H.A.L.T overconsumption this Holiday Season
(give gifts that are Homemade, Activities, Local, Time spent together)
Buying second hand, getting gifts from buy nothing sites, or gifting experiences that bring people together is a great way to reduce our overconsumption. For this Holiday season we encourage you to buy less and be more thoughtful with your shopping. Don’t support big online and big box store chains that promote buying more for less. These items are often poorly made and made unethically. We’ve created this list of local stores that can help you think outside the box instead of relying on internet ads.
-
Shop local and sustainable stores:
Health, Beauty & Sustainable
-
What’s Good
-
Impact Earth
-
Marilla’s Mindful Supplies
-
Fizzy Bombz
Clothing, Jewelry & Boutiques
-
Cleo & Kin (and their men’s store across the parking lot!)
-
Robyn’s Nest
-
the boutique, curated by UB
-
Enchanted Rose Garden
-
Cloth-n-Mortar
-
Mescolata Boutique
-
The OP Shop
-
The Lucky Flea Market
-
Panache
-
Bead Breakout
*When buying clothes, look at the label to see what they are made out of. Try to stick to materials that are sustainable and not plastic like polyester.*
Books & Gifts
-
Book Culture
-
Bayberry gifts
-
Bleak House Books
-
Another Chapter Bookstore
-
The Unreliable Narrator
-
Akimbo Books
-
The Siren and The Sea
-
Burn Bright Books - for the romance readers
-
Bookeater
Handcrafted Art & Gifts
-
More Fireglass Studio
-
Patty Cornelius Pottery
Nature Lovers
-
The Bird House
-
Spicebush Swallowtail Native Plants
-
Stem
Crafters
-
Lift bridge yarns
-
Hobby House Needleworks
-
Sew Creative
-
Little Button Craft
-
Dan’s Crafts & Things
-
Craft Bits and Pieces
-
SewGreen Rochester https://www.sewgreenrochester.org/
-
Fine Art Store
-
Bead Breakout https://www.beadbreakout.com/
Kids Gifts, Games
-
Hobby House Toys
-
Chicke
-
Millennium Games
-
Bricks ROC!
-
Just Games Rochester
Furniture, Antiques
-
Abode
-
The Shops of West Ridge
-
Breathe at home
-
Rochester Greenovation
-
Panache Home
-
Sequels
-
The Lucky Flea Market
​
2. Give the gift of experiences to cut down on buying more stuff that could just end up in the landfill
-
Restaurant certificates
-
Sea Breeze membership
-
Museum memberships
-
Movie tickets
-
Sports related: Ice skating, rock climbing, Ninja gym, private lessons
-
Art stores & hobby classes
-
Sew Green Rochester , Classes
-
The Brainery classes
3. Use recycled wrapping paper or repurposed packing paper and twine instead of plastic ribbons. Or ‘wrap’ using baskets and containers found at your local thrift shop, or through Buy Nothing groups. Use fabric scraps, silks, or other found textiles.
-
Furoshiki - Japanese Art of Wrapping in Cloth https://www.npr.org/2023/12/22/1220983699/for-more-eco-friendly-holiday-wrapping-some-turn-to-the-japanese-art-of-furoshik
-
Make your own wrapping paper and cards - I have done this for years with my kids, we design our own wrapping out of paper bags, left over bits of wrapping paper etc, has become a fun tradition - lots of how to’s https://www.artbarblog.com/diy-wrapping-paper/