A Growing Gift

by Bruce Schimmel

Bummed by consumerism? Can't find a single Earth-friendly thing to buy? You're not alone in your misery, and I've got just the video to turn your seasonal blues into an absolute downer.

Not interested? OK. I've also got a surefire gift on which you can spend as little or as much as you want, and which is guaranteed to do good for both people and planet.

But first, some inspiration, in the form of a charming but devastating little video called The Story of Stuff (storyofstuff.com). This 20-minute flick, which debuted last year, has all the makings of a new Christmas classic, only with Scrooge rebranded as a green hero.

Annie Leonard, who details the sordid story of our wasteful ways with the innocent charm of a kindergarten teacher, hosts the video. In 20 minutes, writes one admirer, you'll learn more about economics than you will from 95 percent of media talking heads, and 100 percent of the GOP.

It's a familiar tale, but as the real holiday story, it's worth the retelling.

Leonard shows how each step that goes into making most of our stuff — our clothing, furnishings and especially our electronics — lays waste to both people and planet. From extraction, to manufacturing, to its selling and trashing — our stuff stinks.

Leonard's little video is a multimedia masterpiece. It's even funny at times, despite the stark message that Americans are a deluded and dirty people, misled by a corrupt government.

Yada, yada, yada. So what else is new?

What Leonard doesn't go into is that you can buy things that are a lot less toxic than that 54-inch LCD behemoth — stuff that even helps compensate for our excess.

For less toxic offerings, many retailers this season are, of course, offering all sorts of things with at least with a patina of green — handmade items, made of recycled materials. Even better are the clothing or household goods made of upcycled materials, stuff that had been destined for the dump.

After all, the final goal is zero waste.

And there are worthy efforts — from the Sustainable Business Network, and from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (of which City Paper is a member) — to help locate locally made stuff and services from locally owned businesses. 

But if you really want to give something beyond reproach, consider giving something locally grown that continues to grow. It's the ultimate, no-bad-vibe, eco-correct gift: a living plant.

Even a small houseplant can clean the air or feed you. I've got a black thumb, but I've been able to grow sage, rosemary, chives and bay in my apartment.

And if you have the means, let me suggest something bigger: living trees. Instead of decorating a fire hazard, try something alive.

This year, I had the joy of sponsoring a small orchard at the Woodford Mansion in Strawberry Hill through the Philadelphia Orchard Project (phillyorchards.org). My preferred place to buy local plants is Greensgrow in Kensington (greensgrow.org). But big or small, this I promise: A gift that grows is the perfect antidote to the seasonal consumer blues.

And about those libraries...

My colleagues have been wondering why certain libraries are being shuttered and not others. My theory is the sacrificial lamb syndrome.

Nutter is threatening to hatchet the libraries that would most likely be saved: not by the government, but by foundations, groups, families (Fumo) and others who'll pay for them.

In the end, the controlling issue is what to do with the librarians, whose union the mayor is busting, oh-so-gently. As to who will run the libraries, a mayoral aide privately mused that "rec centers have been taken over by volunteers, so why can't libraries?"

If public/private arrangements can save skating rinks, such partnerships surely can save our libraries.

Visit Bruce online at schimmel.com.