Fewer gifts, more cheer – making Christmas special
4/12/2024
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
It’s the same every year: as December advances, we’re gripped by a sense of obligation to buy presents. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Giving gifts at Christmas is a ritual that comes with more stress than joy. Why do we spend money on things that the recipients often don’t want or need? Not only is it a burden on the planet and your wallet, gift-giving often leads both sides frustrated, too. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: stop it. No more pressure, no guilt, just more quality time together – possibly the best gift of all.
And yes, that’s coming from someone who works for an online shop.
Giving gifts is so stressful
December approaches and nobody knows what to get each other. How frustrating given that the holidays would be a perfect time to kick back, spend time with friends and family or simply put your feet up. Instead, we rush through crowded shopping centres looking for that «perfect gift» or panic-buy online, already stressing about the parcel possibly arriving late.
And then what? The gift’s graciously handed over and opened with a fake smile – or how often have you really hit the bull’s-eye?
The recipient in a pickle
This is where the farce begins: the recipient will thank you profusely, while thinking, «I really have no use for this». At best, the gift will be used a few times, end up in a drawer or handed down to someone else.
And then there’s the option of putting a little effort in and selling. After all, who in this consumer society hasn’t made some hard cash from the odd gift they didn’t want in the first place?
I’ve always struggled to pretend and rarely fooled anyone. But it also took me a long time to get rid of almost all presents – except those for the kids when they were still small.
Presents are an economic and ecological disaster
If you think it through rationally, gift-giving makes no sense. You’re spending money on stuff the recipient wouldn’t have bought in the first place. Sure, you meant well, but it’s not economical.
And from an ecological perspective, gifts are a disaster. After all, it involves wasting precious resources from production to transportation to packaging. And the result? A product nobody wanted or needed. We live in one of the richest countries in the world and often already have all the material things we could wish for.
What about gift vouchers?
A gift voucher’s a bad deal. Let’s say you’ve spent 100 francs in exchange for a voucher that can only be spent with one provider for a limited time. Not to mention that a certain percentage of these vouchers are never redeemed. It’s a loss-making business for everyone – except for providers like us.
To make matters worse, gift vouchers also open doors for fraudsters and hackers. Voucher management systems are constantly under attack. This results in additional costs, which are passed on to the end customer.
The best gift: nothing
The festive season would be much more relaxed if we all just stopped giving presents. No stress, no pressure, just valuable time together with family and friends. If you address this openly, I’m sure you’ll be surprised how quickly everyone agrees. It would be the greatest gift for everyone involved – every year.
When gifts are worth getting
For people who don’t have money of their own, such as children (up to around 12 years old), gifts can be a nice thing. Here too, less is more. These days, kids are drowning in mountains of plastic toys, most of which end up gathering dust on a shelf.
Accept an «I don’t want anything»
One rule I always follow is to respect people’s wishes when they say they don’t want any gifts. And no, it’s not «nice» of you to get them something anyway. It’s simply disrespectful.
If you insist on giving a gifts
If you’re dead set on giving presents, I’d say there are two sensible options.
You could go for a secondhand item the recipient can exchange if they don’t like it. At least no additional resources are required to make the product.
Or simply give money. It’s the most practical gift because the recipient can put it towards exactly what they want or need. There’s no exchange hassle, no misunderstandings, just freedom of choice for the recipient. And honestly, what could be better than giving someone exactly what they’d get for themselves?
What’s more, you can also gift money in classy and creative ways.
Conclusion: Christmas without presents?
In the end, giving up gifts is liberating for all involved. There’s no pressure, no money thrown out the window, no wasted resources. Instead, there’s more time to spend with each other and real relaxation. Christmas could be so much nicer if we just focused on the essentials – maybe by gifting each other nothing.
Oliver Herren
Chief Innovation Officer
Oliver.Herren@digitecgalaxus.chCool: Creating interfaces between the real world and the world of pure information. Not cool: Driving by car to the mall to shop. My life happens online, the information age is where I feel at home.