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Zero Waste Gifts: Minutes of the November 19, 2019 Meeting


This meeting was dedicated to Zero Waste (or low waste) Gifts.  

We swapped some of our favorite ideas.   

Wrapping gifts:
  • Some of us make our own reusable (and highly festive) gift bags from fabric; we had a sample from Sara G on display.  
  • Others of us have followed easy origami patterns to make small gift boxes from calendar pages or holiday cards.
  • My daughter reminded me of one of my favorite past gift-wrap techniques:  decorating the bare box to look like something else (a book box that became a dinner table; an oatmeal container, with some sun glasses and a small hat became a "dude").  I think I'm going to try that technique again this year.

Giving gifts
I myself tend to go for very practical gifts.  Two years ago, I gave all my adult kids "emergency preparedness kits" (with maps, radiation sickness pills, emergency contact numbers, first aid kits, etc).  What can I say? It's not for everyone, but my kids actually really appreciated them.  This year, I'm giving them "green cleaning kits" that I showed off to those assembled.  You can be jealous now!

For those who prefer a more festive route toward gift giving, creativity is the norm -- not just to make our own gifts, but to make them from things we already have at-hand.  One person described having bunch of copper, left over from removing a dryer but (for some reason) not the extension cord.  The copper from that cord, with a bit of hammering and artistic eye, became ornaments for people's trees.  If you don't happen to have an unused dryer cord lying around, you'll have to be creative with your own materials!

Two of the people who were at the meeting in spirit but not in person offered suggestions.  
Person 1:
  • Hand write letters for close family and friends. I like to write letters to my toddler son and my dear husband on important days. In the letter I write down funny and precious life moments we experienced recently and show them my deep love, etc. I also ask my husband to do so. It is great to read them together afterwards.
  • I used to make some digital family albums and send out to family and friends as a gift.
  • Donations under someone's name
  • Concert's ticket
  • Tickets for free  Chinese or Spanish meals in our house 
  •  Some handcrafted gifts using old materials in the house

Person 2:
I was going to bring a dog toy I make from scraps of cloth . . .  I started to take my own pictures, but they weren’t very clear.  Here’s a great online tutorial.  
The first time takes a little patience, but after some practice it’s easy!  The pups love them and they last a long time.

(I'll note that this tutorial brought back really fond memories.  People-Of-a-Certain-Age will recognize that this dog toy is really a giant lanyard.  Remember gimp lanyards, anyone?  Omigosh, what a rush).  


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Future Meetings:
December 17, 2019 Zero-Waste recipes
Do you have a recipe that's really efficient as far as time goes?  That uses almost no energy?  That is easy to purchase trash-free ingredients for?  Come share?

Do you have a recipe that you love, but that you haven't yet found a low-waste version to prepare?  (Like, for me: where can I buy tofu or noodles with no packaging around here?)  Come bring your problems, and we'll brainstorm together.

January 21, 2020 Lancaster City Public Works
Doug Smith, Senior Planner for the City of Lancaster, will talk with us about the city's bold Climate Action plan.  

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