November 22, 2024 • 7 mins
Christmas is coming, bringing with it an overabundance of waste.
If you’re interested in making your Christmas celebrations a little more sustainable, Kate Hall has a few tips and tricks, including a list of over a hundred sustainable present ideas.
She joined Jack Tame for a chat about gifts they’ve given and received in the past, as well as explained the “no gift” Christmases her family has done – focusing instead on quality time or acts of service.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be time to getch up with that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sustainability commentator Kate Hall aka Ethically Kate Guilder. Well, Christmas
is upon us once again, and one thing that I
know you and I are absolutely aligned on is that
one of the great mistakes in life is that people
end up spending way too much money on gifts that
no one actually wants. It's just one of those ridiculous things.
And I am just so with you and that we
(00:36):
should be giving thoughtful gifts, but maybe giving experiences rather
than stuff that cost the world. And if you are
going to give a gift, you really don't want to
be spending the world, but you want to be thinking
quite carefully about it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Absolutely, I think Christmas can be a really stressful time
for people because it's a financial burden, and you know,
there's all this responsibility about the right gifts, and then
the gifts ultimately end up not being used. Yeah, And
so we can use it as a really great time
to actually get creatives and yeah, to give back and
(01:09):
show our friends and family that we love them in
ways that actually don't cost the earth and don't cost
you know, so much for our wallets.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yes, yes, Now I don't know how what shou break
this down, but let's start off by just thinking about
some alternatives to like material gifts, and then we can
talk about the material gift side of things if you
want to go down that path, because you've got a
great blog with suggestions there. But if you don't want
to end up spending hundreds of dollars on something or
on you know, on an item as such, what are
(01:39):
some alternatives to that.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So we've got a classic kind of gift out to
things like a massage or an experience, you know, bungee jumping.
That's not my cup of tea, but you know, doing
something outdoors, really thinking about the person and what they'd
like to do, and I can guarantee you know they're
going to remember that experience more than you know, just
the random knick knack you've picked up last minute from
(02:04):
them all. So thinking about the experiences and yeah, what
actually people like to do? Also thinking about how can
I how can I give back this Christmas? So like
one year with my Fino, we didn't go physical gifts.
We gave money to certain charities, but keeping in mind
(02:24):
the person we were giving it too. So for example,
my brother is a great musician, and I gave I
think how budget it was about fifty dollars to a
music therapy organization.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So yeah, you know, so it's not just you know,
kind of giving back kind of randomly to any old organization,
but it's there's that personalized element too. Yeah, so yeah,
you're giving back. Like he felt great, we all felt great,
and we sat around and exchanged those gifts and had
a really yeah cool kind of time just talking about
those different organizations as a family, and there was no
(02:59):
kind of need for wrapping paper bundles in the corner.
There's yeah, no rubbish enroll in that. So those experiences
and giving back, I think some.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Of the English at once, even speaking as a as
a gift receiver, I mean, I'm just I'm like the
world most difficult person to buy for. But that's the point,
I guess I don't I don't necessarily want to be
bought for in that In that in that honestly, having
an experience is as valuable to me as anything like
give me a memory. You know, that's that's the that's
the thing that you cherish and years.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
To come exactly. And there's you know, like different love
languages we talk about, right, So physical gifts is just
one of them, you know, the experiences and spending time
as another. But one thing I also really like we
did once with my family is kind of acts of
service instead. So we like my sister were a little
voucher for setting up kind of a lovely romantic dinner
(03:56):
with me and my husband Tim, Tim and I gave
mom and dad a vouchers for two hours of cleaning
their house, you know, different things. That's like, actually, we're
going to be helpful and are going to do something
that doesn't you know, need to cost a lot. Yeah,
but it's also showing that actually, in the new year,
we want to spend time with you and you know,
(04:17):
like keep up the relationship. Kind of a nice thing
to also say, you know, because with an experience, you
can be involved in that experience with the person too,
So it's quite Yeah, it's a much more thoughtful gesture
than just a random T shirt You've to them all.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, I like that. Okay, that being said, sometimes you
do want to give a gift. Sometimes you want to
give a physical thing to someone and you have very
very carefully considered a whole range of different gifts, and
you put together a list. I think it's like one
hundred different products, right. But the thing that you've done
very really well is you've gone through some of those
classic gift categories. So you've got like really ethically sourced socks,
(04:55):
for example, chocolate, wine, all of that good stuff. So
why don't you just pick a couple of favorite items
on there and maybe give us the copepper behind your list.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, so I decided most years I kind of sometimes
feel like a bit of a Christmas Grinch because you know,
I do say, just give an experience, just do something different,
like I've explained, which is great, But I think every year,
even though I try to give those gifts as well,
I always have to buy something. You know, there's a
(05:26):
neighbor or an ant, or someone who you know you
may not know well enough to give a proper experience
bacher or something like that. So I chose all the
classic gif Christmas gifts for a reason. I actually asked
my community online, you know one of the most classic gifts,
so you know, soaps, and you're, like, I said, wine, chocolate, socks.
(05:49):
This is about twenty one categories on there and I
spent several months. I started this way back in July
August looking at brands who have different credentials like they're
made in New Zealand, or they're ethically made, they have
much better packaging, better more sustainable postage to you. A
(06:11):
lot of small businesses, so small kind of family run businesses,
which is you know, it's it's Christmas for them, for
us to be able to support them. And when you
bring something I find, you know, even if it is
a soap, which can be a really you know, low
cost point, if it's a soap that is made you
know by oh Goodness in Wellington, it comes with the
(06:34):
extra story. It is like this is made you know
by you know, one person who has a great little
workshop down there, and it's a small cost point, but
it comes with that story and it can actually feel like,
you know, you're not You're not just buying something small,
You're it's actually quite big impact. So yeah, there are
over one hundred different brands and options. Lots of discount
(06:57):
codes too, because again I think especially this Christmas, everyone's
really feeling it financially, so it needs to be sustainable
financially for you too. So I hope that list means that, Yeah,
people feel a little less overwhemed.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, I think they're will thank you. Kate. That is
Kate Hall. She is our sustainability commentator and you can
find her on all of the social media platforms by
searching ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be time to getch up with that.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Sustainability commentator Kate Hall aka Ethically Kate Guilder. Well, Christmas
is upon us once again, and one thing that I
know you and I are absolutely aligned on is that
one of the great mistakes in life is that people
end up spending way too much money on gifts that
no one actually wants. It's just one of those ridiculous things.
And I am just so with you and that we
(00:36):
should be giving thoughtful gifts, but maybe giving experiences rather
than stuff that cost the world. And if you are
going to give a gift, you really don't want to
be spending the world, but you want to be thinking
quite carefully about it.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Absolutely, I think Christmas can be a really stressful time
for people because it's a financial burden, and you know,
there's all this responsibility about the right gifts, and then
the gifts ultimately end up not being used. Yeah, And
so we can use it as a really great time
to actually get creatives and yeah, to give back and
(01:09):
show our friends and family that we love them in
ways that actually don't cost the earth and don't cost
you know, so much for our wallets.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yes, yes, Now I don't know how what shou break
this down, but let's start off by just thinking about
some alternatives to like material gifts, and then we can
talk about the material gift side of things if you
want to go down that path, because you've got a
great blog with suggestions there. But if you don't want
to end up spending hundreds of dollars on something or
on you know, on an item as such, what are
(01:39):
some alternatives to that.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
So we've got a classic kind of gift out to
things like a massage or an experience, you know, bungee jumping.
That's not my cup of tea, but you know, doing
something outdoors, really thinking about the person and what they'd
like to do, and I can guarantee you know they're
going to remember that experience more than you know, just
the random knick knack you've picked up last minute from
(02:04):
them all. So thinking about the experiences and yeah, what
actually people like to do? Also thinking about how can
I how can I give back this Christmas? So like
one year with my Fino, we didn't go physical gifts.
We gave money to certain charities, but keeping in mind
(02:24):
the person we were giving it too. So for example,
my brother is a great musician, and I gave I
think how budget it was about fifty dollars to a
music therapy organization.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So yeah, you know, so it's not just you know,
kind of giving back kind of randomly to any old organization,
but it's there's that personalized element too. Yeah, so yeah,
you're giving back. Like he felt great, we all felt great,
and we sat around and exchanged those gifts and had
a really yeah cool kind of time just talking about
those different organizations as a family, and there was no
(02:59):
kind of need for wrapping paper bundles in the corner.
There's yeah, no rubbish enroll in that. So those experiences
and giving back, I think some.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Of the English at once, even speaking as a as
a gift receiver, I mean, I'm just I'm like the
world most difficult person to buy for. But that's the point,
I guess I don't I don't necessarily want to be
bought for in that In that in that honestly, having
an experience is as valuable to me as anything like
give me a memory. You know, that's that's the that's
the thing that you cherish and years.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
To come exactly. And there's you know, like different love
languages we talk about, right, So physical gifts is just
one of them, you know, the experiences and spending time
as another. But one thing I also really like we
did once with my family is kind of acts of
service instead. So we like my sister were a little
voucher for setting up kind of a lovely romantic dinner
(03:56):
with me and my husband Tim, Tim and I gave
mom and dad a vouchers for two hours of cleaning
their house, you know, different things. That's like, actually, we're
going to be helpful and are going to do something
that doesn't you know, need to cost a lot. Yeah,
but it's also showing that actually, in the new year,
we want to spend time with you and you know,
(04:17):
like keep up the relationship. Kind of a nice thing
to also say, you know, because with an experience, you
can be involved in that experience with the person too,
So it's quite Yeah, it's a much more thoughtful gesture
than just a random T shirt You've to them all.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, I like that. Okay, that being said, sometimes you
do want to give a gift. Sometimes you want to
give a physical thing to someone and you have very
very carefully considered a whole range of different gifts, and
you put together a list. I think it's like one
hundred different products, right. But the thing that you've done
very really well is you've gone through some of those
classic gift categories. So you've got like really ethically sourced socks,
(04:55):
for example, chocolate, wine, all of that good stuff. So
why don't you just pick a couple of favorite items
on there and maybe give us the copepper behind your list.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, so I decided most years I kind of sometimes
feel like a bit of a Christmas Grinch because you know,
I do say, just give an experience, just do something different,
like I've explained, which is great, But I think every year,
even though I try to give those gifts as well,
I always have to buy something. You know, there's a
(05:26):
neighbor or an ant, or someone who you know you
may not know well enough to give a proper experience
bacher or something like that. So I chose all the
classic gif Christmas gifts for a reason. I actually asked
my community online, you know one of the most classic gifts,
so you know, soaps, and you're, like, I said, wine, chocolate, socks.
(05:49):
This is about twenty one categories on there and I
spent several months. I started this way back in July
August looking at brands who have different credentials like they're
made in New Zealand, or they're ethically made, they have
much better packaging, better more sustainable postage to you. A
(06:11):
lot of small businesses, so small kind of family run businesses,
which is you know, it's it's Christmas for them, for
us to be able to support them. And when you
bring something I find, you know, even if it is
a soap, which can be a really you know, low
cost point, if it's a soap that is made you
know by oh Goodness in Wellington, it comes with the
(06:34):
extra story. It is like this is made you know
by you know, one person who has a great little
workshop down there, and it's a small cost point, but
it comes with that story and it can actually feel like,
you know, you're not You're not just buying something small,
You're it's actually quite big impact. So yeah, there are
over one hundred different brands and options. Lots of discount
(06:57):
codes too, because again I think especially this Christmas, everyone's
really feeling it financially, so it needs to be sustainable
financially for you too. So I hope that list means that, Yeah,
people feel a little less overwhemed.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, I think they're will thank you. Kate. That is
Kate Hall. She is our sustainability commentator and you can
find her on all of the social media platforms by
searching ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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