Think outside the box for gifts this year

Loading …

It’s time to think out­side the box this year. Take your tra­di­tional idea of gift-giving and spin it on its head. This won’t be hard. Who says a gift needs be an object? Why not think about services—especially those right here in our own community.

This col­umn is inspired by an email that is float­ing around about start­ing a new tra­di­tion this year for Christ­mas by try­ing to sup­port more Amer­i­can busi­nesses — not pur­chas­ing a bunch of cheaply-made stuff from abroad. (I got the email from my cousin-in-law DeeDee — thanks!) The gist of the email is this: sup­port our small local busi­nesses and American-made prod­ucts. Con­sider pur­chas­ing a gift cer­tifi­cate from a local busi­ness to keep your money in our com­mu­nity. Fol­low­ing is a sum­mary of some of the ideas:

How about a gift cer­tifi­cate from your local hair salon or bar­ber or a gym mem­ber­ship? Who wouldn’t appre­ci­ate get­ting their car detailed or an oil change at a local shop? Per­haps that grate­ful gift receiver would like his dri­ve­way sealed, or lawn mowed for the sum­mer, or dri­ve­way plowed all win­ter, or games at the local golf course.

For kids there are music lessons, a class at the Arts Cas­tle, tick­ets to the zoo or a gift cer­tifi­cate for the local bowl­ing alley, roller rink, ice skat­ing rink or some other recre­ation place. Who says they need another video game or elec­tronic device? Give them an expe­ri­ence, not another thing to plug into!

There are thou­sands of independently-owned restau­rants — all offer­ing gift cer­tifi­cates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen break­fasts at the local break­fast joint or a gift card for cof­fee every morn­ing from a local cof­fee shop.

Think­ing about a heart­felt gift for mom? Mom might love a local clean­ing ser­vice for a day or maybe tick­ets to a local play or con­cert. How about a com­puter “tune-up” from a local ser­vice for Dad or a voucher to get his taxes done this com­ing spring or golf lessons?

Hope­fully some of these ideas will help spur your imag­i­na­tion and get you think­ing out­side the box this hol­i­day sea­son. To be even more “green” with your gift, spare the wrap­ping paper and think of another cre­ative way to present your gift — yes, the Sun­day comics in the news­pa­per would be a won­der­ful start!

Tues­day Trip­pier lives in Delaware, is a writer and mother of four with a spe­cial inter­est in keep­ing things green and local.

Posted by Tuesday Trippier on Dec 5 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.