A culture that consists not of giving to people and building them up, but rather stealing from the environment and tearing it down, is not a beneficial culture at all. Americans throw away over 25% more trash during the holiday season than they do during the rest of the year — wrapping paper, rolls of ribbon and stacks of cardboard boxes all accumulate to a massive pile of waste. Thus, it’s inevitable that the constant emphasis placed on giving and receiving gifts will worsen our planet’s environmental crisis. However, gift wrapping is not the only factor that is harming the environment — gift giving promotes the idea of giving items regardless of if the receiver genuinely needs them, increasing the likelihood of these gifts ending up in the trash as well.
An additional issue is people’s choice of gifts. During the holiday season, many people decide to gift pets to their loved ones — because of this trend, the number of pet surrenders peaks prior to and after the holiday season due to people surrendering their old “gifts” to adopt new ones or surrendering their present because they do not have the means to care for it. Either way, animals are treated as objects during the holiday season — their purpose is to provide a few weeks of happiness to the person who receives them as a gift. Once the recipient grows tired of them, they are put up for adoption, and a new pet is adopted the next year and gifted, continuing this cycle of heartbreaking abandonment.
There’s also a pressure to participate in this culture. At MVHS a survey of 152 students showed that 68.4% of students say that there are forms of pressure, internal and external, when it comes to giving or receiving presents during the holidays in order to satisfyingly demonstrate one’s love. Gifts are slowly turning into a way to prove one’s love as they become more socially enforced.
However, love should not have to be proven by objects, especially if these objects are harmful to society and the natural world around us. The current culture surrounding giving and receiving presents during the holiday season is detrimental to people, animals and the planet in general, and should be modified in order to have a lighter emphasis surrounding it to decrease the toxicity of the holiday season.