Christmas can be wonderful without over-the-top consumerism: Muskoka Watershed Council

By Bet Smith | Saturday, December 13, 2025

As a teenager, I was a glutton for Christmas.

Every December, I would blast Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” and Madonna’s “Santa Baby” as I festooned my bedroom with fake evergreen boughs and multicoloured lights. My friends and I would gleefully shop the seasonal section of Zellers, and later make up dance routines, twirling giant plastic candy canes while wearing elf hats.

Today, as a natural-fibre-wearing, flaxseed-eating, article-writing member of the Muskoka Watershed Council, my feelings about the festive season are more complicated.

Like many others, I struggle with the concept of mass cultural merriness against everything that’s going on in the world. And obviously, there’s the environmental impact of Christmas — the plastic wrap, the plastic gifts, the ornaments covered in sparkling, shimmering microplastics threatening to make their way into the watershed.

I shudder when I recall blowing my measly income on tawdry decor while caught up in holiday fervour. Yes, I can be a big green Grinch about the holiday rituals that my younger self enjoyed.

On the other hand, I think we need and deserve a season of rest and celebration more than ever.

Witnessing the despair around the world and feeling the impacts here at home has been heartbreaking, and while I certainly don’t think we should turn our backs on reality, I do think we need time to recharge and enjoy simple pleasures with the people we love.

For some of us, the winter holidays force a pause; even if we try to keep running, workplaces shut down, families hijack our schedules, and we’re compelled to sit down.

The further I wallow into middle age, the more I appreciate this imposed time of rest.

But the plastics! Lately, my climate-podcast-listening pleasure is frequently interrupted by big box stores beckoning me to “give, give, give” (translation: spend, spend, spend).

I can’t think about gifts and decorations without lamenting over how and where they were made and where they will end up and who has to suffer for North Americans to find joy!!! The environmental impact of the holidays sure sours the eggnog.

I guess my solution is to try to give unto others as I would like given to me: good-quality wool socks and stuff that can be eaten and out of the way by springtime.

The gift I want most these days is reduced clutter and greater sanity throughout the year. So, less stuff.

I’m fairly certain that the grown-ups in my family either want the same or dislike my sense of style enough that they are grateful not to receive clothing or home decor that I picked out.

I do panic a bit about what to give the kids. I tend to be the practical auntie who gifts necessities and makes up for it by pulling toboggans up hills and taking snowballs in the face.

Sometimes I like to think that by giving boring practical gifts, I let the other gifts shine a little brighter. (However, last year I won Christmas by purchasing a not-so-gently used doll that my niece had seen online and loved desperately. It was possibly the best and weirdest $25 I’ve ever spent.)

In truth, I’m still a big fan of the holidays.

I write this article under the glow of a Christmas tree decorated with an assortment of gifted, handmade ornaments, prized antique orbs, and bizarro oddities. On the last day of November, my partner and I thrust ourselves into the Christmas spirit by vacuuming that corner of the living room that hasn’t been exposed in almost a year and putting up the tree, laughing as we unwrapped our precious and ridiculous ornaments, remembering special people and good times.

The holidays don’t have to be a time of excess. I think that for most of us, the season is for family, friends, laughter and home-cooked food. With those values, we can easily find joy in traditions that respect the planet as we celebrate, recharge and reflect.

This article is No. 25 in Muskoka Watershed Council’s (MWC) https://www.muskokaregion.com/ series on Living Smarter, written by Bet Smith, self-described big green Grinch who still loves Christmas but finds more sustainable ways to enjoy it. Bet is an alternative folk singer-songwriter, a blacksmith and a writer. She helps MWC convey the message of living sustainably and gently on the land. The series is edited by Peter Sale.