| e weeks leading up to Christmas, sales increase | | | | valued by your loved ones. Once you have the |
| dramatically in almost all areas of retail. Shops | | | | knack of giving the right Christmas gifts to your |
| introduce hundreds of new products as people | | | | friends and family, you can start making a |
| buy more and more gifts, decorations and | | | | positive contribution to the spirit of giving at |
| supplies to take them through the Christmas | | | | Christmas! |
| period. | | | | Take your time |
| The ‘dead weight’ of bad gifts | | | | A mad rush around the shops on December 24 |
| However, despite all this mass buying of things, | | | | may suit your hectic lifestyle, but the likelihood of |
| the huge surge in sales at Christmas time actually | | | | finding truly ideal Christmas gifts that way is slim. |
| leads to what economists call a | | | | Instead, in the months leading up to Christmas, |
| ‘deadweight loss’. What this | | | | take a note of the interests and hobbies your |
| means is that the overall difference between | | | | friends and family are indulging in, and consider |
| what present givers spent on Christmas gifts, and | | | | activities they might enjoy but which they |
| what the gift receivers would have paid for the | | | | haven’t yet discovered for themselves. |
| same things, is a negative number (economists | | | | Join forces |
| calculate that in 2001 Christmas resulted in a $4 | | | | What gifts would help them achieve their goals, |
| billion deadweight loss in the U.S. alone). To put it | | | | appreciate their hobbies or simply enhance their |
| more simply, most Christmas gifts are not as | | | | lives from day to day? Perhaps there is a |
| welcome as they should be! | | | | Christmas gift which would benefit them, but |
| Clutter & mess | | | | which is too expensive for you to pay for. Could |
| Along with the fact that a person might not really | | | | you join up with other members of their family or |
| want the carefully chosen Christmas gift being | | | | friends and pay for the item together? |
| given to them, there tends to be a cost for | | | | Be original |
| upkeep and storage of the item – and its | | | | If you are absolutely certain that giving the same |
| contribution to clutter around the household ends | | | | present to a particular loved one every year will |
| up being a further nuisance to the receiver. | | | | make them happy, go ahead. But most people like |
| Excess wastage | | | | to be surprised once in a while! If you can find an |
| If presents end up in the dustbin then this | | | | original Christmas gift that suits a person’s |
| contributes to damage to the environment. Due | | | | character in some way then it will be a more |
| to the sheer scale of gift-giving at Christmas, the | | | | exciting present to receive. |
| environmental impact is significant. Bad Christmas | | | | Useful or beautiful |
| gifts are a burden to society. | | | | Finally, take inspiration from 19th century British |
| The art of gift-giving | | | | craftsman, designer and poet William Morris, who |
| But it doesn’t have to be this way! While | | | | said: ‘Have nothing in your house that you |
| none of us needs more bland cellophaned baskets | | | | do not know to be useful, or believe to be |
| of synthetic bath bombs and bodywashes, bags | | | | beautiful’. Ask this question of each |
| of tat destined for the landfill, there really is an art | | | | Christmas gift purchase you are about to make. |
| to gift-giving. | | | | If it is neither useful nor beautiful, go and put it |
| It is possible to give presents which will truly be | | | | back on the shelf! |