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This week marks the inaugural #MAKESMTHNG (Make Something) Week by Greenpeace.
Category: Senza categoria
6 December 2017
Updating Your Wardrobe with Embroidery
3 December 2017
Let´s skip presents for Christmas… kind of
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(Imagine „Jingle Bells“ to sound in the background.)
Christmas. A celebration of love and compassion, when we bethink of the real important things in life and of the people who might not have such a blessed life as we have, when we´re looking forward to gather the whole family on Christmas eve…
(Scratch.)
… after we’ve been close to heart attacks the weeks before because of all that gift hunting stress, more pressure than pleasure. In both ways: Finding the right and receiving the wrong gift. Merry Christmas!
Just another occasion that circles around presents, besides all the birthdays, weddings, valentines day, mother´s day, easter and anniversaries. To be honest, no one really needs as much as there are occasions to get something for. Our homes are already overstuffed with sneakers, smoothie makers, hair straighteners and blue tooth radios, but we still go with the flow of the excessive gift hunting madness.
But for what exactly?
Even surprise isn`t included anymore, because the whole wishing-giving-process goes like this:
– Hey, what do you want for Christmas?
– Hmm…. I´d like to have this cool sandwich maker. What do you wish for?
– Hmm… There´s this new cool sneaker, which I´d like to have in blue.
– Ok.
– Ok.
*Christmas coming, both find their presents under the tree, already knowing what’s inside: sandwich maker and sneaker. What a surprise!*
*Three days later, both got to the mall to exchange gifts: Sandwich maker of another brand is better, sneakers fit better in another size.*
So, why are presents still so relevant for Christmas, not to say THE central point of it? Sure, you get some new stuff that you’d be happy about for three days. But you also spend a lot of money and stress on things that others are happy about for only three days. Worth it?
We already know the Christmas experience is more about drinking mulled wine together, gathering the whole family, laughing, eating and with a bit of luck the snowball fight outside? Ok going a little bit of too romantic right now. But we all can agree, that the sandwich maker (or lint shaver or shampoo collection) isn´t the coolest thing on Christmas, right?
Why can´t we skip or at least change that gift thing?
There are a lot of surprise options that don´t include buying new useless (or „useful for three days“) junk.
How about the earrings that your best friend always told you she likes so much and you don´t wear them that often anyway, or a self-made cake, or just a photo of you and your sister which you have on your smartphone since ever and finally print it out? Or remember those vouchers you used to give to your parents when you we´re a kid? It´s retro now. Give them also to your friends and partners. And make sure they won´t forget to redeem it – as your parents did 🙂
If you love the package opening-ritual, why don’t you do the the secret Santa with friends, which still is the funniest option of gifting: Everyone brings something, that he or she doesn’t need anymore. Which most of the time is so crap, you can laugh yourself silly: an old glittering teddybear (who doesn’t want it in the apartment for decoration), an old CD-Rom with a tax software on it or High School Musical 3 on Blu Ray Disc. Best present ever, right?
I know, it´s also not the stuff you really need. But the cool thing is: You spend an evening with your friends laughing your ass off together and already have your secret Santa gift for next year. Or with a bit of luck you really like High School Musical 3 😉
And there will be even more „Buy nothing“-ideas during MAKE SMTHNG Week. So don´t miss the events around the globe. Or in other words:
Stay away from the mall & join the MAKE SMTHNG-Crawl.
Bio
Sophie loves chickpeas, raccoons, vintage shops and people who are changing our world with their ideas and projects, so we all can enjoy it in the future. This is exactly what sustainability means for her: Treating the world in such a way that future generations can live a life as wild as we do.
Her blog “Helllaut” features people, ideas and steps into this direction.
11 November 2017
Singles’ Day – the worlds biggest shopping event
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120,000 mobile phones sold in a minute, 1 billion things sold in one day – this is the reality of Singles’ Day. It’s the world’s biggest online shopping day and it’s happening on November 11.
Created by the Chinese company, Alibaba, in 2009, Singles’ Day is now a big event for Chinese and international spenders, where online consumers participate in a massive 24-hour shopping spree. They are on track to top last year’s sales of $17.8 billion.
That’s more than the total e-commerce sales of Brazil in 2016. Alibaba founder Jack Ma refers to Singles’ Day as a “Global Shopping Festival” and retailers around the world are quickly picking up on the trend.
But it’s intensifying the worst aspects of consumerism; environmental damage, unnecessary spending, wasteful behaviour and dissatisfaction for shoppers.
Online shopping amplifies environmental costs of consumption
The production of the goods sold on Singles’ Day use natural resources and pollute our environment. Fashion alone accounts for 28.5 % of the sales and has a direct impact on the local environment. 20% of rivers and lakes in China have been contaminated as a result of dying, printing, and treatment from the textile industry.
“Singles’ Day is a catastrophe for the environment. Not only does it create huge amounts of waste, but the CO2 emissions from manufacturing, packaging, and shipping are enormous,” says Greenpeace East Asia toxics campaigner, Nie Li.
Details from China indicate that:
- Singles’ Day apparel sales produced 258,000 tonnes CO2 emissions. We would need 2.58 million trees to absorb it all.
- The use of cell phones and computers to place online orders produced 3.22 million tonnes of CO2 in 2015.
- The recycling rate of packaging materials remains low. Less than 10% of paper, cardboard and plastic packaging used in delivery are recycled.
From the shelves directly into waste
The aggressive ‘Buy NOW’ marketing that accompanies Singles’ Days promotions amplifies our impulse to buy. People “keep getting duped, but because the items are so cheap, they don’t mind and just keep buying and buying, fuelling a vicious circle,” says Greenpeace campaigner Walton Li from Greenpeace Hong Kong.
In a survey commissioned by Greenpeace Hong Kong, the most cited reasons for throwing away unused goods from Singles’ Day shopping sprees were poor quality, wrong fit and the product looking different from what shoppers expected.
One in every four fashion items that Hongkongers buy online are not worn more than twice before being thrown away. All of this is results in an estimated 5.8 million garments being disposed every year.
Walton Li: “Sure, the cost of regret is low, but the environment is footing the bill, and those costs are high.”
Shopping doesn’t make us happy
Evidence suggests that shopping is not leading to real happiness. It’s a way to kill time, relieve stress, and avoid boredom. But the cheap thrill of buying something new dies away pretty fast. Half of the people surveyed said that the immediate excitement of a shopping spree lasted less than a day.
Results from a Greenpeace commissioned survey on the shopping habits of people in Europe and Asia
If you are tempted to buy something on Singles’ Day, think of the consequences. Shopping is done in an instant, but the consequences for our beautiful planet linger.
Why not MAKE SMTHNG instead of going shopping?
Lu Yen Roloff is the comms lead for the MAKE SMTHNG campaign at Greenpeace. She firmly believes in the power of connecting makers from around the globe to help fight overconsumption. She is totally in love with all the creative ideas from the movement and pledges to spend quieter times to DIY the hell out of the dark winter days!You can follow Lu Yen on Instagram @luoninstagram, Facebook luyenroloff or Twitter @lyroloff