Less is More: Don’t Buy In to the Black Friday Hype

The turkey is gone. The sun is up, and Black Friday is upon us. Do you realllllllly need that totally darling sweater you’ve had our eye on? You know the answer is no. Even at 40% off. Especially at 60% off. It’s cute, we get it. But until you KonMari that closet, buying more clothes isn’t a solution for much of anything except satisfying an itch.

Recognize & Relinquish

First of all, if you find yourself in an e-commerce hole, scrolling and coveting, the insidious sensation growing that you’re just a few clicks away from happiness  — take a breath, recognize you’re in a loop, then stop, and gently step away from the device.

Just as in meditation, when you’re told to simply acknowledge the thoughts that have crept in without judgment (i.e. say “thinking” to yourself, and re-center yourself around the breath), you can recognize the pattern you’re engaging with, and gently desist. This is, of course, a great time to retreat to your cushion for a quick practice, but the act of recognition and relinquishment is the most powerful way to get back in the driver’s seat.

Buy Into Meaning with Gifts That Matter

Secondly, if you’re feeling an authentic pull to engage with the giving of the season, we’ve put together a short list of some of our favorite ways to make the season bright in a way where your dollar matters.

• Pay it Forward: You can make a donation directly to an organization in someone’s name, or else you can use the nifty In Lieu platform, whereby the person you’re donating in honor of will receive a notification. You can find any of the non-profits below on the In Lieu app, and notify your loved one about your donation.

Some of the favorite organizations of Wanderlust staffers to support this time of year include:

• • 350.org – Building a future that’s just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of climate change.
  • Yoga N Da Hood – Dedicated to making wellness accessible to women of color in under-resourced communities.
  • Exhale to Inhale – Empowering survivors of domestic violence & sexual assault through trauma-informed yoga.
  • Yoga Foster – Offers training and tools to schools to create safe spaces to learn, increase physical activity during the school day, support socio-emotional learning initiatives, and boost educator self-care and wellness.
  • 1% for the Planet – Brings dollars and doers together to accelerate smart environmental giving.

 

• Buy Sustainable:  The best gift is the one that gets used… again, and again, and again. If you’ve been to a Wanderlust event in recent years, you may have noticed that our crew and talent are equipped with a Wander Without Waste kit at the beginning of the touring season. You can pick up your own versions of these utterly useful and sustainable items (like our signature reusable utensil kit) on the Sustainability page of our online shop.

 

• Purchase Offsets: Did you travel to get to Thanksgiving this year? Explore investing in the health of the planet by offsetting that travel with CarbonFootprint.com. Every tree that is planted from your offsets will absorb 1 ton of carbon from the atmosphere, and you can select which project you’d like to plant trees with as part of the process.

 

• Make Something: We’ve collected some ideas from Zero Waste superstars like Lauren Singer and Kathryn Kellogg, including making Pet Treats, Holiday Cookies, Vegan Chocolate Truffles, or if you’re feeling crafty, you can create your own sustainable travel kit for a loved one, as outlined by Kathryn Kellogg.

 

• Wrap Intentionally: We all know that gifts given with a bow delight the senses. However, so many of our typical holiday gift trappings are not recyclable (check your local recycling rules, but many don’t take wrapping or tissue paper). Invest, instead, in the delightful fabrics of Furoshiki! It is an ancient Japanese tradition of wrapping gifts in fabric.