Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Conscious Gifting and Menus

One of our goals as a family is to make a difference in this beautiful world and our local community. During the holidays I feel like there are more opportunities to strive for this goal.  One of ways we work towards this goal is the way we buy gifts.  This year we made 4 guidelines on our gift giving.  We must buy gifts that are either......

1. Local
2. Handmade
3. Eco-friendly
4. Educational (books)

In our world at this time I believe that we need to be way more responsible for our consumerism and our footprint on this planet.  By buying locally we are keeping the dollars in our community and during these tough economic times we need this more than ever.  Really there are a few hundred reasons why buying locally or handmade is better for our country, planet, and ourselves.  Some of the reasons why my husband and I have decided to do this are.....supporting our local small businesses and artists,  lessening our carbon footprint by buying things that are NOT shipped from over seas,  staying away from toxic plastic yucky toys and gifts,  and buying/making things that are unique, thoughtful, and with LOVE.  I am also making a few handmade gifts myself which I am having a ton of fun with.

Now, I must say that I did buy a couple clothing items that were not from a local store or locally made.  Which was kind of a bummer but I needed to get these items and the sale was amazing! BUT I do feel like I am doing an awesome job with the rest of the gifts.  I'm making the right steps and maybe in a few years I will be making my own clothes or shopping all local.  Plus, small steps will make it easier to achieve my big goals in the future.  Taking the steps towards my goal of conscious gifting and sustainable living is what feels right to me and I am glad we are doing this.

There are a couple items that my son is wanting for Christmas that we really want to get him and that I am hoping we find locally.  One being a telescope.  There are a couple locally owned toy stores in our area that I will check out first.  The other being books.  Of course I will buy any books I can through our local bookstore. We also look for eco-friendly options instead of plastic yucky toys.  Now a days, you can find lots of toys made out of recycled plastics or non-toxic materials and I hope to find these at a locally owned store as well.  This has been an extremely fun challenge for us, one I hope we do year round when thinking about gifts for people.

Have you thought about conscious gifting this year?

For fun, I posted pictures from Christmas last year!
These last two photos are my favorites.  On the left, Ayden is hugging on my aunt and uncle's doggie!  On the right, he is on the rocking horse that once was my mother's and all her siblings.  It is still being enjoyed in the family!
On to this week's menu.  Which is a little sparse since we will be out of town a few nights.

MENU:

MONDAY:  Spaghetti bake with mushrooms, olives, and broccoli

TUESDAY:  Veggie Stir fry over brown rice

WEDNESDAY:  Leftover and a big salad

THURSDAY:  Out of town

FRIDAY:  Out of town

SATURDAY:  Out of town

SUNDAY:  Creamy Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

For more meal plan inspirations, visit I'm An Organized Junkie every Monday.

Peacefully,
Alyson

"May peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!" -Author Unknown

2 comments:

  1. How about services & time as favors? Help someone w garden or other home project, tix to a play, take someone to a beautiful dinner...they don't have to be things, ya know?

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  2. Hey girl! Oh yes, we loving doing things for others as gifts or buying them tickets to concerts, movies, games, museums! And making and bringing dinners are our favorite thing to do for others.

    We also are putting together baskets full of preserved veggies and fruits that I canned this year.

    Thank you so much for reading!

    -Alyson

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