind expanding outing such as spending the afternoon at an art gallery or museum. I would love it if someone would kidnap me in the spring/early summer and force me to take the time to visit some of the wonderful greenhouses in the Toronto area....hint...hint.

For some, perhaps the greatest gift we can give is our time.

As an added bonus, these presents would be pretty easy to wrap!

With this said, there are some neat and green gift ideas out there that in the next few weeks I will endeavour to provide more information on. If you have any ideas, please put a comment or send me an email [commonsensegreen@rogers.com] if you have any ideas!