PRE-SHOPPING TIPS:
1. Take stock of what you have. Check for things that can be repaired, reused,
recycled or even re-gifted before buying new items.
2. Write down all your holiday necessities and take this list when you shop to
avoid impulsive purchases.
3. Organize and plan your trips to the palengke, supermarkets or malls to
reduce transportation costs as well as ease holiday traffic jams.
4. Set a holiday budget and avoid straying from it; remember to save enough for
post-December expenses.
5. Look out for holiday sales to avail of deep discounts for stuff that you and
your family truly need. Watch out and support charity fairs such as those meant
to help survivors of super typhoon Yolanda in rebuilding their homes and lives.
ACTUAL SHOPPING TIPS:
1. Bring your own bayong or reusable
carry bags when you shop. Drop plastic bags, join the reusable bag bandwagon.
2. Consider buying in bulk to cut on product cost as well as packaging waste.
3. Pick products with the slightest packaging and avoid excessively packed
items.
4. Select products made of recycled materials and with the most recycled
contents.
5. Seek and buy goods that are durable and can be repaired, reused, recycled or
passed on to other users.
6. Patronize locally-produced stuff, support the local economy and lessen
greenhouse gas emissions.
7. Save receipts in case you need to return defective goods and wrong sizes and
requirements.
ALTERNATIVE GIFT GIVING:
1. Think about re-giving gifts that you may have obtained at one time but have
not used.
2. Look through your closet and give away clothes and accessories that your
relatives and friends might have been admiring for some time like a pretty
scarf, a nice jacket, a cute bag, etc.
3. Share books that have been read and stored in your shelf to friends who
share the same interest.
4. Write heartfelt messages to family and friends on recycled Christmas cards
and include a photo or two you have of them.
5. Cut up old Christmas cards and reuse them as gift tags.
6. Send e-cards in lieu of paper cards. Personalize them with your own graphic
designs or choice photos.
7. Share your signature home-made goodies and dishes, especially from “secret”
personal or family recipes.
8. Cook Noche Buena dinners for
street children or to families who do not have anything to eat on Christmas
Eve.
9. Tell your loved ones that instead of giving them gifts this year, you will
make donations in their names to charities, orphanages and environmental
projects.
10. Draw or paint creative stuff on flat and smooth stones to make
paperweights, plain mugs to make pencil holder or bayong or katsa bag to
make your shopping bags more “sosyal.”
11. Choose gifts that come with little or no packaging at all such as gift
certificates, movie or concert tickets, bus or train passes, raffle coupons,
etc.
12. Don’t wrap gifts. If wrapping is really needed, try old magazines or
newspapers, discarded bandannas or fabric scraps. You can also use craft paper
and jazz it up with colored pencils.
13. Give gifts that grow and restore the environment such as plant and flower
seeds or bulbs, kitchen herbs or tree saplings.
14. If you feel that you absolutely have to buy something, then patronize local
products such as handicrafts made by indigenous and rural communities, jail
detainees and the urban poor, non-toxic
personal care items, organic products from health and wellness groups, reusable
bags from women’s and environmental groups, and other gift items from charities
and cooperatives.
15. Buy simple notebooks, cover them with attractive used fabrics and write
inspirational verses or excerpts from poems and songs at the bottom of every
15th page.
16. When giving toys, choose ones that are free of choking, laceration,
strangulation and toxic hazards, age-appropriate and properly labeled.
17. Shun replica guns and other war toys. Go for toys that promote creativity,
non-aggressive behavior and social harmony.
18. Gift your barangay by leading or getting involved in a neighborhood project
that will serve the poor or preserve the community environment.
-end-