TURN YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING INTO A FORCE FOR CHANGE: STRATEGIES FOR ECO-FRIENDLY GIFT-GIVING

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The holiday season often evokes images of bustling malls, long shopping lists, and beautifully wrapped presents. Yet, amidst this festive hustle, a pressing question arises: Can holiday shopping become a catalyst for sustainability and positive change? In the latest podcast episode, Florencia Ramirez takes listeners on a transformative journey, offering strategies for eco-friendly gift-giving that align with environmental and personal well-being values.

In this episode, Florencia delves into mindful shopping, highlighting the significant impact our spending can have during the holiday season. With U.S. holiday spending projected to surpass $1 trillion, there's immense potential to channel this economic energy toward supporting eco-friendly businesses and local artisans. By choosing thoughtful, sustainable gifts, we promote environmental wellness and nurture our communities.

The episode provides practical ideas like shopping from farmers' markets or supporting local vendors. It even suggests gifting items like apple cider vinegar in glass bottles with reusable straws, emphasizing health and sustainability. The episode goes beyond individual choices, underscoring the power of collective action in driving change.

Here are the links to the farmers' market business mentioned in the episode:

Chocolatier- Ex Voto
Coffee Roaster- Ragamuffin and Beacon
Spirits- Alquimia Tequila
Apple Cider Vinegar- Cuyama

Reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas at [e-mail]

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
I'm glad you're here.
Together, we will turn ourshared concern about the state
of our environment into a forcefor change.
It will require you toreimagine the role of your home
kitchen as more than a warehouseof food or a room where we cook
and gather to eat.
The time has come to enter yourkitchen with eyes open to the

(00:24):
transformative power itharnesses for the planet and you
.
The home kitchen has alwaysbeen ground zero for positive
environmental and social change.
Waiting for you to take yourposition as a kitchen activist
Now that you arrived, you willchange the world with what you

(00:45):
eat.
Hi, my name is FlorenciaRamirez.

(01:10):
I'm your host of the KitchenActivist.
Welcome back.
We are here to explore ways tolive more sustainably, starting
in the heart of the home, whichis our kitchen.
So today I want to talk about atopic that's on everyone's mind
.
As we're getting closer to theChristmas holiday, to the

(01:30):
Hanukkah holiday, thegift-giving holiday season, I've
been thinking a lot about howdo I want to shop and use my
dollars to make a difference?
Because, as I talk about withkitchen activism, I talk a lot
about how our food shopping canbe such a force for good by

(01:53):
aligning ourselves with asolution and with people who are
at the front lines of climateaction, of water conservation,
of saving this planet, and thatwe can align ourselves through
our dollars, through thiscurrency of energy, to support
that work.
Well, it's absolutely the samewhen we talk about using our

(02:17):
dollars for this gift-givingseason.
So I started to think about howcan I align my shopping for
other stuff, other holiday stuff, with this idea of using that
energy which is contained in mymoney to support the things that

(02:39):
I care about, which is thehealth of this planet, the
health of workers, my health andthe health of the people who I
care about.
So here's a staggeringstatistic to kick things off,
just to give us a perspective ofhow much money we actually
spend, imagining how we coulduse that power, that energy, if

(03:02):
we were to funnel it towards thetypes of businesses that we
want to grow.
In the US alone, holidayspending is expected to exceed
$1 trillion this year.
Globally, that number jumps toover $2 trillion.
That is a tremendous amount ofmoney or energy that we can

(03:26):
harness for good.
I can't control the way anybodyelse spends their money, but I
can make that decision formyself and I'm just going to
share what it is that I plan todo and maybe give you ideas of
how you can approach yourholiday shopping if you're

(03:47):
feeling that same hesitationwhen approaching shopping again
in the same ways, which isgetting on Amazon and buying
lots of things that are madefrom plastic and supporting
these huge corporateconglomerates.
So if you're having the samekind of gut response, that just

(04:09):
doesn't feel right.
I got you, I have some goodideas to share with you, but I
do want to just say this thatobviously we're not getting this
right either, because thestudies show that more than half
of the people don't actuallylike the gifts they receive.
So we're spending all of thistime, money and effort to think

(04:34):
about what to buy people andthey don't even like it.
Half the time they don't evenlike it or they're not using it,
and then all of that just endsup where Right.
It's resources that are wasted.
It's time to reimagine it andto reinvent what gift giving can
look like, just as I approachmy food shopping every week, you

(04:59):
shop your kitchen first, thefarmer's market second and the
grocery store third, and so inthis way I'm thinking about it.
Okay, I could shop my housefirst, because I do have gifts
here that I've collected.
So shop your kitchen, shop yourhouse and shop your garden.

(05:21):
Maybe your garden also has somebeautiful flowers that you can
dry those of us who live inareas where there's still
flowers and create something.
Can you harvest some fruits andput that into a beautiful bowl
or basket for somebody?
So think about what is it thatyou have, first at your home?
The second thing is to shopyour farmer's market, and this

(05:46):
is where I have a lot of goodideas.
And when I say farmer's market,and this is where I have a lot
of good ideas, and when I sayfarmer's market, yes, the tents
that pop up somewhere nearby ina empty parking lot or at the
park, but I also mean thefarmer's market that's happening
all around us, the brick andmortar farmer's market, like
your chocolatier, your baker,your coffee roaster, and then

(06:10):
you also have your virtualfarmer's market, right, because
many of these vendors that youfind either at your farmer's
market, with the pop-up tentsthat come to your community once
a week, maybe twice a week Also, these small shops, these small
brick and mortar shops, many ofthem have a virtual marketplace

(06:33):
where they need us to shop andgive them also that stream of
income.
So there's all of these ways toshop the farmer's market,
farmer's markets they'rebursting with unique, thoughtful
gifts that include handmadegoods and also wonderful foods
that we could think about.

(06:55):
Let me share some of the ideasthat I've thought about that I
plan to do.
I plan to shop my farmersmarket in the next couple weeks.
For example, my sister-in-lawmentioned that she wants to
incorporate apple cider vinegarinto her daily ritual to
increase her gut health.

(07:15):
I know that at my farmer'smarket there's a small batch
apple cider vinegar that's usingan ancient fermentation
technique.
It's organic and it's in agorgeous glass bottle, no
plastic involved.
I plan to also include astainless steel straw because
that when I drink my apple cidervinegar, that's a little hack

(07:38):
that I do so that I can protectthe enamel on my teeth.
So I'll pair that the applecider vinegar, with a nice
reusable stainless steel straw.
And there you go.
It's a sweet gift that willpromote my sister-in-law's
health and hopefully it'llintroduce her to this apple

(08:00):
cider vinegar and she'll go backto the farmer's market and
support them again.
At my farmer's market there's apotter.
She's a lovely person.
I'm always happy to support her.
She has mug berry bowls.
I can purchase a mug, and thatalone is a wonderful gift, or I
could pair it with coffee.

(08:21):
The roaster that I have in mycommunity, beacon, is one that I
love, and Ragamuffin so thoseare just two in my community
that are purchasing direct fromsmall scale farmers in the
tropics who are organic andusing techniques in alignment
with nature.
They are doing so muchwonderful work to bring us

(08:44):
coffee that's clean and good forour bodies and good for the
planet.
I can just give the gift ofcoffee.
I could give the gift of ahand-thrown mug, or I can pair
it together and have a reallywonderful gift for somebody.
So here's some other ideas.
I mentioned hand-thrown pottery, handmade jewelry, local honey

(09:07):
or dried floral arrangements.
If I was in Santa Fe, there'salways some wonderful wreaths
made from chilies.
For example, there's woodencutting boards or centerpieces,
artisanal skincare products andeco-friendly candles, organic

(09:27):
produce baskets or potted plants, thinking about these gifts
being the base of your gift.
And then you could always addon things Like, for example,
with jams or nut butters.
You could add on a lovely olivewood spoon or olive wood knife,

(09:48):
and I love olive wood.
It's incredibly sustainablebecause the way it's harvested,
they don't cut down olive woodtrees and olive trees can grow
for a thousand years, so theyjust harvest.
They harvest branches, andthat's why olive wood products
tend to be smaller, like kitchenutensils or cutting boards,

(10:11):
bowls.
That's something that can lastsomebody for years and years.
At the end of its life cycle,it can be composted, unlike
plastic.
Speaking of plastic, a plasticbag lasts 10 to 20 years, a
plastic straw 200 years.
A plastic bottle lasts us 450years and fishing line 600 years

(10:36):
.
And remember, plastic doesn'tfully biodegrade.
Instead, it photodegrades intosmaller pieces called
microplastic, which arepersistent indefinitely.
So, also, thinking aboutChristmas decorations a plastic
Christmas tree versus a realChristmas tree.
That's biodegradable, which iswhy I buy a Christmas tree from

(11:00):
a FSC certified source, wherethey're growing trees and on
farms.
So, thinking about Christmasgarlands too, like Christmas
garlands cannot be recycled.
I would like to have a Christmasgarland to go on my staircase,
which is nothing that is needed,but it's something that I
wanted.
And I started to look on Amazonbecause I'd like the knee jerk

(11:26):
response for me and I realized Idon't want to have this plastic
thing up going up my stairs,because what is what?
What's gonna happen once I'mdone with it?
So then I went on FacebookMarketplace to see what was out
there and then I realized let methink differently about this.
What's another way that I canpurchase a decoration but still

(11:50):
be in alignment with my values,which is to bring no harm to the
planet with my purchase?
Then it occurred to me whatabout felt?
I went on to Etsy instead andI'm remembering Etsy as like
this collection of a farmer'smarket a lot of small scale
makers, different small scaleartisans who are going above and

(12:13):
beyond with the types ofproducts that they're producing,
and that is certainly the casewith this garland that I
purchased from a small shop.
They hand sew the felt.
It is actually less expensiveto buy this felted garland than
it would have been to buy thisplastic one.
So, just thinking outside thebox, when we shop our farmer's

(12:36):
market, we eliminate themiddleman.
So when I'm purchasing directfrom that shop and from Etsy, or
I go to the farmer's market andI'm purchasing direct from them
, if I go to my chocolatier, Iplan to get small boxes of
chocolate from our localchocolatier, who is purchasing
direct from cacao producers inthe tropics who are using

(12:58):
organic methods and not cuttingdown forests to grow their
chocolate Shopping.
This way has so many benefits.
For one, it eliminates themiddleman.
It ensures that more of ourdollars go directly to the
people creating these products,often as much as 90 cents per
dollar, compared to 14 centswhen we buy from a big box store

(13:22):
.
I mean, think about that, that,90 cents versus 14 cents.
So I'm focusing on gifts thatare made with long lasting or
compostable materials.
To minimize my waste, I'mchoosing local and
planet-friendly gifts that helpto reduce the environmental
impact of the holiday season.
So let's circle back to thosenumbers Trillions spent.

(13:45):
Half of all gifts are unloved.
40% of people are going intodebt, and it doesn't have to be
this way.
Are going into debt, and itdoesn't have to be this way.
So what if, instead of buyinggeneric, mass-produced items, we
choose gifts that support localeconomies, that bring joy to
the people we care about andhonor the planet at the same

(14:06):
time?
So I'm going to just give Do arundown of some gift ideas Small
batch vinegars, jams, nutbutters, and think about pairing
it with an olive wood spoon, asweet spoon.
Hand-thrown pottery, handmadejewelry, local honey, dried
floral arrangements, woodencutting boards or centerpieces,

(14:29):
skin care products made in smallbatches from small scale
businesses nearby, eco-friendlycandles, organic produce baskets
or potted plants.
Think about organic spirits,like I wrote in my book alchemia
, tequila, so that could bepaired with some shot glasses,

(14:52):
biodynamic wine, vineyards, ifyou live close by vineyards, or
you can order that online on thevirtual market farmer's
marketplace.
Coffee from your local roasters, who are thoughtfully procuring
their beans from sustainablesources.
The same goes for chocolateyour local chocolatiers.

(15:17):
Do you have a cheesemonger inyour community where you can
purchase some really beautifulcheeses and support organic
dairies locally and also aroundthe globe?
So I hope these give you someideas.
Think about what's available atyour farmer's market.
And I hope these give you someideas.
Think about what's available atyour farmer's market and I'd
love to hear your ideas.

(15:37):
Drop me an email.
You can find my email on theshow notes.
You can message me on socialmedia.
You can find all the placesthat I am on the show notes as
well.
This holiday season, let'sremember there's power in the
collective.
This holiday season, let'sremember there's power in the
collective.
So by shifting how we shop, wecan create a ripple effect that

(16:00):
supports small-scale producers,nurtures the planet and builds
stronger communities.
If you're looking for more waysto live sustainably, download
my free meal plan template,because that is such a powerful
place to begin kitchen activism,and it will not only will make
your life more joyful at the endof the day when it's time to

(16:22):
think about what to make fordinner, but it will reduce waste
and save you money.
And don't forget to tune inagain to the next episode of the
Kitchen Activist.
So until then, happy giftgiving and happy planet saving.
There is power in thecollective.
Let's stay connected.

(16:42):
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(17:03):
find us.
Thank you for joining me onthis journey.
Together, we will write thestory of wellbeing for this
planet we have the privilege tocall home.