It’s not just gifts that we waste at Christmas. But it’s a rare person who can’t find something they want at the mall. If all else fails, buy a voucher for a mall. Consider buying consumables like nice soaps, or yummy treats, which will at least get used. If you don’t want to buy experiences, consider DIY gifts such as baking, or a gift card for something such as a special homemade dinner, or night of babysitting. Beware that even “eco” gifts aren’t “eco” if they’re not used. That’s better than an item that either ends up in landfill, or replaces something else that suffers the same fate. If you’re buying a present because you should, consider buying an experience. But Wallis still sees a lot of company-branded glasses, cups, shirts and so on. Companies are becoming more aware of sustainability, thank goodness, and aren’t giving staff and clients too many gimmicky corporate gifts. ![]() Unwanted corporate gifts are also common. Like all the recycle/resource recovery centres in New Zealand, Waiuku Zero Waste, has a lot of silly gifts such as toilet golf dumped on it. “Also endless decorations and Christmas trees.” “We get lots of the bigger items which have been upgraded at Christmas like BBQs and the like,” says Wallis. ![]() The massive recycle centre is inundated with discarded items each New Year. Sue Wallis, general manager at Waiuku Zero Waste gets to see the hangovers of Christmas past. Op shops don’t need nasty-smelling donations. They go off after a while and start to smell bad. ![]() On the subject of candles and unopened beauty products. Candles appeared in many of those lists, which surprised me, because I love good ones. I read a pile of articles and surveys of the least wanted gifts.
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