Although it is now several months past the festive holiday season, the folks at Greenpeace are still thinking of Christmas. This is due to one of the organization’s latest initiatives, “Greenpeace Giving for Christmas”.
Through this, charitable people can buy friends and family presents with climate change protection in-mind. Examples of gifts available include bottles of SPF 5000 Sunscreen (priced at $13.00), solar-powered Christmas lights (at $30.00) and saving a piece of paradise (where a $30.00 donation will protect one tree in the heavily deforested Paradise Forests of South-East Asia and the Pacific).
In analyzing this program, there are good and bad sides to this. First and foremost, it is a step towards protecting our planet from global warming … even a baby step towards doing this is a good thing. Secondly, such unique gifts make for perfect presents for those “hard-to-shop-for” people on your list (these are the people who, seemingly, have everything already). Thirdly, with the low cost of many of these gift items, younger children can afford to buy Mom or Dad a thoughtful Christmas present. Doing this not only makes the child feel good, but also provides education and awareness for those youngsters (as the future shepherds of our planet). And fourthly, the program was developed around Christmas time, when people are feeling much more charitable.
On the flip side of the coin, many of these gift ideas seem like token items. Consider the amount of strings of solar-powered Christmas lights or the number of bottles of sunscreen needed to be sold to make a significant contribution. Also consider that this program’s scheduling is somewhat restrictive. “Greenpeace Giving for Christmas” can only occur around Christmas. With the severity of the climate change issue, Greenpeace may have been wiser to develop a creative program for year-round giving.
