Every so often, I make the mistake of thinking I will clear out one space – just one closet, one pantry, one room. Unfortunately, 10 minutes later, my husband will walk through the door and his jaw will drop when he sees the entire house’s contents pulled out, massive mountains of stuff lying on the floor, like something out of a Robert Munsch story.
As more and more things keep flying out of drawers or closets to be sorted or removed, I think, ‘Just where did all this come from?’
I’ve come to the conclusion if we ever want to move, we will just have to light fire to the whole place and walk away. I am knocking on wood as I write that, because of course, I don’t want to lose all our possessions, but I do want to magically vanish – rather than trash - all this stuff we accumulate, the plastic toys that come with meals, the cracked fidget spinners, the little gizmos that come home from all sorts of places, the things we buy without thinking enough about if this is something we will need and/or keep.
On a larger scale, our consumption is having a bigger effect on our planet, as plastic clogs oceans and waterways, and wreaks havoc on aquatic species, wildlife and ecosystems.
We need to find ways to repurpose goods, to recycle them, to prevent them from ending up in landfills. For my children’s birthdays, they know and have accepted without complaint that we ask people not to bring gifts, or if they must, to bring second-hand goods or things their children might not use any more, or something handmade. We’ve had some pretty neat gifts passed on this way, from much loved books or a rocket jet pack made out of two-litre pop bottles.
The kids still get new toys and gifts, courtesy of irrepressible and loving parents and grandparents, but not as much as they otherwise would – and when they do get something, it’s something they have long wanted and that they consider a special gift.
I’ve read other suggestions that people wanting to give gifts to kids can also give the gift of an experience, of time shared together – like an afternoon spent playing mini-golf or going fishing. Instead of giving something that will create temporary joy or excitement, before being discarded, we can create lasting memories, bonds that will stand the test of time far better than any material goods.
It’s part of what we need to, what we must do, for our sanity, for our own and for our kids’ well being, and most of all, for our planet.
