Stand around a fire and sip mulled wine. Skip the last-minute shopping.
— from Treehugger.com at request of Steve McKenna —
No one experiences the fallout from rampant consumerism at Christmastime quite like the garbage collectors do. They are the ones who have to stop at every house and pick up the heaps of non-recyclable wrapping paper, boxes, ribbons, cards, and even unwanted gifts in the days following the holidays. As a result, they get a front-row seat in the absurdity of it all.
Berlin’s waste collection service, BSR, is speaking out against this, urging people to give “time, not stuff” this year. It suggests that the holiday season might be more meaningful if people obsessed less over physical gifts and focused more on spending quality time with each other:
“People squeeze into shopping temples and package couriers can hardly keep up with the deliveries… is that really what this joyful day is all about? One of our most precious commodities is our time, so that’s what you should gift. How about an evening of cooking with someone, or a trip to a concert or cinema? Everyone likes to have nice memories.”
But Germans aren’t even the worst when it comes to shopping. In a delightful op-ed for the Globe and Mail this past weekend, staff writer Elizabeth Renzetti, who is based in Berlin, described the slow pace of life amid the famous German Christmas markets and suggests that we could all learn something from this custom. She wrote,
“They came, maybe they bought an ornament or a balloon for their kids, and then they stood around eating sausages and drinking gluehwein… They stared into the fire, or chatted with friends. Almost no one had their phones out. It felt as though there was a life lesson on display: Here was a way to be quiet, communal and generally purposeless, even in the middle of the most frenzied season of the most frenzied year at the end of a truly bonkers decade.”
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Great suggestion for so many folks addicted to shopping for gifts. Relaxing with folks we love, sharing our thoughts with wisdom & compassion vs opening piles of unneeded stuff is positive. This connection to our minds, hearts and nature supports our bodies, & our planet living longer.