🎄 Making the perfect taco 🌮
The unexpected climate gift guide by Hothouse
Climate solutions // I S S U E # 6 2 // G I F T S
By Mike Coren
The world is dematerializing. Compared to 50 years ago, we use half as much stuff to generate every dollar in the global economy. In some ways, we’re just more efficient. The UK, for example, has raised its standard of living while consuming less steel, cardboard, energy, and emitting less carbon. Similar trends have spread across Europe and, to a lesser degree, the US, which has passed everything from peak paper (1990) to peak automobiles (2001).
“Less nickel. Less gold. Less fertilizer. Less water for irrigation and less timber. Less paper,” says Andy McAfee, a research scientist at MIT who wrote the book, More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learn to Prosper Using Fewer Resources—and What Happens Next. “All the things that you build an economy out of.” (The exact nature of this trend remains contentious.)
But there’s another reason. We just value physical things less. That’s hard to believe in such materialistic times. But more of our hard-earned cash than ever goes to the creation, exchange, and possession of ephemeral goods and experiences. That’s unsurprising as billions of people walk around the globe with little computers in their pockets connecting them to everyone else.
Money, naturally, flows toward attention. Evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller even proposes sharing experiences may now outrank possessions as status signaling moves online. “More and more economic value is becoming entirely divorced from the physical attributes of a thing, and resides in intangibles,” says ad agency executive Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy London.
The data bear this out. McKinsey, a consulting firm, notes that personal spending on experiences such as spectator events, restaurants, and traveling (much of it broadcast on social media) rose four times faster than expenditures on goods and 1.5 times faster than personal spending overall. The trend was roughly true across generations: Millenials spent more on experiences than GenXers who spent more than Boomers.
It’s even affecting gift giving. The relative ease at which we can give online has increased the number of gifts exchanged, online and off, according to Cornell University. The pandemic supercharged this as we lost the ability to give in person: In 2020, global searches for “online gift” surged by 80% compared to 2019, reports Google.
All this begs the question: What should I give my loved ones this holiday? I perused a lot of online guides promising sustainable options: 33 Eco-Friendly Gifts to Give Right Now and Soothing Gifts for Those With Climate Anxiety. I left unimpressed. An ecologically sound gift, it seems, just meant materials like hemp or recycled plastic. Better, perhaps, but missing the point.
So here are a few top ideas (and strategies) on how to give gifts that are better for you, your loved ones, and the climate. Mostly, it’s about getting off the “hedonic treadmill” of disposable stuff. To put it another way, shopping therapy never works for long. As the Cornell researchers note, “people’s evaluations of their material goods went down from the time of the initial purchase to the present, but their evaluations of their experiences tended to go up.”
That’s a pretty good deal when you think about it.
Hothouse Gift Guide 2021
Bringing the world to you: Making the perfect taco
On the coast of Baja California, small shacks dish out fish tacos. A different family usually runs each taquería. One of the children pulls down the handle of a metal tortilla press, then tosses the flattened corn masa onto a smoking skillet. After thirty seconds, a fresh fish filet is cupped inside the folded tortilla, topped with lime, cabbage, slices of avocado, and a drizzle of crema, and slid across the plywood table. During the pandemic with nowhere to go, I craved all this. So I headed over to Airbnb, where it seemed the entire world had brought a slice of their hometown to the Experiences pages (“unique activities hosted by locals”). I could take cooking lessons, dancing classes, and, of course, learn how to make a perfect taco. And that I did: Graciela taught me her fish taco recipe from Mexico City. You can find her classes, and others like them, across the web to share with friends. (And they’re affordable starting at just a few dollars; Airbnb said it sold over half a million gift cards).
Buy for life: Pool together to buy gifts that go the distance
After replacing the sole of my boots for the third time, I realized I might never need to replace them. I loved everything about the experience: dropping them off at the cobbler, polishing and conditioning the leather, and wearing them on the town again, more comfortable than ever. In a world of fast fashion and planned obsolesce, giving an expensive item that lasts longer is its own unique pleasure—a powerful way to change the impact of your gifts for everyone. The goods will keep on giving, and you’ll get to revisit them with your friends and family again and again. To manage the cost, try sites like Patchwork that let you easily coordinate money with friends and family. To find the right gift, speak to salespeople (they’ll often know what items last longer), check out the copious number of sites dedicated to connoisseurs of everything (the Buy it for life subreddit can also answer questions). Look for brands like Patagonia (it sells “recrafted” and “gently used” items) and Levis that are announcing buy-back and repair programs, so even worn-out goods get a second life. And of course, our first sponsor, Unspun (highlighted below), is one of those as well. They make better quality, custom clothes with less waste you can wear for years without going out of style. Sign up here for $40 off on your next pair.
A bicycle: Really, just a bike
“When I see an adult on a bicycle,” said H.G. Wells, a social critic and science fiction author, “I do not despair for the future of the human race.” If so, there’s a glimmer of hope out there. America is entering its third great bicycle revival in 150 years. Biking in the US first peaked in the 1890s (pdf). One observer recalled an America where almost everyone—businessmen and grandparents alike—rode daily: “The great avenues of our larger cities were made extremely picturesque in the dusk of evening by the endless line of bicyclists whose lanterns in the darkness produced the vivid effect of a river of coloured fire.”
Between 1965 and 1975, interest spiked again. But it’s the latest resurgence that may change our cities forever. Sales of recreational bikes rose 121% to nearly 250,000 per month last March. REI, a national outdoor gear store, reported selling four times as much cycling equipment during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the electric bike is a game-changer. People who might never have seen the bike as recreation, let alone transportation, are riding e-bikes for the first time. Cities are resigning themselves to accommodate them. Fast, comfortable, and powerful enough to turn trips as far as five miles into a breeze with cargo and families in tow, e-bikes may finally make bike lanes standard in our cities. Prices are falling, and models are proliferating: one wheel, three wheels, many wheels. If you don’t want to spring for a bike, you can give the gift of a bike-shop test drive, day-long rental, or membership to urban mobility services like Lyft that let you rent e-bikes by the minute or mile.
👖 Custom clothes without the waste 👖
As you may recall from our fashion series, clothes have a climate problem. That’s why we are proud to have Unspun become our first sponsorship, bringing you the Gift issue. We chose Unspun because the company’s mission is aligned with a low-carbon world: a 1% reduction in global CO2 emissions from the fashion industry. Their custom-built jeans, using a 3D iPhone scan, reduce massive waste in the industry and produces custom clothes built to last. One of our friends at Popular Science, Rachel Feltman, calls them “the best fitting jeans of my life (of my LIFE) based on a 30-second scan.” 👖 If you want a gift for yourself (or your friend) sign up for the Unpun’s beta program for a $40 discount on your pair here: unspun.io/hothouse) 🤩
Emissions in your life: Knowing is half the battle
How much greenhouse gas do you emit in your life? Before this year, I had no idea. Online calculators were, at best, wild guesses. Figuring it out myself required more time and another advanced degree. Finally, a new generation of apps have stepped into the void. Joro is one, and gifts to offset a flight or a few months of daily life start at $20. Joro integrates with your credit cards and automatically estimates emissions based on your spending. You can offset as little or as much as you like through their verified projects. To get more precise, try travel apps like Tripit which automatically organize your airline itinerary and estimate emissions. By tracking your emissions, you can see where energy consumption is highest, and what needs to be done: by companies, governments, and even yourself. The best part? People who track their spending appear to spend and emit less. Joro reports its users, on average, lowered emissions by 21% and saved $3,300. Offsets are nowhere near perfect, but interestingly, Joro found offsetters changed their behavior more than others who did not.
Gift the list: Turn your passion into a present
All of us are passionate about something. We probably know it so well, we hardly see it as valuable. But the knowledge you can only get after years of obsessing over something is a gift. So give it.
A few years ago, I got into tea. Really got into tea. I read books (the Book of Tea is a must read for anyone). Bought loose leaf teas from around the world. Mixed cocktails. Obtained a hand-cast Japanese iron tea kettle. And then I offered tea ceremonies to friends. Nothing formal, but when a party happened, I might offer to set up an impromptu tea house. I’d just sit and pass out cups. If asked, I’d explain how tea began as medicine, turned into a beverage, and ended up as a religion (and a great cocktail). The little bench, covered in cups and tea leaves, would became a place to share a drink and meet new friends.
And I regularly give a list (and sample) of new teas to friends. You can do the same thing by pairing a simple physical gift—a roller pin, needles, binocular—with your singular knowledge. Birds, cooking, gaming, hikes. Gift a trail snack with a Google or AllTrails map with all your favorite trails. Favorite drinks for flights (and mini mixers to bring). Favorite night out with an insider list of where to go. For film junkies, imagine “The Best Movie Night,” then design the experience from start to finish with your favorite comedies and Youtube clips, a basket of popcorn and candy.
Your own imagination is a great last-minute gift idea—no shipping required.
One good meal: Subscribe to good food
There are now so many good options out there that there’s no shortage to choose from. A few of my favorites: A local CSA subscription (find the closest here), Imperfect Foods (rescuing perfectly good food), and Cookunity (home-cooked meals delivered with almost no waste: Get $40 off your first week here)
Finally, a stocking stuffer!
A subscription to Hothouse! 😉 🌎 🌞
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Poll Results: Your Gift-Giving Plans This Year 🎄 🕎
25% … Santa came early. 🤶🏼 Gifts are wrapped, hidden, and ready to go 🎁
20% … I've been getting crafty this DIY XMAS 🧶 🎨 📸
21% … 🤫 I'm regifting the fruitcake/vacuum/slippers from 2019. Recycling FTW!
13% … Getting myself a quiet couch, nice hot toddy and watching Die Hard
21% … Only handing out experiences this year 🏝💃🏻🏄🏻♂️
Hothouse is a weekly climate action newsletter written and edited by Mike Coren and Cadence Bambenek. We rely on readers to support us, and everything we publish is free to read.
Do you have favorite ways to give gifts? Share them here! And I forgot to mention: our next issue is all about giving money away 🤑