photo credit: Malak Chahboub
New Year’s, Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s, April Fool’s, and so on and so forth. Another holiday comes before the previous one is over so much so that it can sometimes feel like there’s one every week. I’m frankly tired of all of the holiday hectic.
I know that the companies for sure aren’t. The big brands like Hallmark, Target, Walmart and Macy’s benefit greatly from these popular Hallmark holidays. In 2024, a sum of $979.5 billion was spent due to holiday advertising, according to statista.com.
These big companies have taken the fun out of holidays. Holidays are supposed to be about spending time with the people one loves and celebrating the day, not about who can get the more expensive gift for the other person.
People should go back to making homemade presents and cards. When I was younger, growing up for Christmas every year I’d make my parents gifts instead of buying them, until I got a job this year I bought them gifts; the gifts were more meaningful when I made them rather than buying them, and I spent time on them. The holidays should be about connection not consumerism.
The stores don’t even care about the sentimental value a holiday holds. During the holiday season, prices seem to rise, but people don’t seem to care because they need to get gifts for friends and family. The big stores like Hallmark and Target leverage off of people’s want for material things during these holidays. These brands don’t care about the meaning of the holiday. Instead, they only want to continue to increase their profit.
Additionally, consumerism causes so many issues. Buying new balloons, new streamers, paper plates, wall decor, cups, all to get thrown away and wasted right after. Just think about the gift bags and wrapping paper people just throw away instead of reusing during the holidays. Approximately 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in landfills every year, according to ecocenter.org.
Instead of filling people’s hearts, these holidays just fill landfills. According to rainbowrestores.com, 35 percent of Americans buy new decorations instead of reusing the old. Not only is that wasteful, but it is also expensive and unnecessary. Companies and brands continue to make more useless products that end up catching people’s eyes and start new trends. So, instead of focusing on the holiday itself, people focus on the next best decoration that can fill their home.
When I think of holidays, the first thing that comes to mind are not the balloons, the streamers or the lights or the blow ups in the yard. When I think of holidays I think family, and I think spending time with my loved ones.
Giving gifts is supposed to be about bringing smiles to people’s faces, not about who can spend more money. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and with each year gifts get less and less romantic. What once was handwritten love letters, poems and big romantic gestures has turned into $20 teddy bears or $30 flowers that will die in a week.
Don’t get me wrong, the flowers and the teddy bears and candy are all cute and romantic. But people should stop spending money when putting in the emotional effort will have a much better outcome, and will strengthen their relationships. Therefore, I challenge you to channel some vibes from yesteryear and try something homemade and heartfelt this Valentine’s Day.
