A 100-Mile Holiday

This year my family has decided to celebrate the holiday by being a little kinder to the environment, and to ourselves.

I must start by saying we have never been extravagant spenders at Christmas. My husband and I have been married for thirty-one years and raised two amazing children, and our one “rule” about the holidays has always been that if we couldn’t afford to pay cash for gifts and other holiday items, we didn’t buy them.

This year we’ve decided, as a family, to take this one step further.

We’re having a 100-mile holiday.

As much as possible, everything under the tree and served at Christmas dinner will come from a 100-mile radius of where we live. This might not save much money, but that’s not really our goal. The things we buy will not be shipped halfway around the world, so we hope to minimize our ecological footprint and support our local economy.

At first I wasn’t sure we could pull it off—and I’m still not one hundred percent convinced we can—but we’re going to give it our best shot.

Christmas dinner shouldn’t be a problem. I always buy a locally raised, organic turkey, and there’s lots of fresh, local produce available. A number of local vineyards produce stellar wines, so that’s covered, too! The flour in the bread stuffing will have to come from afar–no wheat fields here on the west coast—but we’ll be sure to use locally baked bread.

So what about gifts? Believe it or not, that’s been the really fun part. Without giving too much away—my family reads these posts!—I can safely say this will be an interesting Christmas.

Local craft fairs offer lots of options—hand-knitted socks and scarves and mittens, unique works of art, consumables (pickles, jams and hand-rolled beeswax candles, etc.), and gorgeous one-of-a-kind Christmas ornaments.

We’ve even purchased wonderful little stocking stuffers that have an added bonus—the sellers are donating all proceeds to a local charity.

And after thirty-one years of marriage, my husband and I are enjoying the quality time spent choosing gifts at craft fairs. Who knew?

A few people on my gift list will receive gift certificates this year, and I'm kind of hoping they plan to reciprocate ;). The possibilities are practically endless. Grocery stores, thrift stores, house cleaners, manicurists, massage therapists, hair dressers, auto mechanics, gardeners, university bookstores, daycare centers, dog groomers, etc., all offer gift certificates.

So, can my family do this? Will there be compromises? Exceptions? You bet there will. We’ve already decided we can live with a few.

Books make great gifts but there are no publishing companies where we live. However, we can buy books from locally owned, independent booksellers.

Recycled items are often just as good as new, so if something comes from a secondhand store, or a thrift store that supports local charities, the item itself can have originated more than 100 miles away.

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year—I really do love it—and I’m looking forward to this one more than any other I can remember. For me, it’s all about family. I love to decorate the house and prepare the food and spend Christmas Day with the people I love. And when you think about it, isn’t that what the holidays are all about?

This year I also hope to do the holidays in a way that’s eco-friendly and stress free, and I hope for the same for you and your family.

Until next time,
Lee
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