Five traditions to ditch this year
Stepawayfromthe fakesnow. reckonsit’s timeweembracedbeing in the southernhemisphere.
Don’t come at me, but I put my Christmas tree up last month. It’s the first time I’ve put it up that early, but if there was ever a year when early Christmas cheer was needed, it was 2020.
But it occurred to me, as I popped my plastic tree topper atop my plastic tree, not everything about Christmas is bright or beautiful. In fact, some of it is downright toxic. So here are five Christmas traditions that need to get in the bin.
Trees
I know, I’m being a hypocrite, because I love my tree, but hear me out...
There are folks who’ll tell you the real tree versus fake tree debate is fierce and complex, but I say bah-humbug to that.
Real trees are a pain in the butt and what’s more, they don’t work here. It’s summer and the sap in the trees hasn’t been frozen solid by the preternaturally cold winters of the northern hemisphere, making hanging baubles from them tricky.
Also, three days after you get one inside, all the needles fall off and you’re left with the sorriest looking twig in a bucket imaginable. And then you chuck it in landfill.
Fake trees aren’t that great either but I’ve had mine for 15 years and it looks as good as new.
If you have a good-quality one, that you use and store correctly, you will get years and years of use out if it. Also, you’re unlikely to have an allergic reaction to it, unlike a real tree.
I know they smell great, but that’s what the good Lord invented scented candles for. Duh.
Fake snow
It’s time we ditched that aesthetic and embraced our South Pacific summer vibes.
Why not string our trees with garlands of paper frangipani flowers? Instead of pine spray on the mantle, flowering ma¯nuka, shiny taupata or Christmas-coloured po¯hutukawa? Instead of a giant roast turkey with all the trimmings, how about a barbecue, with salads and Oka I’a (delicious raw fish ‘‘cooked’’ in coconut milk and lime)?
It’s our day: Let’smake it about who and where we really are.
Terrible tinsel
I like sparkly pretty things as much as the next guy, but tinsel, the long, loud, nasty older cousin of glitter, is evil.
Not just because last year some nitwit in Wellington tied native birds up in it, but that sort of thing doesn’t help its case.
Tinsel and glitter flakes into the environment, contributing to microplastic contamination, an environmental issue that is globally significant.
Also, and Imean this with the utmost respect for individual taste, too much tinsel is tacky as hell.
Ditching the Chrimbo bling doesn’t mean Christmas has to be all neutral mattes, however. Paper bunting, pompoms and flowers dusted with bio-glitter can add a bit of sparkle to any tree.
Creatiastics make a set of 12 coloured bioglitters for just $17.20 – get your sparkle on.
Ditching the Chrimbo bling doesn’t mean Christmas has to be all neutral mattes, however. Paper bunting, pompoms and flowers dusted with bio-glitter can add a bit of sparkle to any tree.
Secret Santa
This has been said so many times, but bears repeating: No-one wants or needs some piece of junk from the $2 shop to feel like a valued member of the team.
If you must do an office secret Santa, how about hitting the op shops and finding something quirky and unique there?
Last year I got my pal a pewter tankard for $2 from my local sale rooms as a secret Santa gift. A lot more useful and substantial than awacky pair of sunglasses with giant pineapples on the frame.
Panic buying
Panicked last-minute shopping – of any random thing that comes desperately to mind – is a tradition that needs to die. Christmas gift-giving has become less about showing your affection for a loved one, than giving the economy a bit of a boost with wanton spending.
We pile our kids with mountains of plastic tat, give panic-bought, or too-costly gifts, and often end up over-extending ourselves emotionally and financially, and for what? I can’t even recall half the things Iwas given in 2019, can you?
How about offering your time or creativity instead? Help organise your Aunty Marge’s pantry, or clean out the guttering.
Make cookies, or prints of a cherished family picture. You could even go all out and ditch gifts altogether andmake a large donation to a charity you choose together, on behalf of the whole whanau.
After all, the spirit of Christmas isn’t getting mountains of tat you don’t know what to do with. It’s friends, family, kindness, and good will to all.