A} EDITOR JARED GNAM Vancouver's Adbusters wigeds you to spend less By ALANNA HARDINGE-ROONEY s many Langara students and their fami- lies brace for the frenzied parking lots and shopping malls that come with the holiday gift-buying season, the Vancou- ver-based magazine Adbusters will be pushing for an end to the annual spending spree. The anti-capitalist magazine that inspired the global Occupy movement has now launched a new campaign called OcuppyXmas, which will target consumers to buy little or nothing at all for Christ- mas this year. The official start for the campaign is Buy Nothing Day, which takes place on Nov. 25 in North America and Nov. 26 in the rest of the world. According to Ad- busters’ website, people are urged to buy absolutely nothing on Buy Nothing Day and continue the cam- paign right into Christmas. Tracing its roots to Vancouver artist Ted Dave, the Buy Nothing campaign began 20 years ago and continues to inspire dozens of grassroots organiza- tions, including Geez magazine, whose founder Aid- an Enns, a former editor at Adbusters, created Buy Nothing Christmas in 2001. “We’ve expanded it to include the entire Christ- mas season, because our belief is that Christmas has become far too consumerized. It’s obligated gift-giv- ing and it robs the season of its entire meaning,” said Krystofer Penner, the campaign coordinator of Buy Nothing Christmas. For cash-strapped students like Kathleen Lehan, who is in the education assistant program at Langa- ra, celebrating Christmas without the expense of gifts is appealing. “This is my first year back at school after a long time, so I’m not really able to afford it,” she said, not- ing that she was already considering a gift-free Christmas before she heard about the campaign. But Penner says Buy Nothing Christmas is not just about saving money. “We in the Global North consume vastly dispro- portionate amounts of the world’s resources,” he said. “[Christmas] creates an absolutely massive amount of waste.” According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generate an addition- al million tons of waste between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. In Canada, waste from gift wrap and shopping bags alone adds up to more than 545,000 tons annu- ally — a figure equivalent to the weight of about 6.5 million people — according to a report from the Re- cycling Council of British Columbia. “Every year I buy wrapping and every year you have five minutes of unwrapping and then it’s done with,” Lehan said. But despite the high financial and environmental cost of gifting, some students say Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without presents. “T love Christmas ... I’m the kind of person who buys presents in, like, March,” said nursing student Carmen Redman. “I try and find those perfect gifts for people and I get so much enjoyment from getting gifts and seeing them open them.” Redman said she agrees with the basic principles of the Buy Nothing Day campaign, but restricting spending for the entire Christmas season is taking it too far. Penner advised committed gift givers to at least cut back on their spending and give some thought to their purchases. Instead of buying extravagant com- mercial presents, the campaign advocates for per- sonal homemade gifts. “What’s most encouraged is to not really buy any- thing at all, but since that’s a really hard jump for a lot of people to make, the suggestion is to buy fair trade things, or local things, or quality things that will last,” he said. The campaign’s website, buynothingchristmas. org, offers a number of suggestions for alternative gifting, from handmade recipe books to picture frames to plant pots. With climate change looming and debt rising, Penner said he hopes the campaign will continue to grow and have an impact. “The entire economic system right now is not good. It turns us into consuming machines and that needs to be changed,” he said. “This is one way of starting the change.” C Gotrepiece a The Vancouver-based magazine Adbusters created this image of Santa Claus in lotus position called “Zenta” to promote its anti- consumerist approach to the holiday season. This year the creators of the global Occupy movement are pushing an OccupyXmas campaign which will launch in North America on Nov. 25 and the rest of world on Nov. 26. Celebrating the holidays — what you do is up te you By CARLY WIGNES hen it comes to celebrating Christmas, ev- eryone has his or her own traditions. Some don’t celebrate it at all. Others hate what it has become. Others love it. It depends on whom you ask. Kathleen Lehan, a student in the education assistant program, said she values the holidays as a much-need- ed excuse to meet new people. “Any public holiday is a great time to get your com- munity together,” she said. “When I was a kid, we would go in the park near our house and sing Christ- mas carols every Christmas Eve for an hour, with ran- dom, in-the-dark neighbours holding candles.” Though Lehan said each member of her family of four is atheist, they alternate between celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah each year. “We just kind of deal with the historical background of Judaism and what Hanukkah was about. And for Christmas, it’s pretty much just all commercial,” she said. Though she said the commercialism of the latter “grosses [her] out,” Lehan acknowledged her “sappy” side that she said makes her love the decorated Christ- mas trees and craft fairs. Non-Christians say the increasing Christmas hype gets to them. “Over the past couple of years, ’ve turned to abso- lutely hating Christmas,” said general studies student Shoval Gamliel-Komar. “It’s society that annoys the hell out of me,” he added. Gamliel-Komar, who is Jewish and celebrates Ha- nukkah with his family, said he thinks that all of the hype surrounding the season is “horrible” and drowns out his celebrations of the eight-day festival. General studies student Maggie Cheung said she doesn’t think the Christmas craze has gotten out of hand. “T think it’s fun,” she said. “It’s just something I don’t do.” Shrugging her shoulders, Cheung nonchalantly said she usually sleeps in on Dec. 25 and sometimes tries to “mooch off” friends who make big meals. “This year, ’m going to have a zombie marathon,” which, Cheung explained, which includes watching scary movies in the dark with her friends. “We're going to freak each other out.” The main holiday that Cheung celebrates is Chinese New Year. As far as her participation in Christmas goes, she said, “You’re free to give me stuff, but that’s about it.” THE VOICE, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011 5} 6 on the Cltistutas consumption Image courtesy of ADBUSTERS MEDIA FOUNDATION A Vancouver shopper sifis through one of 100 barrels full of odds and ends at Main Street’s funky craft store Urban Source. The trendy shop is one place for Christmas shoppers looking for alternative gift ideas. DANIEL PALMER photo By DANIEL PALMER ith consumers in the Vancouver area feel- ing less optimistic about the economy, holi- day shoppers are considering alternative gift ideas this season. According to Statistics Canada, the average Cana- dian spent $845 in Christmas of 2005. But this year, a survey released by Deloitte Canada estimates spend- ing in the Lower Mainland will drop by 44 per cent to $477. As consumers become more prudent, alternative and sustainable gifts can be appealing options. Metro Vancouver hopes its Give an Experience cam- paign will reduce the more than 300,000 tonnes of waste generated every December in the region. Envi- ronmental studies student Evannia K., 19, said she was inspired by the campaign. “Tm giving my boyfriend music lessons,” she said. “T think giving an experience is a great idea.” For those still wanting tangible gifts, Walrus, locat- ed on South Cambie, is an ideal place to begin the holi- day hunt. Owners Daniel Kozlowski and Caroline Bo- quist stock one-of-a-kind and locally sourced products. One of the most popular gifts is Wolly Pockets — a hanging indoor planter that looks like a felt blanket. “They are all made of recycled plastic bottles so it’s pretty neat,” said Kozlowski. They also carry a kid’s version that comes with an instructional picture book on how to care for plants. Other green options include Egglings, an alterna- tive take on the classic Chia Pet. “We have basil, cactus and lavender - and you just =) Re ~ - Season literally crack the top of your egg and then it grows from that,” said Boquist. Walrus also supports several local jewelry design- ers including work by Alex Henderson (hendersondry- goods.com), who produces intricate laser-cut wooden pendants with a west coast theme. “Her work is beautiful. The pieces are bold and or- ganic,” said Kozlowski. Emilie Madill, part of the Vancouver-based indus- trial design collective FIELDWORK, developed a set of small cups made of caramelized sugar and beeswax. The sweet cups function as a conversation piece around sustainable production. “T was also interested in making cups that become part of the drink, part of the experience and can only be used once,” Madill said. For those with creative tendencies, there are end- less odds and ends available at Urban Source at 3126 Main Street. The store allows customers to fill paper bags with whatever they can find among the more than 100 bins of bulk products including old Christmas cards, wrapping paper and ribbons. “Some girl came in and was making a giant boxing glove pillow,” said employee Lucy Piskitt. “You can find almost anything you’re looking for.” Madill says whatever the gift, it needs to be signifi- cant. “I try to find meaningful gifts for people. It’s usu- ally something I find interesting that I think the per- son in mind will like.” Evannia agreed that putting thought into gift-giving adds meaning to the holiday season. “I don’t think you should ever have to ask someone what they want.” ALTERNATIVE gift sources different places to find one-of-a-kind gifts HH SFIELDWORK (makefieldwork.com) Vancovuer-based industrial design collective that offers tips on creating your own gifts HM HENDERSON DRY GOODS {hendersondrygoods.com) Local artist makes intricate laser-cut wooden ME WALRUS (3408 Cambie Street) Contemporary lifestyle boutique that offers up a wide variety of quirky and unusual items HB EEGGLINGS (Egglings.com) An alternative take on the classic Chia Pet in the shape of an egg MIKA UENO, ELIOT PHILLIPS photos Hand-made gifts make a nice alternative to something from a store. Left to right: Socked monkeys, crafted wooden toys and homemade preserves. penants with west coast themes HE sUURBAN SOURCE (3126 Main Street) Crafty store offers up 100 bins of random goods from ribbons to boxing gloves Source: DAN PALMER