Sustainability Isn't Just for Christmas (but it's a good place to start)
As you might have seen, Share Skipton are supporting ‘Buy Nothing New Month’ this November, which is all about taking a moment to look at our own purchasing habits and think how we as communities and individuals can do our bit to reduce waste. Plus, it has the happy side-effect of saving you money – especially welcome at this time of year.
Started by like-minded charity Keep Britain Tidy, it’s no coincidence Buy Nothing New Month overlaps several other manufactured events: Black Friday for example is generally accepted as one of the most wasteful times of the year, with 80% of items being used no more than once and adding an extra third to daily carbon emissions just from transporting all that stuff.
So, what does buying nothing new for a month involve exactly? Clearly no-one’s going to last long without food, and it probably isn’t a good idea to stop paying your water and utility bills. These are essentials. The initiative also points out that people’s circumstances vary, so exactly what classifies as ‘essential’ can be slightly different from person to person: medication for example. Beyond this, we’re asked to rent or buy second-hand, borrow and share with those around us, and get resourceful by repurposing or making our own.
You can read all the details on their website, but that’s more or less where the article leaves it. For those now thinking “well, Christmas is coming up and I haven’t got anyone anything yet”, we’ve tracked down places in and around Skipton that’ll help you with just that, with our own added sprinkling of sustainability tips.
Make or Unbreak
There’s nothing quite as unique or personal as the thing you make yourself. Crafting or customising your own presents, such as baking something you can’t get in the shops, adding their preferred scent to candles or soap, or making a handmade toy, can be a rewarding way to show how much you value your relationship.
Or, if you know there’s a favourite possession they’ve stopped using due to damage or circumstance, see what you can do to restore its usefulness. Sew and patch worn clothing, make adjustments to things that don’t fit any more, or track down spare and replacement parts. Just be sure to check with the owner first – they’re likely to appreciate the repair enough that it won’t matter it’s no longer a surprise. And you could absolutely get a local professional to do it for you if you don’t have the skills yourself.
Browse our crafting and fixing Things »
Search local repair services »
It’s the Memories that Matter
They say ‘give people experiences, not things’, but why is that? For starters, when someone receives an item (and this goes for buying stuff for yourself too), the satisfaction tends to fade over time as the novelty wears off and they get used to it being around; only in rare cases can mass-produced items pick up a real sentimental attachment. The more stuff you already have, the more the problem compounds.
Interestingly, the opposite appears to happen with experiences: especially when social connections or personal victories are involved, the memory will often be recalled again and again and may even last a lifetime. Experiences make great stories to share with others as well, and the potential for acquired talents or new-found interests (such as from skills classes or activity days) can make them especially worthwhile.
Search local classes and workshops »
Time Spent Together is Never Wasted
Experiences needn’t be anything fancy to be memorable, so if you don’t see the person as often as you’d both like or are usually distracted when you do, try setting aside a day, a couple of hours or a full weekend to spend some quality time together. Plan an activity you can both chat over, like a walk or boardgame, or go give them a hand with the gardening or clearing their loft. If you’d prefer something a bit more exciting, you can check for upcoming festivals and other local events using the link below.
Search upcoming local events »
Don’t Spend It All at Once
We can never be 100% sure what other people might like, and what we thought was the perfect present might not live up to expectations – remember that ‘80%’ wastage statistic from earlier? So instead of making the choice for them, why not improve the odds by involving them in the decision? You could jot down any ideas you have throughout the year then offer to fund whichever they prefer: we touched on this already, but the thought you’ve put in will likely outweigh the surprise.
Or take the pressure off by giving money. It might go towards necessities rather than treating themselves, but hey, needs before wants. Putting money into a savings account is a really good alternative for younger children who usually get more toys than they know what to do with.
Then there’s the best-of-both-worlds option: give your family and friends access to over 100 free tools plus a further 200+ fun and useful items with a membership to their local Library of Things. Share Skipton offers gift cards for as little as £5, which are a great way to promote sustainable practices and help us do good for everyone, both now and into the future. (if they happen to already be a member, they can put the entire gift card balance towards borrowing)
See Share Skipton gift certificate options »
Browse our Things and learn about membership »
Built to Last
If you do end up purchasing something because you know for a fact the recipient will get persistent use out of, there are still a number of ways you can do so sustainably. (If you’re not 100%, a Share Skipton gift card could let them ‘try before you buy’.) Buying pre-owned ensures no additional raw materials are being consumed; another option is to look at refurbished items, which tend to come with renewed warranties and other assurances.
We recommend you not only look at product reviews and details, but manufacturer and customer service ones too: especially for electronics and appliances, how easy do they make their products to repair and is some form of support easily accessible both within and beyond the warranty period? Other good signs are trade-in and take-back schemes, which are both environmentally responsible, ‘circular’ business practices.
Search second-hand and refurbished »
The Advantages of Going Local
Sourcing items locally can be a great way to reduce carbon emissions associated with transporting goods around the country – cut pollution from the final stretch by walking or cycling to the shops instead of driving, or opt for and encourage climate-friendly delivery methods. Supporting local independent businesses helps the area in the long run too, your money not immediately whisked away by large multi-national corporations (many of which have been reported to exploit tax loopholes, further reducing reinvestment where their customers live and work).
Food seasonality is another thing to give a go this year: to get fresh summer fruits during the winter generally means flying them in from abroad or expending large amounts of energy to artificially recreate their normal environment. The UK, historically relatively warm for how far north it is, has a good selection of autumn/winter foods: think traditional Christmassy things, like root vegetables, nuts, berries, and cold-hardy apple and pear varieties. Preserved foods are good for this too, and many age-old preservation methods are easy enough to try at home – perhaps even to use as Christmas presents.
Learn about local seasonal foods »
View our jam and juice makers »
Mutually Assured Reduction
It’s easy to get caught up in all the hype during the weeks before Christmas, but how many of us breathe a sigh of relief when it’s finally over? Increasingly sophisticated advertising techniques play on a mix of nostalgia, commercialised tradition and ingrained sense of obligation to keep people spending, for some causing serious problems: according to StepChange Debt Charity, one in four people were expected to struggle with the cost of Christmas last year, and for families with children it’s one in three. As for UK food waste, the amount of discarded turkey adds up to around 2 million birds: considering there are fewer than 70 million of us and only half eat it to begin with, that’s an awful lot. Not to mention everything else that goes in the bin.
Some of the best ways to avoid all this are to plan ahead, agree spending limits and to be conscious of what you’re doing and why. Some friend and family groups even decide that, rather than exchanging unwanted presents for the sake of it, it makes more sense just to get together and enjoy each other’s company without all the fuss. And before buying for Christmas dinner, remember that a person’s stomach will only comfortably hold so much: 1 to 1.5kg at a time. The BBC website has a helpful portion guide » to show how much (or little) you actually need.
Hopefully some of this has been helpful to you. We hear that 73% of last year’s participants went all month without buying anything new – you won’t know for yourself until you give it try!
Keep Britain Tidy lets you sign up to Buy Nothing New Month here. For more local sustainability news and updates from the volunteers at Share Skipton, scroll right down to find our newsletter and social links. And if you like what we’re about, have a look around the site before visiting the Support Us page in the menu at the top.
External references and further reading
The Environmental Impact of Black Friday (dw.com) , Reducing Christmas Wrapping Paper Waste (businesswaste.co.uk) , The Science Behind ‘Experience Over Things’ (fastcompany.com) , Circular Economy Introduction (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) , Pros and Cons of Multinational Corporations (economicshelp.org) , Christmas Finances and Debt Statistics (stepchange.org) , How to Reduce Food Waste at Christmas (businesswaste.co.uk) , The Human Stomach (instituteofhumananatomy.com) , Is It Time to Ban Unnecessary Christmas Presents? (moneysavingexpert.com) , Christmas Portion Planner (bbcgoodfood.com)
