Sustainable Gift-Giving

Like anyone else on the planet these days, Sarah Kaplan wants to limit the impact she is having on climate change. She wonders if she can get her holiday shopping done in a climate-conscious way:

Here’s the thing about sustainable shopping: There are very few things you can purchase that are actively beneficial for the climate. Unless you’re buying a tree that will suck carbon from the air, most products require land, water and fossil fuels to produce and use. New stuff — clothes, appliances, bath products, toys, etc. — inherently comes at some environmental cost.

Still, we all need new stuff sometimes; even I have had to replace the pair of yoga pants I’ve lived in since the start of the pandemic. By choosing products that are made sustainably, from companies that have demonstrated a commitment to minimize their environmental impact, experts say it is possible to make a difference.

 

Medical Students for a Sustainable Future (MS4SF) is a network of more than 410 medical students from 105 medical schools across the United States “who recognize climate change as an urgent threat to health and social justice.”

Founded in 2019, MS4SF is dedicated to uniting medical students invested in the health of our planet and patients and providing them with tools to make a difference at their institutions and in their communities through advocacy, curriculum reform, research, and climate-smart health care.

 

This week, members of MS4SF who study at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. suggested a few ideas to help make gift-giving this holiday season a little more environmentally friendly:

As the holiday shopping frenzy approaches we wanted to take a moment to consider how we can give gifts that take less from the earth.

Did you know…

• Shipping accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and more than 64% of the 32 billon clothing items produced annually ends up in landfills.

• Product packaging contributes to increased CO2 emissions compared to buying in-store and adds massive amounts of waste to landfills every year. Not to mention, that over 3 billion trees are processed annually to produce 241 million tons of shipping cartons.

• During the holiday season Americans discard more than 38,000 miles of ribbon and produce half of their total yearly paper waste – resulting in about nine tons of discarded holiday wrapping and decorations.

 

This holiday season there are many ways to shop sustainably:

• Forego the plastic bags at checkout

• Buy second hand or upcycled items

• Shop in-person to reduce packaging waste

• Clump orders together for a single delivery and choose an eco-friendly delivery option (i.e., not next-day delivery)

• Wrap presents with paper bags for reusable fabric or avoid shiny/glittery gift wrap as it is not recyclable

• Give gifts that are useful and always provide a gift receipt

• Send holiday cards electronically

• Donate excess food to food pantries or soup kitchens

 

 

(Google Images)

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/11/29/sustainable-gift-giving/