Let's face it. The holiday season is all about consuming. Gifts, food, drinks. December seems to be about indulgence.

This year, I've tried to be a bit more subdued with my consumerism. I bought gifts for my family and R on my trip to Peru, and everyone's getting basically the same thing! I bought my roommate a book that I know she wants, and will share with me when she's done! And I bought my new dog nephew a toy that will keep him active and that he can enjoy throughout his life, assuming he's not like his dad and aunt...

For our family Christmas, we will be doing a similar gift exchange as we did for Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, but with just gag gifts. This is a nice opportunity to go through old things and find something that I don't want anymore, but that someone else might love!

I made my own gift bags, which can be washed (if necessary) and reused, though this is not a new thing in our family. The rule in our house is to never trust the box that something comes in. A few years ago someone got a small gift that was wrapped in a box from the Bay, and someone had written 1978 in the box. No Joke!

And I didn't get cards, though I'm on the ball enough to get them out on time, even if I wanted to.

I'm not dissappointed with the amount of waste we produced. My parents have always saved reusable wrapping paper, and all of their gifts were either in bags or reused paper. There was some packaging from some things, like the herb saver and neti pot that I got, but it could have been worse. It also gives me a point to measure from for next year.