Spend time (not money) gift ideas

For me, one of the disturbing trends associated with the festive season is the increasing levels of credit card debt that many of us feel compelled to rack up in order to show our affection for friends and loved ones. It doesn’t need to be that way. In fact, there are some strong arguments to suggest that it shouldn’t be that way. With the exception of children, who tend to fall victim to the strain of peer pressure and the relentless bombardment of advertising from toy companies and department stores, most of us are happy at this time of year with modest, thoughtful gifts. If you’re struggling for ideas, and you’re keen not to face January 2008 with astronomical credit card bills, hopefully some of these “spend time not money” gift ideas can help make the festive season a genuinely celebratory experience.

Take an older friend to the local farmers market - a trip to the local farmers market, while not a novelty for everyone, might be a fantastic way for some older folk to enjoy your company and the atmosphere of the market. Farmers markets’ are a great place to interact, share stories, and learn from some of our older folk. It’s also a great place to pick up some fresh produce to cook up a storm upon your return home.

Arrange a visit to an organic farm – visiting an organic farm, depending where you live, provides a great opportunity for children to see what life is like on a farm. There’s nothing quite like seeing the face of a young child who’s seen a cow for the first time. Many children who live in urban areas only have very limited opportunities to connect with nature these days. Consequently, many of them haven’t seen the scale and beauty of a working organic farm. Why not arrange a day trip, perhaps arranging for a couple of families to take the trip.

Support a good cause - buy a friend membership of their local organic association. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people and may just start them off on a fantastic journey of organic discovery.

Reduce food miles – the typical Christmas meal for an average family could have travelled 49,000 miles - equivalent to two journeys around the world and releasing 37kg of CO2. Why not sign a friend up to a local organic box scheme for a few weeks in the New Year and see if they like it? If they’ve over-indulged during the festive season, it’ll help them in their efforts to detox.

Introduce organic produce to a friend for Christmas - bake them an organic cake, select some organic food from the markets, or purchase them an organic basket or hamper.

Start a small organic vegetable plot - a great way to introduce basic biological concepts to children. And when the garden starts producing fresh produce, there’ll be the associated health and lifestyle benefits of eating fresh, wholesome organic produce. Besides, you and the children will have a lot of fun.

These are just some ideas. There are many, many more ideas out there that won’t assist credit card companies in their efforts to become richer. Perhaps at this time of year, we owe it to ourselves - and others – to reflect on the reasons we feel the need to hand over expensive store bought gifts that we’ve sourced from the local multi-level shopping mall. Could it be that we’re trying to over-compensate for not having spent enough time with the people we really love and care for?