Shopping for the holidays: How to stay sustainable

We are halfway through November already, and the holiday season is upon us. Stores are gearing up for the upcoming festivities with deals, advertisements, and holiday-themed products. Just last week, I was amazed to see that Hannaford had rolled out Christmas and winter-themed food packaging. The more I thought about it, the more my curiosity and uneasiness grew. 

While I do not mean to bash any seasonal spirits, it is important to question the environmental impacts of abnormally-high levels of consumerism. Over the next couple of weeks, people will shop in ways unique to November and December, whether it be online or in stores.

For many, these seasonal habits are a staple and seem to occur just as regularly as the holidays they accompany. It is for this reason that I think it is important to question the nature in which we shop for the holiday season. 

Last week, Annaliese Griffin wrote in the New York Times about her unconventional methods of buying gifts for her family. Griffin and her husband look for places that sell second-hand items like yard sales and thrift stores to purchase presents for one another. She acknowledged that this lifestyle is not a perfect solution because buying used goods is not for everyone. 

For me, I live in a small town in Connecticut with few thrift stores, which makes following Griffin’s methods difficult. However, her piece served as another reminder to reconsider my consumer habits.

The first thing that came to my mind was the holiday season’s reliance on packaging. Griffin cited this as one of the main reasons why she supports second hand retailers.  Manufacturing, shipping, and disposing of packaging all creates greenhouse gas emissions and waste. However, trying to avoid single-use plastics and packaging is incredibly difficult. This is most prominent with the rise of online shopping, especially on Cyber Monday, where these packaging and shipping materials are essential.

There may be another solution to change how we consume. You may have heard of the internet extension Honey, which is a service that automatically searches for deals and coupons when online shopping. Many start-ups have begun to create a similar type of product, but instead of looking for coupons when checking out, their extensions provide users with ratings and data on levels of sustainability. 

A quick Google search yields many options from which to choose. For example, Ethical Shopper can be used with Chrome and provides ratings on popular online retailers. They have adopted a system called “Good On You,” which utilizes data from companies and third-party sources to offer grades based on environmental and ethical practices. 

My personal favorite is TreeClicks. While this extension does not offer ratings, the company has partnered with over 50,000 online shops, so that when you buy something, TreeClicks automatically plants a tree at no extra cost. 

All in all, there are many extensions out there that are easy to use and contribute to sustainable practices. I would recommend that, as we enter a time of giving, we think about using one of these options and always shop with the environment in mind.

~ Adrian Visscher `24