Considerate consumption is so in for our 2024 festive season!
As the festive season approaches, we start to think about the time-honoured tradition of gift giving and grapple with the many tricky questions it brings - what makes the perfect gift? Will they love it as much as we do? Is the colour right? The size? Finding the best way to express your love through a present can become a tricky and all-consuming project, and we all want to get it just right. But as we shop around, it’s all too easy to lose track of the consequences of our consumption, and sustainability becomes secondary to the myriad of other boxes we try to tick.
South Africans are set to spend over R200 billion on gifts this year, and we have to ask what this significant spend supports - extractive & exploitative industry? Single-use frivolities? Or local jobs, South African businesses and goods to bring joy for years to come? We at Sealand hope it is the latter, and provide products to satisfy even the most conscientious shopper!
We also believe that presentation is key - the gifting experience is intrinsically connected with the act of unwrapping, of surprise and delight! But this wrapping is another oft-overlooked element of our festive consumption, and whilst a beautifully wrapped gift brings joy, its environmental impact is usually anything but… Gaudy and bedazzled gift wrap can prove almost impossible to recycle through traditional streams due to heavy dye usage, glitter, tape and the like. This year we encourage you to use responsible wrapping as an easy and cost-effective way to reduce the environmental impact of your festive season.
How:
- Substitute single-use wrapping for wraps you can use again and again - think fabric, reusable boxes and little cloth bags
- Substitute plastic ornaments for natural decorations - fewer little disco balls, bows and baubles and more dried flowers, fruits and handmade cards
- Please. No glitter. Shiny micro plastics are never cute, no matter HOW SHINY they may be.
- Consider gifting vouchers, experiences or homemade gifts that may require little or no wrapping.
- Newspaper and brown paper bags can be easily reused or recycled and are easily decorated.
- Substitute string or twine for plastic tape wherever possible.
We like to practice what we preach, and have therefore introduced our fabric wrapping service at all stores for December - Wrap it Up!
Our awesome retail team will gladly wrap your purchase using an upcycled piece of fabric, drawing inspiration from the ancient Japanese art of Furoshiki - these fabrics can be endlessly reused for wrapping, bandannas, anything you’d like! We hope they will see service for years to come and become cornerstones of your festive experience.
Happy, conscious gifting!
