Birth of The Gift Rebellion
23rd July 2020 - 2 min read
As far as possible, I like to give my kids second-hand presents for two reasons: it puts far less pressure on the planet and its resources, and you can get the best quality stuff for less.
Over the last few years, feelings of both anxiety and irritation had been growing in me realising that, as a society, the giving of used gifts outside our immediate family is not acceptable and that, with every new present we buy, we’re trashing the earth a little bit more but… I also imagined the parent of one of the kids’ school friends seeing their child open our used, boxless Lego set and think ‘Hmm, that present isn't new!… Skye’s a total stinge!’
Every time I had to go and buy something new for a kid who was about to receive 19 other presents, I felt anxiety (and a little bit of anger) sitting in my gut, knowing that we have no choice. Without doubt, most of these presents will be played with once or twice then put in a cupboard with last year’s presents. Once the toy has been unearthed in a few years and the parents discover their kid has outgrown it, it’ll be disposed of, one way or another. I know because I’m guilty of this myself.
The fact is, our kids are so busy, they don’t have time to play with their toys. They go to after-school activities or out in the backyard for a couple of hours. A bit of housework, dinner, shower, some quiet activity, then bed. During the week, they might squeeze in a bit of work on their comic, a silly story, a bit of gaming or some Lego building. We thought our kids might get bored when we got rid of about 80% of their toys... Only to find they still don’t have enough time to play with the 20% they have left!
Why the movement started
Once our kids started gathering Lego, we got in the habit of getting them to keep their sets together and take care of the instructions. Then when they had finished playing with a particular set, we would check the pieces, order the few that had disappeared and then sell the set so the kids could buy themselves another set, sometimes new but mostly second-hand. We’re not special, lots of people do this (particularly enterprising kids who know they can buy a Lego set second-hand, use it for a while, then sell it for the same price... Brilliant!)
I had just finished sorting through hundreds of pieces of Minecraft Lego and put the set up for sale. The same day, I had to go to the shops to buy a kid who loves Minecraft Lego a new set of Minecraft Lego… seriously, that is insanity!!
And it occurred to me that finding a way to make second-hand giving acceptable could be a really popular thing. The distinctive paper and logo that represent The Gift Rebellion are like a safety blanket. The Gift Rebellion gives each of us the power to reduce our impact on the planet without too much effort. It also means we get to try new stuff all the time! We use it for a while, take care of it then pass it on to someone else to use. I’m so excited to do this for all the kids I know. In years to come, they might not look back on us with such resentment, knowing we tried to do something, to change our habits.