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Holiday market offers earth-friendly gifts
By Keith Uhlig
Wausau Daily Herald
November 18, 2007
Christmas shopping should be about more than just buying stuff.
That's what one group of north central Wisconsin people believe, and that's why it's offering a two-day shopping experience that will allow consumers to buy local, environmentally friendly and humanitarian gifts.
Members of the Simple & Sustainable Living Net-work of Central Wisconsin will hold the Alternative Holiday Market on Friday and Nov. 25 at the First Universalist Unitarian Church in downtown Wausau.
It's about battling the over-commercialization of the holidays and "bringing back more meaning to relationships, developing face-to-face connections," said Sarah Thurs, 32, of Wausau. "We're hoping people aren't just making purchases to cross names off the list."
The roots of the Alternative Holiday Market started to grow more than a year ago when the University of Wisconsin Marathon County offered a community dialogue on Affluenza. The college sponsored book readings, discussions and speakers highlighting the pitfalls of overconsumption, consumerism and commercialism.
Thurs and other members of the First Universalist Unitarian Church wanted to take the "Affluenza" series further. "We thought, we've got all this information, we're really enthusiastic. But what can we do about it?" Thurs said.
Thurs and another Wausau woman, Sally Schmidt, 33, decided to form the Simple and Sustainable Living Network last spring. The group of 15 to 30 people meets twice a month to tackle such issues as how to make environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, how to can food and "to talk about ways to live that involve simplicity," Thurs said.
The idea of the Alternative Holiday Market sprung from meetings of that group.
"It's not so much about not buying things, but being aware of the things you buy," Schmidt said. "How it was produced, who produced it, and who's profiting from it."
It's part of a trend toward making buying decisions that bolster the sustainability of the environment and the community, said Blaine Tornow, 52, the co-owner of Downtown Grocery and an organic farmer from the town of Berlin.
"I definitely agree with trying to support local farmers as much as possible," Tornow said, "as opposed to sending one's food dollars to the big food conglomerates. ... It's putting a face with your food."
Although environmentalism runs through the efforts of the Simple & Sustainable Network, Thurs said, the movement goes further than that. It's about values, and understanding the impact of how you spend your money.
"It's catching on," Thurs said.
Copyright (c) Wausau Daily Herald. All rights reserved.
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