Immersed in the Holiday Season, we are encouraged to buy gifts for ourselves and others. Though this gifting is not based on need, we are reminded that the health of our economy relies on this annual orgy of spending.
Yet, this excessive consumption augments the depletion of natural resources and intensifies the process of climate change. The "Spirit of the Season" is an excuse for this excess and efforts to curb the activity are assailed, especially in popular Holiday films. Whether the gifts are truly essential is beside the point.
Except for a few Santa toys for young children (another tradition we ought to abandon), we might shift our spending toward charitable donations, thereby helping to solve problems rather than create new ones. Contrary to popular opinion, these ideas are not anti-Holiday; they are pro-Planet.
