Hocking Hills, OH –
Free stuff is on the loose and on the rise! It's bad for the environment, your health and the bottom line. From junk mail to organizations you support to school fundraisers to school/community carnivals to fast food restaurants to financial institutions to foundations to libraries and so on, cheaply made and/or excessive stuff (usually plastic junk) is being offered, sent and forced upon most Americans on nearly a daily basis. Help! Free stuff overload!
Here's a list of just some of the things that attempt to find their way to my door, or actually do find their way to my door, despite almost desperate attempts to stop them: pennies and nickels tightly wrapped in plastic, bookmarks, address labels, posters, baseball caps, Frisbees, key chains, mini-dream catchers, calendars (12-pagers, single page, computer stick-on), stuffed animals, wrapping paper, gift labels, posters, bumper stickers, pens, decorative pencils, plastic rubbery bracelets, small trinkety toys--the list goes on.
Too much free stuff becomes numbing. It's a marketing gimmick designed to attract us as consumers, bringing us in, making us feel good, loved and cared for. Instead, the inundation of stuff make us feel numb, leaving us with little to no excitement when presented with free stuff and gifts. The reaction of my children is a testament to this. Over the last year we attended a couple of school carnivals where the kids play games and everyone is the winner. Everyone receives 1-2 free prizes just for playing. My boys were excited for maybe 5-10 seconds (if the small toy lasted that long no joke!). Then, they went on to play another game. The accumulation of unnecessary junk became the thrill. The excitement faded quickly as they piled junk with more junk only to go home and shove these items away forever, never to be played with again.
It's truly unfortunate that businesses, organizations and foundations that distribute free stuff don't realize the negative impact they have. They lose sight of the fact that most of their counterparts everywhere are doing the same thing and to the same people! Here are some of the problems with all of these things on the loose. First of all, to make anything, energy is used, natural resources are dug up or cut down, and pollution is a byproduct. Chemicals make their way to the air, soil and land, posing health risks for humans and wildlife. Another problem is the fact that these cheaply made goods are really for image only and to get you in the door. Many of them fall apart upon receiving them, break after one use or two uses, and are just completely unnecessary. With a short life, most of these items end up in the garbage (many aren't recyclable) and then fill up valuable landfill space! One very plaguing issue is that these businesses and organizations share your information, so you are on everyone's mailing/email list. The junk you get starts to multiply. Imagine the dollars that are spent wastefully by organizations--money that could be sent straight to the cause.
This excessive gifting of junk is out of control, is a bad trend and is not sustainable in any way, shape or form. The way to change this negative trend is to not support groups and to educate them. Call or email organizations and tell them that you won't support them if they don't "stop with the stuff". Tell them you don't want it, you don't need it and it's bad for the environment and human health. Tell them that you will be happy to support them if they take all your money and apply it to the cause. When you are in person at an event and someone is shoving this stuff on you, refuse it. Be on guard though when you do this. I have done it many times and the people distributing will try to force it on me just to get rid of the pile they have. They look at me like I'm crazy. The funny thing is, I feel like the normal one! When it comes to school fundraisers, offer to write a check that goes straight to the cause. When many people begin to refuse unnecessary gifts, this insane trend can be gradually reversed.
Good luck to you in this endeavor. Now, I am off to email this article to violating organizations.
Byline Bio:
Gwen Corbett, Bear's Den Cottages
www.bearsdencottages.com, Green Lodging
Helping Individuals and Businesses To Go Green