Kia ora, my name is Jack Karetai-Barrett, and I’m a year nine student at Whakatane High School. This is my monthly column.
Christmas is coming, and I’ve started thinking about what a waste-free Christmas could look like for our family.
According to wastefreecelebrations.co.nz, “An extra 30% of rubbish is produced and discarded throughout the festive period when compared with the rest of the year. This additional waste will be in the region of 3 million tonnes.”
Is this what Christmas was supposed to be about? There are a few different traditions from around the world that have now evolved into what we now call Christmas. At the time the religion of Christianity was becoming popular, there was a pagan festival called Saturnalia. Saturnalia, the ancient Roman’s favourite holiday, originated from midwinter and winter solstice farming rituals. These rituals involved feasting and giving gifts or making sacrifices to the gods, particularly during the winter sowing season. Our seasons are different here in New Zealand, since we are headed for our longest day, not our shortest. But we still give gifts, and we still make feasts. What I liked about Saturnalia is what you gave was determined by what you had. There didn’t seem to be an expectation that people would have to go and buy expensive things and get into debt to make others happy. If you were rich during Saturnalia, then you would give to the poor. If you were poor, you would participate and give if you could. There were lots of gifts of food, drinks, candles, clothing, and plants. Homemade gifts were the norm. I don’t think they would have liked all the gifts that we give, covered in cardboard and plastic. We literally pay for rubbish.
While I was looking at ways of reducing waste, I came across a Japanese tradition called Furoshiki. A traditional Japanese wrapping cloth tradition that has been practised for the last 1200 years. Furoshiki cloths were originally called Tsutsumi, which literally means "wrapping." These cloths can range from simple fabrics to incredibly fancy hand-painted fabrics, and they are often used to wrap very precious items such as gifts and family treasures. I was really interested in this and asked my Mum if she had any old fabric, so I could have a go at making some with the sewing machine. I first made a bag and used some old ribbon to pull the bag closed. Then I made some sheets that can be wrapped like wrapping paper and used an old lanyard as a ribbon to tie them up. And we also had an old shopping bag with a hole in the bottom, so I cut the side out of it and used some old rope Mum had as a ribbon. I also used a Christmas decoration as a permanent name tag. Then I gave all these four things to my Mum, so she could wrap my Christmas presents. (Haha!)
We asked friends of ours, for suggestions on how they have a waste free holiday. One of our friends wraps all their homemade gifts in newspaper - you could be reading from your Christmas paper. Another one of our friends made re-usable homemade Christmas crackers - there are some cool instructions available online to make these. Another friend went to the opshop, bought lots of cheap hats, took them home, washed them, and had a hat party at Christmas. You can have a waste free Christmas by setting rules around what your Christmas should be. You could make a rule where you can only exchange homemade gifts, or second-hand re-used repurposed gifts. How about the gift of experiences, or only buy things that are needed. We don’t need to create more waste, and we don’t need to create more debt. This should be a fun time, and it’s up to us to make the rules for our families. I’d tell you what I made for my Mum, but she reads the paper.
Thanks for reading my articles this year; it’s been a really cool opportunity to learn new stuff, and I’ve liked the comments I’ve had from people in the community who read my column. I’m especially thankful to the Beacon for giving me this opportunity. See you all in 2024.
