No, I'm not cussing again. We've decided to have a freegan Christmas.

Here's a basic definition from freegan.info: "Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed."

I'm not quite ready for, or living in a locale that lends itself to, some of the more extreme freegan practices, but the pressure, stress, and general climate of consumerism that comes with our modern American Christmas seems like a good place to start implementing some of freeganism's ideas.

I'm tired of dreading the month of December. I hate worrying about money, of all things, when I should be thinking about the birth of my Savior. Finagling the funds from the budget (or blessing Visa and MasterCard) is a huge stress. I have neither the time nor the desire to spend hours breathing recirculated mall air with a bunch of other cranky shoppers or wasting whole days staring at pages of online goods.

So this year I won't be redecorating my entire house in the latest Christmas theme, or rushing out to buy new strings of lights and begging hubby to climb on the snow-covered roof in below-zero weather to install them. There will be no mad scramble for wrapping paper or last-minute items for unexpected guests.

Gifts must be upcycled, thrifted, donated, traded, or otherwise of little to no expense. Things made from materials we already have lying around, gifts of service or time.

We're going to have to be creative, and we're going to have to think, literally, outside the box.  And outside the box stores!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

For more information on freegan living, check out the following:

freegan.info Website
Squatters (NY Times)
Four Easy Ways to be a Freegan (US News and World Report)
How Far Would You Go? (Oprah)
Woman in Phoenix gathers wasted food and uses it to feed the homeless.  (YouTube Video)

The plastic shopping bag has become a cultural symbol of evil incarnate, used only by those rough and uncivilized types who are too selfish to give a rip about the planet we all must share. Those blue and brown and white sacks tumble across the countryside like so many tumbleweeds. I'm convinced there's a discarded blue Wal-Mart bag in every locale on the planet. 

Making the switch to the new eco-friendly bags is not as easy as it sounds. If you forget your politically correct and environmentally sustainable bags in the car (I can't even remember to bring in my coupons half the time) you will be persecuted in certain natural food stores. And if you bring your eco-friendly bags into a "regular" store, you're liable to earn some weird looks from your fellow shoppers if, like me, you need anywhere between 30 and 50 bags for a grocery trip.
Seriously... have you ever seen someone with a loaded cart using reusuable bags? No, it's the lady with one loaf of bread and a yogurt and a can of cat food who has the cloth bag that earns a smile from the checker. It is not the mother of teenage boys whose bi-monthly grocery trip requires two carts piled to overflowing.

Whatever happened to those nice brown paper bags? The ones that stand up in the back of the car instead of wilting all over themselves and letting the cans tumble out? The ones that rip and smell weird when they get wet and are great for creating fringed vests and textbook covers ideal for doodling in  algebra class? They're useful for disguising trashy romance novels at the pool, or bottles of wine, too. We recycled those before recycling was cool!

Now I'm stuck with a giant collection of plastic bags. What shall I do with them besides line the bathroom trash cans and then throw them away a week later anyway? Here's an idea, from www.treehugger.com, of course.
 That is a dress crafted from fused plastic Safeway bags. Safeway, the latest in fashion design. Can you imagine what you'd smell like after you wore that for a few hours?

I have to admit (blush) that part of the reason I haven't switched is because I'm too cheap. You have to BUY those fabric bags, did you know that? The plastic ones are free! And since I'm frequently found counting out my change to cover my grocery bill, adding $50 for enough bags to haul my stash home just isn't in the budget! Here's an idea that may appeal to the super-frugal that uses recycled newspaper to create your own bags! www.newspaperbagproject.com

Or if you are into sewing, here's a link to 35 different patterns for unique and original grocery bags.

I think I have four or five fabric totes around. Somewhere. They lived in the car for a long time, but that didn't remind me to bring them inside. On a whim I bought a cute little purple parachute nylon version that folds up into itself and goes in my purse. Last week at the local store I had it all ready to go, and then forgot to hand it to the clerk. In a moment of eco-guilt, I handed it to her after she'd bagged my stuff. She sighed. The woman in line behind me glared. And the clerk switched my items from the nasty plastic bag to my friendly nylon "sacque."
And then she tossed the plastic bag in the trash can under the register.
Sigh.

Maybe I need one of these.
At least it would be hard to forget I had it.


Photo credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keetsa/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walmartmovie/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicamullen/
http://www.crayola.com/coloringcraft/craft/printer.cfm?id=1344
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mleak/324536601/
http://www.greengreengrocer.co.uk/plastic-bag-alternatives
http://www.greengreengrocer.co.uk/media/images/alt-basket.jpg