THINGS TO DO
The gift of
learning Catherine Carter offers painting and design classes to children from the ages of 9 to 12.
by Lori Bradley
One Christmas Eve, my brother and I were romping around in the living room and crashed into our Christmas tree, sending the glass star on top onto the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. Immediately, my kid brain envisioned going around to the local 24-hour drug store and picking up an elaborate replacement like a plastic angel topper, preferably one robed in lots of glittery white tulle. To my annoyance, my brother, who was taking wood shop classes in school, offered to cut us a wooden star.
W
anting the glitziest tree on our street, I wasn’t thrilled with the rustic crookedness of the star, but I joined my brother in covering it with gold spray paint and then a generous coating of glitter. When we finished, we put it back on the tree and I thought it wasn’t too bad. In the right light, it looked like it was glowing. We’d had fun making it, 14
my mother treasured the handmade star, and we still laugh about it decades later. Making handmade decorations became a family tradition and our holiday tree became less showy and a lot more loved – covered with our handmade ornaments and found objects. This year, stores have been filled with mounds of plastic holiday and gift
December 2023 | The South Coast Insider
items since Labor Day. The stores and the countless online shopping sites makes me think about how holiday cast-offs end up in landfills and waterways. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces 5 pounds of trash per day. During the holidays, that amount rises to 6.25 pounds per person per
day, or 43.75 pounds each week. With a population of 330 million people, that means 2,887,500,000 more pounds of garbage are generated per week during the holidays relative to the rest of the year. Wanting to participate in the tradition of holiday giving, but no longer wanting to add to the future glut of holiday trash, I’m considering gifting
