EcoWaste Coalition's Earth and Budget-Friendly Christmas Shopping Tips
PRE-SHOPPING TIPS:
1. Take stock of what you have. Check for things that can be repaired, reused, recycled or even re-gifted before buying new items.
2. Write down all your holiday necessities and take this list when you shop to avoid impulsive purchases.
3. Organize and plan your trips to the palengke, supermarkets or malls to reduce transportation costs as well as ease holiday traffic jams.
4. Set a holiday budget and avoid straying from it; remember to save enough for post-December expenses.
5. Look out for holiday sales to avail of deep discounts for stuff that you and your family truly need. Watch out and support charity fairs such as those meant to help survivors of super typhoon Yolanda in rebuilding their homes and lives.
ACTUAL SHOPPING TIPS:
1. Bring your own bayong or reusable carry bags when you shop. Drop plastic bags, join the reusable bag bandwagon.
2. Consider buying in bulk to cut on product cost as well as packaging waste.
3. Pick products with the slightest packaging and avoid excessively packed items.
4. Select products made of recycled materials and with the most recycled contents.
5. Seek and buy goods that are durable and can be repaired, reused, recycled or passed on to other users.
6. Patronize locally-produced stuff, support the local economy and lessen greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Save receipts in case you need to return defective goods and wrong sizes and requirements.
ALTERNATIVE GIFT GIVING:
1. Think about re-giving gifts that you may have obtained at one time but have not used.
2. Look through your closet and give away clothes and accessories that your relatives and friends might have been admiring for some time like a pretty scarf, a nice jacket, a cute bag, etc.
3. Share books that have been read and stored in your shelf to friends who share the same interest.
4. Write heartfelt messages to family and friends on recycled Christmas cards and include a photo or two you have of them.
5. Cut up old Christmas cards and reuse them as gift tags.
6. Send e-cards in lieu of paper cards. Personalize them with your own graphic designs or choice photos.
7. Share your signature home-made goodies and dishes, especially from “secret” personal or family recipes.
8. Cook Noche Buena dinners for street children or to families who do not have anything to eat on Christmas Eve.
9. Tell your loved ones that instead of giving them gifts this year, you will make donations in their names to charities, orphanages and environmental projects.
10. Draw or paint creative stuff on flat and smooth stones to make paperweights, plain mugs to make pencil holder or bayong or katsa bag to make your shopping bags more "sosyal.”
11. Choose gifts that come with little or no packaging at all such as gift certificates, movie or concert tickets, bus or train passes, raffle coupons, etc.
12. Don’t wrap gifts. If wrapping is really needed, try old magazines or newspapers, discarded bandannas or fabric scraps. You can also use craft paper and jazz it up with colored pencils.
13. Give gifts that grow and restore the environment such as plant and flower seeds or bulbs, kitchen herbs or tree saplings.
14. If you feel that you absolutely have to buy something, then patronize local products such as handicrafts made by indigenous and rural communities, jail detainees and the urban poor, non-toxic
personal care items, organic products from health and wellness groups, reusable bags from women’s and environmental groups, and other gift items from charities and cooperatives.
15. Buy simple notebooks, cover them with attractive used fabrics and write inspirational verses or excerpts from poems and songs at the bottom of every 15th page.
16. When giving toys, choose ones that are free of choking, laceration, strangulation and toxic hazards, age-appropriate and properly labeled.
17. Shun replica guns and other war toys. Go for toys that promote creativity, non-aggressive behavior and social harmony.
18. Gift your barangay by leading or getting involved in a neighborhood project that will serve the poor or preserve the community environment.
-end-
1. Take stock of what you have. Check for things that can be repaired, reused, recycled or even re-gifted before buying new items.
2. Write down all your holiday necessities and take this list when you shop to avoid impulsive purchases.
3. Organize and plan your trips to the palengke, supermarkets or malls to reduce transportation costs as well as ease holiday traffic jams.
4. Set a holiday budget and avoid straying from it; remember to save enough for post-December expenses.
5. Look out for holiday sales to avail of deep discounts for stuff that you and your family truly need. Watch out and support charity fairs such as those meant to help survivors of super typhoon Yolanda in rebuilding their homes and lives.
ACTUAL SHOPPING TIPS:
1. Bring your own bayong or reusable carry bags when you shop. Drop plastic bags, join the reusable bag bandwagon.
2. Consider buying in bulk to cut on product cost as well as packaging waste.
3. Pick products with the slightest packaging and avoid excessively packed items.
4. Select products made of recycled materials and with the most recycled contents.
5. Seek and buy goods that are durable and can be repaired, reused, recycled or passed on to other users.
6. Patronize locally-produced stuff, support the local economy and lessen greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Save receipts in case you need to return defective goods and wrong sizes and requirements.
ALTERNATIVE GIFT GIVING:
1. Think about re-giving gifts that you may have obtained at one time but have not used.
2. Look through your closet and give away clothes and accessories that your relatives and friends might have been admiring for some time like a pretty scarf, a nice jacket, a cute bag, etc.
3. Share books that have been read and stored in your shelf to friends who share the same interest.
4. Write heartfelt messages to family and friends on recycled Christmas cards and include a photo or two you have of them.
5. Cut up old Christmas cards and reuse them as gift tags.
6. Send e-cards in lieu of paper cards. Personalize them with your own graphic designs or choice photos.
7. Share your signature home-made goodies and dishes, especially from “secret” personal or family recipes.
8. Cook Noche Buena dinners for street children or to families who do not have anything to eat on Christmas Eve.
9. Tell your loved ones that instead of giving them gifts this year, you will make donations in their names to charities, orphanages and environmental projects.
10. Draw or paint creative stuff on flat and smooth stones to make paperweights, plain mugs to make pencil holder or bayong or katsa bag to make your shopping bags more "sosyal.”
11. Choose gifts that come with little or no packaging at all such as gift certificates, movie or concert tickets, bus or train passes, raffle coupons, etc.
12. Don’t wrap gifts. If wrapping is really needed, try old magazines or newspapers, discarded bandannas or fabric scraps. You can also use craft paper and jazz it up with colored pencils.
13. Give gifts that grow and restore the environment such as plant and flower seeds or bulbs, kitchen herbs or tree saplings.
14. If you feel that you absolutely have to buy something, then patronize local products such as handicrafts made by indigenous and rural communities, jail detainees and the urban poor, non-toxic
personal care items, organic products from health and wellness groups, reusable bags from women’s and environmental groups, and other gift items from charities and cooperatives.
15. Buy simple notebooks, cover them with attractive used fabrics and write inspirational verses or excerpts from poems and songs at the bottom of every 15th page.
16. When giving toys, choose ones that are free of choking, laceration, strangulation and toxic hazards, age-appropriate and properly labeled.
17. Shun replica guns and other war toys. Go for toys that promote creativity, non-aggressive behavior and social harmony.
18. Gift your barangay by leading or getting involved in a neighborhood project that will serve the poor or preserve the community environment.
-end-
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