Here at Aimless Ranch, we’re preparing to get and give our usual roster of gifts this Christmas season: nothing at all for or from anybody. I don’t advocate that for everyone. But please, in these sensitive environmental times, if you’re going to indulge, please think about what you buy and its effect on the bigger picture.
Based on an article in the shrill and inimitable Republic of East Vancouver newspaper, here are some worthy suggestions for alternative gift-giving.
- Memberships — the gym, the RES, the Botanical Gardens, or some other worthy facility about town.
- Classes — music lessons, yoga sessions, karate, pottery studio time, or anything put on by our WestCoast rec departments.
- Fab food — organic chocolate, artisan jams and honeys, homemade pie, killer coffee.
- Local art, created by people you pass on the street every day.
- Sports gear — running shoes, hockey sticks, rain gear, camping supplies.
- Vintage rags from the second-hand shops in town.
- Gift certificates for your favourite shop in town.
- Donations or memberships to organizations you know the giftee would support — the Friends of Clayoquot Sound, the arts society, the streamkeepers … pick a cause!
More suggestions? Leave ’em in the comments below.
Greg Blee 