Advent Simplicity

My theme for this first week of Advent is to "Cherish and care for the earth". I aim to celebrate simply, and consume less, so that I have a gentle impact on the planet.

The modern way of observing the winter holidays supports an increase in waste; one statistic says that Americans throw away 25% more trash – an additional 5 million tons – between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. A fun holiday season doesn't have to be a wasteful one!

Agenda Today:
1. Journal queries
2. Make fabric bags
3. Bubblebath

1. Journal queries:

What are the most wasteful things I do at advent?
What can I change to show solidarity with the poor, respect for the earth, and a desire to live more simply?

Tips for a Simple Holiday:

• Simplify your expectations. Think about which traditions are most important to you. Find meaning and fulfillment in spirituality, and your relationships with family and friends.
• Be frugal and spend less money; reduce your purchasing of wants.
• Make your own gifts or buy simple, durable gifts; avoid the latest fad; buy gifts made locally and made from recycled materials.
• Use cloth napkins and reusable plates and cups for holiday parties, and your own reusable, fabric gift bags.

2. Make fabric gift bags:

Wrapping paper and shopping bags account for about 4 million tons of trash in the U.S. each year, producing a carbon footprint of 2.8 million metric tons of CO2.

I'm not a hardcore zero-waste person (yet) but each year I make a few more reusable fabric bags to hold gifts. I think everyone appreciates my wish to conserve paper, and they can save the bags to wrap their own gifts next year.

I've been using a stockpile of Christmas fabric I found at our local recycled art supplies store, but any pretty cloth will do.

Materials: Colorful 1/2” ribbon, pretty fabric scraps

1. Iron and cut a piece of fabric so that it‘s the size you want, plus 1-inch on all sides for the hem. (For example, for a 12” x 12” bag, cut fabric to 14”x 26”.)

2. Hem the top and bottom edge of the bag, either by hand or with a sewing machine.

3. Fold the good side of the fabric to the inside, and pin the edges. Stitch the two side seams and turn right-side out.

4. Cut a ribbon at least 12" long. Stitch the middle of the ribbon to the bag at the seam, about four or five inches from the bag opening.

3. Homemade bubble-bath:

Some members of my family use quite a bit of bubble bath. And bubble-bath always comes in the worst kind of non-recyclable plastic bottles, so I decided to make my own this year, using bulk ingredients and reusing old plastic bottles to package and give as gifts. The recipe is very easy and the glycerine and sugar create big, long-lasting bubbles. You can use any liquid soap you can find bulk. I used natural liquid dishwashing soap, purchased bulk at a natural foods store, in my own glass jar.

Ingredients: 1 quart of liquid soap, ¼-c. glycerine, 1-Tbsp. sugar, 10 drops of lavender or spearmint essential oil

Mix all the ingredients together gently until sugar is dissolved.