my family is very pro-gift bags! theyre easily reusable from gifter to giftee for YEARS, especially holiday themed ones. usually the original gifter doesnt even recognize the bag if you gift it back to them 😂
My grandmother made me a beautiful wooden advent calendar that we re-use every single year! It still gets me into the season and doesn't require spending $$$!
That's what my family's always done too!! My uncle does woodworking and made us all advent calendars, my mom would put one chocolate a day in or something similarly small and consumable, so we got a fun treat and never too many little useless trinkets!
We used to have a Christmas tradition with our friends, everyone would bring something that they already owned that they no longer wanted or needed, we would all sit in a circle and take turns to either open a gift or "steal" one from the gifts already opened. It was hilarious 😂😂😂😂 some gifts would swap hands multiple times and you could totally bring the previous years gift for the exchange. It was so much fun 😊.
This was also my ultimate hilarious office secret santa alternative, there was regifting, hilarity, and people donated to charities in leiu of spending any cash
Our family has a tradition where we make each other a pillow case, and then use it for wrapping! It's always fun to see what fabric gets picked for each person :)
My son's school has themed days leading up to winter break including candy cane striped outfits one day, pajama day, ugly sweater day, etc. I was starting to stress out about all the different clothing items I would have to buy him so he could participate in this and had to take a breath, step back and consider why he even needed them? He didn't care about it. And he doesn't need some itchy sweater he's only going to wear for one day or fleece pajamas when he sleeps in shorts and a t-shirt. So this year I am anti-hauling "themed outfit days". If we can't fit the theme, oh well.
What a crazy waste of time, mental energy and unnecessary stress for parents and kids. In my school there would have been a unanimous parents rebellion for much less.
It's always something in school. Wear yellow for mental health day, wear red for antibullying, wear green for I don't know what, come dressed as a rock star, come in your pj's, come dressed as your favourite book character. Luckily my son doesn't really care and is happy to just go in non uniform. Sometimes we have something with yellow on or green, sometimes we don't. And I don't go out my way to get him something for just a one off.
I save up brown paper all year and then iron it and stamp it with pictures. Then I encourage people to open the gift carefully and re-use the paper. I never have to buy wraping paper again
Love this video! Let's anti-haul changing up our Christmas decor style every year. So wasteful to suddenly decide what we already have isnt good enough
My husband and I have bought new baubles over the years before we lived together, (mostly glass, not plastic ones) and we decorate the same every year. We don't use tinsel, just loads of baubles on the tree with lights. We never change what we do, other than having maybe few too many baubles, so we swap them out sometimes, so they all get love, and it makes it a bit different each year, but without changing the whole style/colour. Red, white, silver, gold and a few silly/meaningful baubles. Perfect and traditional looking.
I work at a fabric and craft store and one lady this year was like "the Christmas stuff that I have already isn't the right shade of red for this year" My family have been using the same decor since I can remember (I'm 23), maybe a few new strings of lights and a few ornaments but that's it
I've spent the past couple of years making it known within my family that I don't want gifts for the sake of gifts, I cherish meaningful gifts from loved ones, but I don't want more "stuff." I've gotten to have several conversations with my mom about it; last year she got me a lovely bag of thrifted yarn and a crock pot, which I had been really wanting! I love celebrating the winter holidays and I love decorating, but I absolutely do not like to bring overconsumption into it. My family is pretty good about slowly acquiring meaningful decorations and then continuing to use them year after year- it just would not feel the same to me to go out and buy a whole new "aesthetic" set of decor. Love the anti-haul, I will also not be participating in any of those things haha
A good “joke gift” is hot sauce. There are plenty of hot sauces with funny names but after you have your laugh you are left with a consumable that you will actually use
I did a great "joke gift" for my cousin that was just a really fat cat candle from an etsy seller. He loves it and it was great quality. I think stuff like that can be okay but just random garbage is too much
This year I decided to have a fabric advent calendar and put candy, tea, cookies that I already have. The trick? I put them in the calendar with my eyes closed as tightly as I can. Also, this year i decided to go full ham homemade recipes on traditional sweets ( cause inflation and soy intolerance). I can bake my cake and cookies the way I want with the ingredients I want. Last but not least, I decided to use the paper I already have at home for gifts , as well as glass jars and food. Food is a great gift idea I think :)
I don't understand why we as Danes started buying into all these american "holidays" like Blackfriday, valentines day and Halloween. We don't need halloween when we already have Fasterlavn where we already over consume with all the plastic costumes.
I'm an American and I hate all this marketing crap too. Our family always puts together costumes from home made things, we call Valentine's day a Hallmark holiday and don't observe it. I follow this at Christmas - something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. My grandkids get 4 gifts each. That's it. I make food items for friends and adult family like jams or breads etc. Consumable things that go away. They return my jars to me and I refill / reuse. I hate all the commercialism.
Absolutely rip apart Black Friday, however Valentine’s Day and Halloween are definitely holidays (not “holidays”) and they are also definitely not of American origin. Also, not sure how Danes are celebrating Valentine’s Day but in the US we’re generally just cooking special dinners or going out to a restaurant.
Re: Advent calendars, it's either chocolate or Lego for me! Lego ones are super fun - I open it each day with kids and they take turns who gets to put it together and we make silly dioramas all month. In the end, it all goes into the regular Lego box.
Another alternative to ugly Christmas jumpers are the red Santa beanies with white pompoms. I love these because they fit the majority of people (making them very reusable), don't take as much room and use less ressources while still being the festive vibes
I'm anti-hauling any newly purchased presents! I think we are so far removed from the original concept of gift giving that people just buy things for the sake of 'having' to give. I'm so done with it and I absolutely love this video!!! : )
Last year instead of wrapping paper I someone gave me my gift in a reusable shopping bag. Which was a great idea since it was still festive-looking and can be reused. I ended up regifting the bag back to her and I was able to get use throughout the year with it when I went to that store. Also I totally agree on the Christmas sweaters. My mom made one back in the 70s or 80s and that’s the one I use. It still holds up fine. Versus the ones in the store seem like they’re barely going to make it one season.
I love Christmas sweaters. It’s true I wear mine only in December but that’s why it lasts for years. You can totally thrift them and it’s also totally fine to wear your favorite Christmas sweater for several years. One Christmas sweater is really all you need. ❤
My entire childhood, my mum has had an inherited fabric advent calendar with pockets in it. And on the 1st of december she would hang it upon the door, and put two little foil wrapped chocolates (one for me, one for my brother) in each pocket. She did it out of nostalgia, but it was uninentionally something that made her incredibly sustainable in that sense. Though my mum doesn't really think about the environment, anything she does that is sustainable is out of habit that's been passed down via generations or just coincidentally sustainable. She will still overconsume primark pjs. edit: people don't keep their christmas sweaters?? I have 2 christmas sweaters, netiher of them ugly. They're both nordic pattern sweaters that I've had for YEARS. One of them I did get a bit fat for, but I've lost the weight so I can keep wearing it. I realised that keeping my body a stable size and shape is a great way to reduce clothes waste assuming the cltohes I buy are good quality.
I live in Indonesia. We don't have Black Friday but we do have a special date every month when many online marketplaces offer discount or cashback up to 100% It goes like this. When it's December the special date is 12/12. January 1/1. and so on. Also every 25th to the end of month EVERY MONTH when it's paycheck day. Remember EVERY MONTH I used to think that I could spend more because they're discounted anyway, but recently I just realized it's just their way to keep us, consumer, to spend more money on goods that we don't even need
So, un-hauling materialistic gifts: I've started a tradition with my fam that we don't gift us anything material, but make a small donation in the name of the person we're gifting. This way we also introduce each other to local charities 😊
My favourite advent calendar ever as a child was a homemade gingerbread calendar. We would bake and decorate the cookies in November and in December each morning we got to eat a gingerbread cookie after breakfast before school. The cookies for Saturdays and Sundays had candy on them and so we got to eat candy right after breakfast. Best times and no resources went to waste.
Two years ago I found an advent pillow, it's just a pillow with a little tree attached that I move. For me I just love the countdown aspect, and now I have a pillow that I reuse every year.
I DIY three of the same tea advent calendar (or more like Yule calendar) this year for me and by best friend with her boyfirend. It took me months to source teas from different countries (e.g. I included some from hotels I visited because of science conferences). I packed it in a box I found at boyfirends house. She was overjoyed! Said "it looks better than store bought" multiple times.
I have seven or eight christmas jumpers. I get them from the attic in October or November and wear them for two-ish months. Sometimes I buy one, if I find a good one in my size at the charity shop. Sometimes I get one as a gift. I love them. Also, they stay nice for years because I wash, iron, and mend them before putting them back in January. I wear jumpers anyway, might as well wear festive ones.
I completely stopped buying gifts for people and now I make chocolate dipped pretzels for 150+ friends, coworkers, family and customers each year! Everyone starts asking about them in October and it’s always so special to gift something homemade & delicious!
Love these holiday anti hauls! With so many tempting thing to buy that I don’t actually need these help reign in the urge of impulse buying. They’re kinda like a “ snap out of it” slap to the face! So excited and I have t even started watching it yet 😂
A lot of tea companies do tea Advent calendars that are basically a giant sample package. They are great to try a lot of their blends. I don't even celebrate christmas but I always get those little tea Advent calendars
I have had this idea in my head for several years now (since like 2017 or something), that I want to crochet an "ugly christmas sweater" for myself. With the text "HOE HOE HOE" so I'll be able to use it whenever lol. Also just bc it'd be a cool project to have done. Hasn't happened yet, but probably will at some point in time. And then I'm aiming for only using second hand yarn :)
Loved this video and agree with all your points! ❤❤❤ We don’t do gifts at Christmas but donate to charity. My mom says what do we really need? There are so many others who need food and help to survive. Remembering to be grateful for what we already have helps reduce consumption. Thanks Gittemary for your always intelligent and well thought out videos!
I decluttered my homophobic family members last Christmas and now this year I have so many less people to buy for ^.^ I hate Christmas and don't want to celebrate and have managed to surround myself with people who respect this and just engage with gifting at other times of the year. The gift I give my friends is freedom from the obligation to buy me a gift
I did wraping in fabric last year. But the recipients kept them so now i dont have them anymore. So this year im doing craft paper (the brown stuff with no coating) and decorating it with my baby. Also using string instead of tape.
Just so happened that I went to my favorite clothing thriftstore today, and today was the day that they started selling 'seasonal clothes' and there was a wall fully covered in Christmas sweaters (even nice ones), it was crazy!
Gittemary, I always appreciate the qualifiers that you use in your videos. I am in a bad financial situation and cannot afford to miss out on certain sales (but will never buy something that I will not use). I try my best to shop ethically, and tell myself with non-necessities like coffee and chocolate that if I can’t afford the ethically made version, than I cannot afford it at all. It is a luxury that I am unfortunately not yet in a place to purchase. I never find your videos discouraging or berating like some other channels on TH-cam, and it helps to keep me moving in the right direction with my sustainability and ethics journey. Your choice of words have an impact, and I am immensely grateful to you for always picking the right ones. Thank you ☺️
We have a collection of Christmax giftbags (and a few other "neutral" giftbags for Birthday and such) at my mom's, where we spend Christmas each year. We simply take the box with the Christmas bags out and pick a bag that is the proper size. After the holidays, the bags go back to the storage. We give away some with presents in them, but we also get some with presents for us, so it stays more or less in equilibrium. Some of them are well over a decade old and still going strong).
I bought an adorable cloth advent calendar from a charity shop many years ago. When my kids were little, they used to love it. I still use it and it's the only one I ever need. It's just a cute cloth teddy bear that you put into each pocket for the days counting down to Christmas. My black Friday shopping was finding various household deals on things I needed plus stocking up on pet food because, for some reason, the brand I buy majorly cut their prices. This is all I needed =) I love living a minimalist life.
I love the idea og homemade advent calendars. I've never liked advent calendars or surprise boxes. I think they are very wasteful. I am, however, going to buy during Black Friday, but only things I need. I've been holding onto buying things I need already or know I will need next month and will buy them all during Black Friday to save me some money. I've been tempted to buy things I wouldn't buy otherwise. I will try not to!
In my family we send each other "Letters to Santa", which are e-mails with lists of specific stuff we need/want (often complete with links), basicaly a personal gift rgistry. The fisrt time around some familly members were sceptic, saying it wasn't very christmasy, but everybody loved it in the end - no returning gifts, no fake smiles, no stressful guessing and in the end everybody is better off having gifted something they're 100% sure the recipient wanted and having received stuff they actually use.
Ugh! Advent calendars! In my day when we opened a advent calendar window, we got excited about seeing a picture. It's kinda unfair that we are advertised to so heavily everywhere. Especially with cute things like hearts. Then what, the next season lots of cute things like flowers, stars, moons or gingerbread men on candles, bedding or pyjamas. They know how to get us, like I seen a candle that was called autumn leaves and immediately thought how cute but then I was like no!, just walk away. They are not getting my money with their cute names and cute pumpkin shape glass.
To wrap gifts, I use brown paper, excess fabric, a towel as part of the gift, or tissue paper, excess yarn or twine, and the fronts of applicable cards with nothing written on the other side. In search of good choice to replace tape, glue, etc. Hole punch card, one tape,
I also don't buy advent calenders, because of the reasons you mentioned. I don't remember, when I just wrapping Papier the last time. It started in my youth, there was a time, where it was "cool" to use newspaper and I just kept using it. Joke presents - no and never! Black Friday - no and never! I hate this message: buy buy buy, it's terrible. Celeb Collabs - I am not into it at all, never been. Ugly Christmas Sweaters - again no and never!
I 100% agree on the advent calendars! I literally watched a video this morning where the person spent $300 and I can honestly say I wouldn’t have wanted any of the stuff in it and can’t possibly understand why someone would spend hundreds of dollars on a bunch of cheap crap. Also, I have an “ugly” buddy the elf Christmas sweater that I think is actually really cute and have had for probably 10 years and wear it multiple times every Christmas season. Some might still see it as a waste, but man I love that sweater!
I made a tea advent calendar with friends once 😊 we all bought our favorite teas and put in little numbered bags to share with each other. We even made lists with the names of teas and where it was bought so we could get more of the ones we liked. I really want to do that again, but I'd use repurposed glass jars or tins something like that for the teas instead of bags to better preserve the flavours😊
I LOVE my Christmas sweaters! I have four and wear them every week from thanksgiving til new years and they make me so happy! I never understood the “wear it once as a joke” thing. I’d never heard of “luxury” advent calendars before. What a great marketing scam! 🤦🏽♀️
I use newspaper as wrapping paper! It looks cozy, and it's free!! Then I can use the used newspaper to start the fire in my fireplace! I also use jute yarn on the packages, and I re-use it the next year! It looks very beautiful and homey!
i always hated seasonal items, the ugly sweaters shocked me when i got to usa for the first time. everything made no sense to me even the valentine days decor or halloween. there's so much i have to learn but at least im glad i dont get caught into that. can you make a video about what you have learned as someone living in denmark? like culture wise that are sustainable? i dont know if you made a video about that already lol... or if there's new ways denmark is changing in sustainable ways compared to how they used to do things in the past?
Amazing video, totally agree with you! Funnily enough, my 4 year old daughter wore he brother's Christmas Grinch t-shirt all year around because she loved it so much, she would go to her friends' birthday parties in it, just wear as a normal t-shirt, and I love the fact that she did! Also, in my kids' school there's a Christmas jumper day every year and before the event the school sets up a jumper swap day (well, it's a kind of £1-3 sale, but all the money goes back to the school to spend on school trips, events etc). I can't explain it, but when I find new ways of reducing consumption or repurposing things, I feel so happy 😄😄😄
We don’t participate in Black Friday, we try to mostly shop small or shop early in general so we’re not out and about when stores become packed. I did have something in my Amazon cart for a while that I plan to purchase after the holidays and I noticed they raised the listing price while keeping the selling price the same making it seem like you were getting a good deal. Same as my sister had something in her saved for later cart but the “deal” price was actually higher than the listing price 😅
here in the UK there's this tradition of Christmas Crackers that i find just aggravating - so much plastic, so much RUBBISH, for 30 seconds of fun. I just don't get it. if only they were made with recyclable paper at least!
I've seen these in the U.S.A. as well. It is becoming a tradition on campuses to take your graduation photos while popping these, leaving plastic glitter streamers everywhere outside. They aren't cleaned up, just left for the wind and maintenance crews to blow off the sidewalks (with leaf-blowers.) The mess goes everywhere and I've even seen bits wind up in birds nests. I hate them!
I buy all of my wrapping paper from thrift stores, most of it is gorgeously old fashioned vintage or cheesy silly vintage. It gets so many fun comments and attention, and so cheap too.
My group of work colleagues (biologists) do a gift exchange. It's usually homemade things, soap, cutting board from the woodworker, art someone made etc. We also have one gag gift. It's this horrible large metal eggplant (actual egg plant, not "eggplant"). But it's the same thing every year and that person has to keep it around and bring it back the next year for the next lucky recipient/victim.
I have 1 christmas jumper I have had it for a few years and have never looked back, I love it. I don't think ugly christmas jumpers are too bad but if you like them you only need one? I am sure you can find one without having to buy it new from family or lending one from a friend for a day.
this is exactly what i needed. I'm ramping up for a minimal spending year next year as I'm going off to college and I am feeling the hard temptation to splurge as the winter and christmas season is fast approaching. this nudged me in the right direction
I’m a new sub and I love your channel! Such good info. I’m being way more of a conscious consumer lately but especially this holiday season. The one thing I’m not buying are more Christmas decorations! Between hand me downs and things I’ve collected over the years, I have plenty.
It’s also so much nicer to reuse the same decorations because every year you recognise things and it triggers memories and it just so lovely! My parents have had the some of their decorations since before I was born and have only ever bought a couple of new things each year and some of them are so broken it’s hard to tell what they are now but I won’t let them throw them out because I love the one legged reindeer that has a broken red nose that’s all misshapen now from the amount of times it’s been glued back on! And the nutcracker with no arms and no legs that I always position at the back because he has a weird looking face and I used to think he was haunted 😅 And the tiny ceramic Micky mouse one that’s all faded and looks a bit creepy but they bought it when we went to Disney world when I was 18 months old which I obviously don’t remember but it just feels so special knowing that I’m going to visit their house at the weekend and put that ugly little Mickey Mouse decoration on their tree like I have every year for the last 28 years since they bought it when I was 18 month old! No their tree doesn’t look very “instagram worthy” and looks basically the same each year but it will always be my favourite Christmas tree every single year and I can’t wait to build a meaningful collection like that over time with my family ❤️ My fiancé and I don’t have enough Christmas decor to warrant actually decorating a tree just yet but we will get there in a couple of years I’m sure and it will all tell a story which I think is sooo much more beautiful than “I’m going to buy a set of 100 plastic baubles in red and gold this year and next year throw them out and replace with silver and blue” which is what I see all over social media and yeah it looks nice but there’s no personality to it!
Crazy that it is a whole black friday month in Denmark! But in Germany it isn't much better. First black friday was adapted a few years ago and then a few years after that "singles day" from China a week or so before black friday, too. Also the "black friday" is mostly turned into a whole week of deals ending with the "cyber monday" for electronic shops. But some things aren't even that much cheaper than before or after, so you really have to do your reasearch if you're looking for something specific. Still crazy how that consumerism was adapted in different countries.
I'm also antihauling the things you listed. Especially adventcalenders you can't really (re) use. Celebraty collabs were never something I'd buy because I once saw that they most of the time just choose something that's already produced and putting their name on it. And for years now I only gift presents that I know the person can really use so joke presents are a big no for me, too.
So very happy that this is recommended to me by TH-cam. It is SO easy to feel fomo in people buying so many things. I’m happy to find someone who is willing to speak out against this haul culture.
I bought the Paris Hilton ceramic pan from her collection. Now I own two pans! My other one got ruined and when she came out with her so it was perfect timing. It’s actually a really good piano I’m surprised with the quality but I can’t speak for anything else. I agree with the ugly sweater. We have ugly sweater days at work I just grab a sweater from the closet and I bobby pin a bunch of random stuff to it. I’ve gotten compliments saying that I’m pretty creative! Haha! This year I’m making butter for my friends and family and their card is made out of homemade paper that I’ve been making throughout the year. I’m sick of getting things that eventually just gather dust in house
I am so here for this! I recently blogged about 50+ things I do not buy, but seeing Your video I realized I forgot to add a thing or two, for example luxe beauty advent calendars. What a waste of resources and so little product(s) at the end of it. You go girl!
I like wrapping paper, but mainly as a way to protect books I love and books I use a lot :) I think we buy too much book calendars, tbh. Almost every year I was getting at least two and I'm never using them from start to finish, a blank one is a way better option, for me at least. Apart from the things you've mentioned, I think knowing someone's fav beauty products is a good way to buy something that's not going to end up in a landfill: I would buy my friends' fav cream or something if they have something they are using religiously when I have no better idea what to buy. I also noticed that vouchers such as a cinema/theatre voucher were good gifts.
I've made an advent calendar for my kids I'd like to share in case someone else likes the idea and wants to replicate it. I've cut a triangular Christmas tree silhouette out of a piece of recycled cardboard from some shopping box. I covered it in a patchwork of wrapping paper scraps, either from gifts we received or from leftovers that were too small to wrap anything. I selected some pics of family members and friends, shaped them in round with Canva, had them printed out (this is the only part that took any money) and put them in the pockets of the same fabric advent calendar I use every year. So every morning my kids find a picture of someone dear and stick it on the cardboard and paper tree as a bauble. Next years we will reuse the completed thing as a home decor. I expected my 4 yo to love it as she is doing, what I didn't expect was my toddler standing in front of it, naming and greeting all the faces every day!
I have to be honest, I enjoy preparing a list of things to get around the Christmas season because of discounts and I am German (I mean through the allied forces it makes a lot more sense for Germany to have adapted some American traditions like Halloween). I got a refurbished projector that I was planning for the longest time. Lidl has a lot of coupons and I know that there is a fine line between bulk buying and mass consuming when it comes to Christmas foods. I will only allow myself to get max 3 items that I can hardly bake mysepf (like gingerbread) but I will use my own kitchen to make things like scones and sugar cookies.
I worked in a t shirt printing place (and embroidery) and they LITERALY cut out the regular "gildan" tags and replace them with New Balance, Adidas, etc. YOURE ***ONLY***paying for the label
There also cool advent calendars with charities, each day you open a door and see what organization you donated today from part of the price of your advent
Something specific that i cant stand seeing around the holodays that I'm anti-hauling are those cheap fuzzy polyester christmas socks. Dont get me wrong, i love a good quality warm sock, but I'm talking specifically about the cheap fuzzy christmas socks that cost like $2. They fall apart in the first wash and theyre just horrible overall. I love my hemp socks ❤❤
Love this video. I really agree with you. Its hard especially as a mother. All these traditions i just feel pushed into. Like the crappy jumper you don't want of like. Secret Santa is also a really uneccessary expected to buy a present which wont be used type of thing
The only advent calendar I've been buying for years now is a tea advent calendar from a local organic Austrian brand, because I do enjoy celebrating the season :)
My gifts this year are cash for kids and gift certificates for adults. 2 people I wanted to do more for I am making a food gift basket of snacks I know they would buy/eat anyway. My black Friday list is a battery for my electric leaf blower that I got used so I don't have to replace the whole blower. 🤞
I haven't tried the products personally, but I've heard that the Paris Hilton knife set is of great quality for the price. Can't speak for the other products in the line and I'm talking on a home cooking level. I am considering buying those because I need a knife set and those will also match the rest of my decor in that room. I also can't afford a commercial grade knife set. I definitely understand the concern because to others it can be gimmicky but if I wasn't buying that set it would be another of similar quality from Walmart, but I will always like the colors on Paris's set.
Speaking of Christmastrees, I've bought mine secondhand, a steal! 25 euros for a big tree. New price would be 150 euros. I'm so happy. Let's give this tree a second long live. 🎄😍
My husband has an "ugly Christmas jumper". His golf pals wear their jumpers when they are playing at that time of year. I bought the jumper from a charity/thrift shop a few years ago and he wears it every year. It can be viewed as a tradition ;)
The only advent calendar I get now is the tea kind - I drink lots of tea so would buy it anyway and it's nice to try more niche flavours! I was briefly tempted by the body shop calendar, but realised that I could spend less money than it cost on just the specific products I need/want instead? Also, a better joke gift (if you really want to) is something consumable! I got my uncle some hello kitty candy one year, and my friend got me some Twilight themed snack once. It should be something you know they'd eat anyway or it's still trash of course. I also thrifted ugly Xmas jumpers for my whole family years ago and we bring them out every year!
I’ve come to the conclusion that I would only buy gifts for small children or for people who help me throughout the year. These gifts are usually (for helpers) grocery gift cards. I personally love Christmas, the family celebrations, the get togetherness, all good! Wasting money on stuff has been a no go for about 20 years (and, yes I am known as Grinch among my extended family). By the way, I tend to give to charity throughout the year then giving cheap stuff to people who don’t need it or will use it😊
I don't know if it is just a problem of my youtube app but around 7:40 the video frame stops as if it would hang itself up for a few seconds and when it returns to be normal a few seconds later it sounds as if a part of what you were saying is missing. Just commenting it in case that it isn't just a thing in my TH-cam app and you haven't done it intentionally🙃
loved all your points!! i especially relate to your comments on black friday. i do buy some essentials ive put off buying just to save some more money. i feel so bad, though, because a canadian i have no clue what the real meaning of black friday was supposed to be!!
over here we adapted blackfriday aswel and i have been tracking the prices for 2 years now, and my data suggests that items in a black friday sale actually are not cheaper than any other sale troughout the year, The only difference i see is that whilst with other sales troughout the year items are on sale for a longer period of time and with black friday all those items that allready been on sale in the year just rotate daily or even shorter this creates fomo in people with their countdown timers because you gotta be quick to buy something that is in stock for two years allready and has been on sale multiple times. That is all that is to it, the increased hype and creating fomo in the people
this is actually so helpful to know!! i suppose perhaps the one advantage of black friday is that the timing is reliable?? i have no clue when other sales generally occur, and i feel like checking a brand’s website too often to keep tabs on deals could entice you to buy more. with black friday, you can ignore a brand in peace knowing they’ll lower prices on that one day.
I did buy something on black Friday, it was the refills for my water filter (not Brita, slightly more sustainable). I needed them and they were 25% off.
I bought a Christmas jumper and use it a few times a year and use it every year, you can buy and use 1. Its the buying a different one each year that doesn't make sense.
Many of these things I don't do either because of culture or my economy reality XD 1. Advent Calendars: they are not a thing in my country really, so we don't have those in my family. 2. Wrapping paper: As a Latina, we reuse paper and gift bags as many times as we can. 3. Joke gifts: Never done it, we grew up poor, we never had money to just "joke around" 4. Black Friday: I think the same way. 5. Celeb collabs: Don't care about celebrities, I care about quality. 6. Ugly Sweaters: Latina... Christmas is HOT down here, no sweaters We play Secret Santa in my family, that way, we only make 1 gift, and everybody makes a list of things they need/want.
I have a question for you and your European subscribers. This year I went to Europe (Italy) for the first time and was blown away by how much more eco-conscious Europeans are than Americans. You are so far ahead of us, and it made me wonder how that came to be. When and how was your concern about the environment fostered? Was it messaging from your government, schools, family? I'd love to know what we're not doing right over here. Thanks for all you do on your channel - you are reaching people who really need to learn about this subject.
I think Union have had huge impact on my country when it comes to eco stuff. Like funding and being part of Union we have to share the same goals. But it also has its drawbacks. Being low/lower income when ceratin laws are in the play is terrifying.
@@natalizn1 I hadn't thought about union vs. individual country. That's interesting. And I can see what you mean about certain rules being problematic for different levels of income. Thanks for replying!
Two weeks late but I don’t think I’ve done too bad. I have bought wrapping paper but it’s definitely recyclable (I’ve tried the fabric route but it doesn’t always come back to me so it ends up being less sustainable to get more fabric and we don’t get newspapers and Who Gives a Crap wrapping isn’t big enough). Gifts wise, I’ve either bought second hand, things I know people will like (we bought our three year old a lot of things but we allocated hem to family members so instead of us buying loads and then getting more stuff off others, what we bought will be mostly it and it’s stuff we know she would like and use) also consumables and a couple of local run business items. I’ve made sure I’ve asked people specifically what they need so everything has a purpose. Re: Black Friday, I think companies have got greedy and potentially shot themselves in the foot - when Black Friday was truly one day, the deals were ridiculously cheap - companies have realised they can increase their profits even more by extending deal over a week or the entire month but the discount is not as severe but people are in the mindset of it being a good deal and they spend anyway. However, I think more people are starting to catch onto this and not bothering so hopefully the trend will die 🤞 I personally got a couple of pairs of shoes in Black Friday deals but they were wanted and will be used (they’re barefoot shoes so difficult to find in thrift shops and even vinted is limited)
Its the same in Germany ...it went from Black Friday to Black Week and now the "deals" start in the beginning of November and they arend even that good most of the time. But because its spread out, you dont know, if there will be a good deal later on or not. I was trying to buy a new computer last year because my old one truly was on its last breath, but I ended up so stressed out over it 🙈🙈
I absolutely wear my ugly Star Wars Christmas sweater for as long as the weather permits me to wear sweaters, and have for however many years I've owned it now. I give zero effs about when I'm "supposed" to wear or not wear my clothes based on societal expectations, so yes, I will wear Christmas things and Halloween things and all the other things whenever I want, as long as it's comfortable to wear in the current weather.
When we lived near each other (and when we lived together) my bestie and I would use gift bags. I'm pretty confident we passed the same like 6 gift bags back and forth with each other. I'd get a gift in one, then use that one that says "Happy Birthday" later in the year for her Birthday, then she'd save it until next year for mine.
Im so glad you feel the same way about joke gifts! I just did a gift guide trying to focus on items that are useful and thoughtful, rather than silly or luxurious. Its out on my channel on the 13th 😊
It has now come to a time where you must think individually for yourself. Do you follow the crowd or decide for yourself. I take the christmas message and meaning, but i remove the hype and consumerism apart from it. Be happy and content with the meaning without adding any superfluous things to it.
my family is very pro-gift bags! theyre easily reusable from gifter to giftee for YEARS, especially holiday themed ones. usually the original gifter doesnt even recognize the bag if you gift it back to them 😂
My grandmother made me a beautiful wooden advent calendar that we re-use every single year! It still gets me into the season and doesn't require spending $$$!
that’s the way to go 🙏
That's what my family's always done too!! My uncle does woodworking and made us all advent calendars, my mom would put one chocolate a day in or something similarly small and consumable, so we got a fun treat and never too many little useless trinkets!
We used to have a Christmas tradition with our friends, everyone would bring something that they already owned that they no longer wanted or needed, we would all sit in a circle and take turns to either open a gift or "steal" one from the gifts already opened. It was hilarious 😂😂😂😂 some gifts would swap hands multiple times and you could totally bring the previous years gift for the exchange. It was so much fun 😊.
We so this in our Family for decades now, I Love it
This was also my ultimate hilarious office secret santa alternative, there was regifting, hilarity, and people donated to charities in leiu of spending any cash
this sounds fun! I might borrow this idea if that's ok with You.
my family did that with thrift find or things from around the house and it was so fun.
In Germany we call that "Wichteln"
Our family has a tradition where we make each other a pillow case, and then use it for wrapping! It's always fun to see what fabric gets picked for each person :)
I love that idea!
My son's school has themed days leading up to winter break including candy cane striped outfits one day, pajama day, ugly sweater day, etc. I was starting to stress out about all the different clothing items I would have to buy him so he could participate in this and had to take a breath, step back and consider why he even needed them? He didn't care about it. And he doesn't need some itchy sweater he's only going to wear for one day or fleece pajamas when he sleeps in shorts and a t-shirt. So this year I am anti-hauling "themed outfit days". If we can't fit the theme, oh well.
What a crazy waste of time, mental energy and unnecessary stress for parents and kids. In my school there would have been a unanimous parents rebellion for much less.
It's always something in school. Wear yellow for mental health day, wear red for antibullying, wear green for I don't know what, come dressed as a rock star, come in your pj's, come dressed as your favourite book character. Luckily my son doesn't really care and is happy to just go in non uniform. Sometimes we have something with yellow on or green, sometimes we don't. And I don't go out my way to get him something for just a one off.
I save up brown paper all year and then iron it and stamp it with pictures. Then I encourage people to open the gift carefully and re-use the paper. I never have to buy wraping paper again
I recycle our wrapping paper as well!
Love this video! Let's anti-haul changing up our Christmas decor style every year. So wasteful to suddenly decide what we already have isnt good enough
My husband and I have bought new baubles over the years before we lived together, (mostly glass, not plastic ones) and we decorate the same every year. We don't use tinsel, just loads of baubles on the tree with lights. We never change what we do, other than having maybe few too many baubles, so we swap them out sometimes, so they all get love, and it makes it a bit different each year, but without changing the whole style/colour. Red, white, silver, gold and a few silly/meaningful baubles. Perfect and traditional looking.
I don’t know if they is valid at all, but I blame the Kardashians for normalising that 😂
I work at a fabric and craft store and one lady this year was like "the Christmas stuff that I have already isn't the right shade of red for this year" My family have been using the same decor since I can remember (I'm 23), maybe a few new strings of lights and a few ornaments but that's it
I've spent the past couple of years making it known within my family that I don't want gifts for the sake of gifts, I cherish meaningful gifts from loved ones, but I don't want more "stuff." I've gotten to have several conversations with my mom about it; last year she got me a lovely bag of thrifted yarn and a crock pot, which I had been really wanting! I love celebrating the winter holidays and I love decorating, but I absolutely do not like to bring overconsumption into it. My family is pretty good about slowly acquiring meaningful decorations and then continuing to use them year after year- it just would not feel the same to me to go out and buy a whole new "aesthetic" set of decor. Love the anti-haul, I will also not be participating in any of those things haha
A good “joke gift” is hot sauce. There are plenty of hot sauces with funny names but after you have your laugh you are left with a consumable that you will actually use
I did a great "joke gift" for my cousin that was just a really fat cat candle from an etsy seller. He loves it and it was great quality. I think stuff like that can be okay but just random garbage is too much
This year I decided to have a fabric advent calendar and put candy, tea, cookies that I already have. The trick? I put them in the calendar with my eyes closed as tightly as I can. Also, this year i decided to go full ham homemade recipes on traditional sweets ( cause inflation and soy intolerance). I can bake my cake and cookies the way I want with the ingredients I want. Last but not least, I decided to use the paper I already have at home for gifts , as well as glass jars and food. Food is a great gift idea I think :)
I don't understand why we as Danes started buying into all these american "holidays" like Blackfriday, valentines day and Halloween. We don't need halloween when we already have Fasterlavn where we already over consume with all the plastic costumes.
I'm an American and I hate all this marketing crap too. Our family always puts together costumes from home made things, we call Valentine's day a Hallmark holiday and don't observe it. I follow this at Christmas - something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. My grandkids get 4 gifts each. That's it. I make food items for friends and adult family like jams or breads etc. Consumable things that go away. They return my jars to me and I refill / reuse. I hate all the commercialism.
As an American, all the consumer holidays are embarrassing.
Fascinating
Absolutely rip apart Black Friday, however Valentine’s Day and Halloween are definitely holidays (not “holidays”) and they are also definitely not of American origin. Also, not sure how Danes are celebrating Valentine’s Day but in the US we’re generally just cooking special dinners or going out to a restaurant.
Globalización, the American consumerism was transplanted not only in Denmark sadly. The same way that American companies are all over the world now.
Re: Advent calendars, it's either chocolate or Lego for me! Lego ones are super fun - I open it each day with kids and they take turns who gets to put it together and we make silly dioramas all month. In the end, it all goes into the regular Lego box.
Another alternative to ugly Christmas jumpers are the red Santa beanies with white pompoms. I love these because they fit the majority of people (making them very reusable), don't take as much room and use less ressources while still being the festive vibes
I'm anti-hauling any newly purchased presents! I think we are so far removed from the original concept of gift giving that people just buy things for the sake of 'having' to give. I'm so done with it and I absolutely love this video!!! : )
Last year instead of wrapping paper I someone gave me my gift in a reusable shopping bag. Which was a great idea since it was still festive-looking and can be reused. I ended up regifting the bag back to her and I was able to get use throughout the year with it when I went to that store.
Also I totally agree on the Christmas sweaters. My mom made one back in the 70s or 80s and that’s the one I use. It still holds up fine. Versus the ones in the store seem like they’re barely going to make it one season.
I love Christmas sweaters. It’s true I wear mine only in December but that’s why it lasts for years. You can totally thrift them and it’s also totally fine to wear your favorite Christmas sweater for several years. One Christmas sweater is really all you need. ❤
My entire childhood, my mum has had an inherited fabric advent calendar with pockets in it. And on the 1st of december she would hang it upon the door, and put two little foil wrapped chocolates (one for me, one for my brother) in each pocket.
She did it out of nostalgia, but it was uninentionally something that made her incredibly sustainable in that sense.
Though my mum doesn't really think about the environment, anything she does that is sustainable is out of habit that's been passed down via generations or just coincidentally sustainable. She will still overconsume primark pjs.
edit: people don't keep their christmas sweaters?? I have 2 christmas sweaters, netiher of them ugly. They're both nordic pattern sweaters that I've had for YEARS. One of them I did get a bit fat for, but I've lost the weight so I can keep wearing it. I realised that keeping my body a stable size and shape is a great way to reduce clothes waste assuming the cltohes I buy are good quality.
I live in Indonesia. We don't have Black Friday but we do have a special date every month when many online marketplaces offer discount or cashback up to 100%
It goes like this. When it's December the special date is 12/12. January 1/1. and so on. Also every 25th to the end of month EVERY MONTH when it's paycheck day.
Remember EVERY MONTH
I used to think that I could spend more because they're discounted anyway, but recently I just realized it's just their way to keep us, consumer, to spend more money on goods that we don't even need
Wow, how wasteful. But I get it -- these companies want us to over consume all the time.
So, un-hauling materialistic gifts: I've started a tradition with my fam that we don't gift us anything material, but make a small donation in the name of the person we're gifting. This way we also introduce each other to local charities 😊
Brilliant!
Yes 🥹
My favourite advent calendar ever as a child was a homemade gingerbread calendar. We would bake and decorate the cookies in November and in December each morning we got to eat a gingerbread cookie after breakfast before school. The cookies for Saturdays and Sundays had candy on them and so we got to eat candy right after breakfast. Best times and no resources went to waste.
The only adventcalender I buy is a chocolate one, with chocolate I actually like. And only 1. That’s more than enough😊
Two years ago I found an advent pillow, it's just a pillow with a little tree attached that I move. For me I just love the countdown aspect, and now I have a pillow that I reuse every year.
I DIY three of the same tea advent calendar (or more like Yule calendar) this year for me and by best friend with her boyfirend. It took me months to source teas from different countries (e.g. I included some from hotels I visited because of science conferences). I packed it in a box I found at boyfirends house. She was overjoyed! Said "it looks better than store bought" multiple times.
I have seven or eight christmas jumpers. I get them from the attic in October or November and wear them for two-ish months. Sometimes I buy one, if I find a good one in my size at the charity shop. Sometimes I get one as a gift. I love them. Also, they stay nice for years because I wash, iron, and mend them before putting them back in January.
I wear jumpers anyway, might as well wear festive ones.
I completely stopped buying gifts for people and now I make chocolate dipped pretzels for 150+ friends, coworkers, family and customers each year! Everyone starts asking about them in October and it’s always so special to gift something homemade & delicious!
What an amazing idea ! Would you happen to have a shareable recipe if I may ask ? ;p
Love these holiday anti hauls! With so many tempting thing to buy that I don’t actually need these help reign in the urge of impulse buying. They’re kinda like a “ snap out of it” slap to the face! So excited and I have t even started watching it yet 😂
She would totally slap you across the face 😂😂😂😂😂. I love her rants.❤
"Youre buying samples for a thousand dollars, congratulations, merry Christmas" 🤣quality!
A lot of tea companies do tea Advent calendars that are basically a giant sample package. They are great to try a lot of their blends. I don't even celebrate christmas but I always get those little tea Advent calendars
I have had this idea in my head for several years now (since like 2017 or something), that I want to crochet an "ugly christmas sweater" for myself. With the text "HOE HOE HOE" so I'll be able to use it whenever lol. Also just bc it'd be a cool project to have done.
Hasn't happened yet, but probably will at some point in time. And then I'm aiming for only using second hand yarn :)
Omg loving the idea :')
Loved this video and agree with all your points! ❤❤❤ We don’t do gifts at Christmas but donate to charity. My mom says what do we really need? There are so many others who need food and help to survive. Remembering to be grateful for what we already have helps reduce consumption. Thanks Gittemary for your always intelligent and well thought out videos!
I decluttered my homophobic family members last Christmas and now this year I have so many less people to buy for ^.^
I hate Christmas and don't want to celebrate and have managed to surround myself with people who respect this and just engage with gifting at other times of the year. The gift I give my friends is freedom from the obligation to buy me a gift
It certainly wasn't easy, but congratulations! I hope you're happy 😊
@@catherinebouffard1321 yeah, much better for it and tougher emotional stuff seems to have passed
I did wraping in fabric last year. But the recipients kept them so now i dont have them anymore. So this year im doing craft paper (the brown stuff with no coating) and decorating it with my baby. Also using string instead of tape.
I’m making an advent calendar for my partner filled with things they like, chocolate, beer, and secondhand books etc. So excited!
Just so happened that I went to my favorite clothing thriftstore today, and today was the day that they started selling 'seasonal clothes' and there was a wall fully covered in Christmas sweaters (even nice ones), it was crazy!
Gittemary,
I always appreciate the qualifiers that you use in your videos. I am in a bad financial situation and cannot afford to miss out on certain sales (but will never buy something that I will not use).
I try my best to shop ethically, and tell myself with non-necessities like coffee and chocolate that if I can’t afford the ethically made version, than I cannot afford it at all. It is a luxury that I am unfortunately not yet in a place to purchase.
I never find your videos discouraging or berating like some other channels on TH-cam, and it helps to keep me moving in the right direction with my sustainability and ethics journey.
Your choice of words have an impact, and I am immensely grateful to you for always picking the right ones.
Thank you ☺️
We have a collection of Christmax giftbags (and a few other "neutral" giftbags for Birthday and such) at my mom's, where we spend Christmas each year. We simply take the box with the Christmas bags out and pick a bag that is the proper size. After the holidays, the bags go back to the storage. We give away some with presents in them, but we also get some with presents for us, so it stays more or less in equilibrium. Some of them are well over a decade old and still going strong).
I bought an adorable cloth advent calendar from a charity shop many years ago. When my kids were little, they used to love it. I still use it and it's the only one I ever need. It's just a cute cloth teddy bear that you put into each pocket for the days counting down to Christmas. My black Friday shopping was finding various household deals on things I needed plus stocking up on pet food because, for some reason, the brand I buy majorly cut their prices. This is all I needed =) I love living a minimalist life.
I love the idea og homemade advent calendars. I've never liked advent calendars or surprise boxes. I think they are very wasteful. I am, however, going to buy during Black Friday, but only things I need. I've been holding onto buying things I need already or know I will need next month and will buy them all during Black Friday to save me some money. I've been tempted to buy things I wouldn't buy otherwise. I will try not to!
In my family we send each other "Letters to Santa", which are e-mails with lists of specific stuff we need/want (often complete with links), basicaly a personal gift rgistry. The fisrt time around some familly members were sceptic, saying it wasn't very christmasy, but everybody loved it in the end - no returning gifts, no fake smiles, no stressful guessing and in the end everybody is better off having gifted something they're 100% sure the recipient wanted and having received stuff they actually use.
“Congratulations and merry Christmas” 😂 so much love and appreciation for this!
Ugh! Advent calendars! In my day when we opened a advent calendar window, we got excited about seeing a picture.
It's kinda unfair that we are advertised to so heavily everywhere. Especially with cute things like hearts. Then what, the next season lots of cute things like flowers, stars, moons or gingerbread men on candles, bedding or pyjamas.
They know how to get us, like I seen a candle that was called autumn leaves and immediately thought how cute but then I was like no!, just walk away. They are not getting my money with their cute names and cute pumpkin shape glass.
To wrap gifts, I use brown paper, excess fabric, a towel as part of the gift, or tissue paper, excess yarn or twine, and the fronts of applicable cards with nothing written on the other side. In search of good choice to replace tape, glue, etc. Hole punch card, one tape,
I also don't buy advent calenders, because of the reasons you mentioned.
I don't remember, when I just wrapping Papier the last time. It started in my youth, there was a time, where it was "cool" to use newspaper and I just kept using it.
Joke presents - no and never!
Black Friday - no and never! I hate this message: buy buy buy, it's terrible.
Celeb Collabs - I am not into it at all, never been.
Ugly Christmas Sweaters - again no and never!
I 100% agree on the advent calendars! I literally watched a video this morning where the person spent $300 and I can honestly say I wouldn’t have wanted any of the stuff in it and can’t possibly understand why someone would spend hundreds of dollars on a bunch of cheap crap. Also, I have an “ugly” buddy the elf Christmas sweater that I think is actually really cute and have had for probably 10 years and wear it multiple times every Christmas season. Some might still see it as a waste, but man I love that sweater!
I made a tea advent calendar with friends once 😊 we all bought our favorite teas and put in little numbered bags to share with each other. We even made lists with the names of teas and where it was bought so we could get more of the ones we liked.
I really want to do that again, but I'd use repurposed glass jars or tins something like that for the teas instead of bags to better preserve the flavours😊
I LOVE my Christmas sweaters! I have four and wear them every week from thanksgiving til new years and they make me so happy! I never understood the “wear it once as a joke” thing.
I’d never heard of “luxury” advent calendars before. What a great marketing scam! 🤦🏽♀️
I use newspaper as wrapping paper! It looks cozy, and it's free!! Then I can use the used newspaper to start the fire in my fireplace! I also use jute yarn on the packages, and I re-use it the next year!
It looks very beautiful and homey!
I've always liked reusable advent calendars. I have a wooden one with little drawers to put prizes in. Mostly I put treats for my dog in there:)
I've never once participated in black Friday, and I'm so glad I've never taken part in it. It's just overconsuming at its finest!
i always hated seasonal items, the ugly sweaters shocked me when i got to usa for the first time. everything made no sense to me even the valentine days decor or halloween. there's so much i have to learn but at least im glad i dont get caught into that. can you make a video about what you have learned as someone living in denmark? like culture wise that are sustainable? i dont know if you made a video about that already lol... or if there's new ways denmark is changing in sustainable ways compared to how they used to do things in the past?
Amazing video, totally agree with you! Funnily enough, my 4 year old daughter wore he brother's Christmas Grinch t-shirt all year around because she loved it so much, she would go to her friends' birthday parties in it, just wear as a normal t-shirt, and I love the fact that she did! Also, in my kids' school there's a Christmas jumper day every year and before the event the school sets up a jumper swap day (well, it's a kind of £1-3 sale, but all the money goes back to the school to spend on school trips, events etc). I can't explain it, but when I find new ways of reducing consumption or repurposing things, I feel so happy 😄😄😄
We don’t participate in Black Friday, we try to mostly shop small or shop early in general so we’re not out and about when stores become packed. I did have something in my Amazon cart for a while that I plan to purchase after the holidays and I noticed they raised the listing price while keeping the selling price the same making it seem like you were getting a good deal. Same as my sister had something in her saved for later cart but the “deal” price was actually higher than the listing price 😅
here in the UK there's this tradition of Christmas Crackers that i find just aggravating - so much plastic, so much RUBBISH, for 30 seconds of fun. I just don't get it. if only they were made with recyclable paper at least!
This.
I've seen these in the U.S.A. as well. It is becoming a tradition on campuses to take your graduation photos while popping these, leaving plastic glitter streamers everywhere outside. They aren't cleaned up, just left for the wind and maintenance crews to blow off the sidewalks (with leaf-blowers.) The mess goes everywhere and I've even seen bits wind up in birds nests. I hate them!
I buy all of my wrapping paper from thrift stores, most of it is gorgeously old fashioned vintage or cheesy silly vintage. It gets so many fun comments and attention, and so cheap too.
My group of work colleagues (biologists) do a gift exchange. It's usually homemade things, soap, cutting board from the woodworker, art someone made etc. We also have one gag gift. It's this horrible large metal eggplant (actual egg plant, not "eggplant"). But it's the same thing every year and that person has to keep it around and bring it back the next year for the next lucky recipient/victim.
I have 1 christmas jumper I have had it for a few years and have never looked back, I love it. I don't think ugly christmas jumpers are too bad but if you like them you only need one? I am sure you can find one without having to buy it new from family or lending one from a friend for a day.
this is exactly what i needed. I'm ramping up for a minimal spending year next year as I'm going off to college and I am feeling the hard temptation to splurge as the winter and christmas season is fast approaching. this nudged me in the right direction
I’m a new sub and I love your channel! Such good info. I’m being way more of a conscious consumer lately but especially this holiday season. The one thing I’m not buying are more Christmas decorations! Between hand me downs and things I’ve collected over the years, I have plenty.
It’s also so much nicer to reuse the same decorations because every year you recognise things and it triggers memories and it just so lovely!
My parents have had the some of their decorations since before I was born and have only ever bought a couple of new things each year and some of them are so broken it’s hard to tell what they are now but I won’t let them throw them out because I love the one legged reindeer that has a broken red nose that’s all misshapen now from the amount of times it’s been glued back on!
And the nutcracker with no arms and no legs that I always position at the back because he has a weird looking face and I used to think he was haunted 😅
And the tiny ceramic Micky mouse one that’s all faded and looks a bit creepy but they bought it when we went to Disney world when I was 18 months old which I obviously don’t remember but it just feels so special knowing that I’m going to visit their house at the weekend and put that ugly little Mickey Mouse decoration on their tree like I have every year for the last 28 years since they bought it when I was 18 month old!
No their tree doesn’t look very “instagram worthy” and looks basically the same each year but it will always be my favourite Christmas tree every single year and I can’t wait to build a meaningful collection like that over time with my family ❤️
My fiancé and I don’t have enough Christmas decor to warrant actually decorating a tree just yet but we will get there in a couple of years I’m sure and it will all tell a story which I think is sooo much more beautiful than “I’m going to buy a set of 100 plastic baubles in red and gold this year and next year throw them out and replace with silver and blue” which is what I see all over social media and yeah it looks nice but there’s no personality to it!
Crazy that it is a whole black friday month in Denmark! But in Germany it isn't much better. First black friday was adapted a few years ago and then a few years after that "singles day" from China a week or so before black friday, too. Also the "black friday" is mostly turned into a whole week of deals ending with the "cyber monday" for electronic shops. But some things aren't even that much cheaper than before or after, so you really have to do your reasearch if you're looking for something specific. Still crazy how that consumerism was adapted in different countries.
I'm also antihauling the things you listed. Especially adventcalenders you can't really (re) use. Celebraty collabs were never something I'd buy because I once saw that they most of the time just choose something that's already produced and putting their name on it. And for years now I only gift presents that I know the person can really use so joke presents are a big no for me, too.
Charity shops are full of Christmas jumpers here in the UK. Also lots of scarfs and pieces of fabric that can be used to wrap Christmas presents
So very happy that this is recommended to me by TH-cam. It is SO easy to feel fomo in people buying so many things. I’m happy to find someone who is willing to speak out against this haul culture.
I bought the Paris Hilton ceramic pan from her collection. Now I own two pans! My other one got ruined and when she came out with her so it was perfect timing. It’s actually a really good piano I’m surprised with the quality but I can’t speak for anything else. I agree with the ugly sweater. We have ugly sweater days at work I just grab a sweater from the closet and I bobby pin a bunch of random stuff to it. I’ve gotten compliments saying that I’m pretty creative! Haha! This year I’m making butter for my friends and family and their card is made out of homemade paper that I’ve been making throughout the year. I’m sick of getting things that eventually just gather dust in house
I am so here for this! I recently blogged about 50+ things I do not buy, but seeing Your video I realized I forgot to add a thing or two, for example luxe beauty advent calendars. What a waste of resources and so little product(s) at the end of it. You go girl!
Just gotta love when you talk about black friday and a black friday ad interrupts 😀
🫠🫠🫠
100% agree about luxury advent calenders or even not so luxury ones that just lead to more waste.
I like wrapping paper, but mainly as a way to protect books I love and books I use a lot :)
I think we buy too much book calendars, tbh. Almost every year I was getting at least two and I'm never using them from start to finish, a blank one is a way better option, for me at least.
Apart from the things you've mentioned, I think knowing someone's fav beauty products is a good way to buy something that's not going to end up in a landfill: I would buy my friends' fav cream or something if they have something they are using religiously when I have no better idea what to buy.
I also noticed that vouchers such as a cinema/theatre voucher were good gifts.
I've made an advent calendar for my kids I'd like to share in case someone else likes the idea and wants to replicate it. I've cut a triangular Christmas tree silhouette out of a piece of recycled cardboard from some shopping box.
I covered it in a patchwork of wrapping paper scraps, either from gifts we received or from leftovers that were too small to wrap anything.
I selected some pics of family members and friends, shaped them in round with Canva, had them printed out (this is the only part that took any money) and put them in the pockets of the same fabric advent calendar I use every year.
So every morning my kids find a picture of someone dear and stick it on the cardboard and paper tree as a bauble. Next years we will reuse the completed thing as a home decor.
I expected my 4 yo to love it as she is doing, what I didn't expect was my toddler standing in front of it, naming and greeting all the faces every day!
I'm a super fan of the Xmas jumper, I wear them loads - all winter, and bring them out year after year! I get the point though!
I have to be honest, I enjoy preparing a list of things to get around the Christmas season because of discounts and I am German (I mean through the allied forces it makes a lot more sense for Germany to have adapted some American traditions like Halloween). I got a refurbished projector that I was planning for the longest time.
Lidl has a lot of coupons and I know that there is a fine line between bulk buying and mass consuming when it comes to Christmas foods. I will only allow myself to get max 3 items that I can hardly bake mysepf (like gingerbread) but I will use my own kitchen to make things like scones and sugar cookies.
I worked in a t shirt printing place (and embroidery) and they LITERALY cut out the regular "gildan" tags and replace them with New Balance, Adidas, etc.
YOURE ***ONLY***paying for the label
love this! i've been saving and reusing wrapping paper for years now 😊
There also cool advent calendars with charities, each day you open a door and see what organization you donated today from part of the price of your advent
Something specific that i cant stand seeing around the holodays that I'm anti-hauling are those cheap fuzzy polyester christmas socks. Dont get me wrong, i love a good quality warm sock, but I'm talking specifically about the cheap fuzzy christmas socks that cost like $2. They fall apart in the first wash and theyre just horrible overall. I love my hemp socks ❤❤
Love this video. I really agree with you. Its hard especially as a mother. All these traditions i just feel pushed into. Like the crappy jumper you don't want of like. Secret Santa is also a really uneccessary expected to buy a present which wont be used type of thing
The only advent calendar I've been buying for years now is a tea advent calendar from a local organic Austrian brand, because I do enjoy celebrating the season :)
In Ukraine it's aesthetic to wrap presents in second hand craft paper you get in post packages as filler and use a cute ribbon. Looks chic that way
My gifts this year are cash for kids and gift certificates for adults. 2 people I wanted to do more for I am making a food gift basket of snacks I know they would buy/eat anyway.
My black Friday list is a battery for my electric leaf blower that I got used so I don't have to replace the whole blower. 🤞
I haven't tried the products personally, but I've heard that the Paris Hilton knife set is of great quality for the price. Can't speak for the other products in the line and I'm talking on a home cooking level. I am considering buying those because I need a knife set and those will also match the rest of my decor in that room. I also can't afford a commercial grade knife set. I definitely understand the concern because to others it can be gimmicky but if I wasn't buying that set it would be another of similar quality from Walmart, but I will always like the colors on Paris's set.
Speaking of Christmastrees, I've bought mine secondhand, a steal! 25 euros for a big tree. New price would be 150 euros. I'm so happy. Let's give this tree a second long live. 🎄😍
My husband has an "ugly Christmas jumper". His golf pals wear their jumpers when they are playing at that time of year. I bought the jumper from a charity/thrift shop a few years ago and he wears it every year. It can be viewed as a tradition ;)
The only advent calendar I get now is the tea kind - I drink lots of tea so would buy it anyway and it's nice to try more niche flavours! I was briefly tempted by the body shop calendar, but realised that I could spend less money than it cost on just the specific products I need/want instead?
Also, a better joke gift (if you really want to) is something consumable! I got my uncle some hello kitty candy one year, and my friend got me some Twilight themed snack once. It should be something you know they'd eat anyway or it's still trash of course. I also thrifted ugly Xmas jumpers for my whole family years ago and we bring them out every year!
I’ve been doing a cheese advent calendar, it’s been my favorite thing ever.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I would only buy gifts for small children or for people who help me throughout the year. These gifts are usually (for helpers) grocery gift cards. I personally love Christmas, the family celebrations, the get togetherness, all good! Wasting money on stuff has been a no go for about 20 years (and, yes I am known as Grinch among my extended family). By the way, I tend to give to charity throughout the year then giving cheap stuff to people who don’t need it or will use it😊
I don't know if it is just a problem of my youtube app but around 7:40 the video frame stops as if it would hang itself up for a few seconds and when it returns to be normal a few seconds later it sounds as if a part of what you were saying is missing. Just commenting it in case that it isn't just a thing in my TH-cam app and you haven't done it intentionally🙃
Mine is doing that too
I think it's just a glitch in the editing🤷♀️
loved all your points!! i especially relate to your comments on black friday. i do buy some essentials ive put off buying just to save some more money. i feel so bad, though, because a canadian i have no clue what the real meaning of black friday was supposed to be!!
Love your sense of humor! Thank you for this video and for showing alternatives that are actually cuter🥰
I've never even heard of Advent Calendars before.
over here we adapted blackfriday aswel and i have been tracking the prices for 2 years now, and my data suggests that items in a black friday sale actually are not cheaper than any other sale troughout the year, The only difference i see is that whilst with other sales troughout the year items are on sale for a longer period of time and with black friday all those items that allready been on sale in the year just rotate daily or even shorter this creates fomo in people with their countdown timers because you gotta be quick to buy something that is in stock for two years allready and has been on sale multiple times. That is all that is to it, the increased hype and creating fomo in the people
this is actually so helpful to know!! i suppose perhaps the one advantage of black friday is that the timing is reliable?? i have no clue when other sales generally occur, and i feel like checking a brand’s website too often to keep tabs on deals could entice you to buy more. with black friday, you can ignore a brand in peace knowing they’ll lower prices on that one day.
I did buy something on black Friday, it was the refills for my water filter (not Brita, slightly more sustainable). I needed them and they were 25% off.
I bought a Christmas jumper and use it a few times a year and use it every year, you can buy and use 1. Its the buying a different one each year that doesn't make sense.
Many of these things I don't do either because of culture or my economy reality XD
1. Advent Calendars: they are not a thing in my country really, so we don't have those in my family.
2. Wrapping paper: As a Latina, we reuse paper and gift bags as many times as we can.
3. Joke gifts: Never done it, we grew up poor, we never had money to just "joke around"
4. Black Friday: I think the same way.
5. Celeb collabs: Don't care about celebrities, I care about quality.
6. Ugly Sweaters: Latina... Christmas is HOT down here, no sweaters
We play Secret Santa in my family, that way, we only make 1 gift, and everybody makes a list of things they need/want.
the holiday is all about spending time with my family, baking and cooking together instead of spending time shopping for gifts
I have a question for you and your European subscribers. This year I went to Europe (Italy) for the first time and was blown away by how much more eco-conscious Europeans are than Americans. You are so far ahead of us, and it made me wonder how that came to be. When and how was your concern about the environment fostered? Was it messaging from your government, schools, family? I'd love to know what we're not doing right over here. Thanks for all you do on your channel - you are reaching people who really need to learn about this subject.
I think Union have had huge impact on my country when it comes to eco stuff. Like funding and being part of Union we have to share the same goals. But it also has its drawbacks. Being low/lower income when ceratin laws are in the play is terrifying.
@@natalizn1 I hadn't thought about union vs. individual country. That's interesting. And I can see what you mean about certain rules being problematic for different levels of income. Thanks for replying!
Two weeks late but I don’t think I’ve done too bad. I have bought wrapping paper but it’s definitely recyclable (I’ve tried the fabric route but it doesn’t always come back to me so it ends up being less sustainable to get more fabric and we don’t get newspapers and Who Gives a Crap wrapping isn’t big enough).
Gifts wise, I’ve either bought second hand, things I know people will like (we bought our three year old a lot of things but we allocated hem to family members so instead of us buying loads and then getting more stuff off others, what we bought will be mostly it and it’s stuff we know she would like and use) also consumables and a couple of local run business items. I’ve made sure I’ve asked people specifically what they need so everything has a purpose.
Re: Black Friday, I think companies have got greedy and potentially shot themselves in the foot - when Black Friday was truly one day, the deals were ridiculously cheap - companies have realised they can increase their profits even more by extending deal over a week or the entire month but the discount is not as severe but people are in the mindset of it being a good deal and they spend anyway. However, I think more people are starting to catch onto this and not bothering so hopefully the trend will die 🤞 I personally got a couple of pairs of shoes in Black Friday deals but they were wanted and will be used (they’re barefoot shoes so difficult to find in thrift shops and even vinted is limited)
Its the same in Germany ...it went from Black Friday to Black Week and now the "deals" start in the beginning of November and they arend even that good most of the time. But because its spread out, you dont know, if there will be a good deal later on or not. I was trying to buy a new computer last year because my old one truly was on its last breath, but I ended up so stressed out over it 🙈🙈
I absolutely wear my ugly Star Wars Christmas sweater for as long as the weather permits me to wear sweaters, and have for however many years I've owned it now. I give zero effs about when I'm "supposed" to wear or not wear my clothes based on societal expectations, so yes, I will wear Christmas things and Halloween things and all the other things whenever I want, as long as it's comfortable to wear in the current weather.
I give my step dad a joke gift every year. It’s now a collection of the same game with different version that he enjoys and it makes him happy
When we lived near each other (and when we lived together) my bestie and I would use gift bags. I'm pretty confident we passed the same like 6 gift bags back and forth with each other. I'd get a gift in one, then use that one that says "Happy Birthday" later in the year for her Birthday, then she'd save it until next year for mine.
Im so glad you feel the same way about joke gifts! I just did a gift guide trying to focus on items that are useful and thoughtful, rather than silly or luxurious. Its out on my channel on the 13th 😊
It has now come to a time where you must think individually for yourself. Do you follow the crowd or decide for yourself. I take the christmas message and meaning, but i remove the hype and consumerism apart from it. Be happy and content with the meaning without adding any superfluous things to it.