It's Christmas Charlie Brown! Remember this classic? After having lost control of directing the school play, Charlie is relegated to going out to find a Christmas tree. Finding the only pitiful, half-dead remaining tree, he returns to be even more berated and ridiculed. The symbolic action of placing the one ornament on the weak tree only to have it fall over sends Charlie fleeing with grief. Meanwhile, his friends learn about the true meaning of Christmas from Linus and proceed to decorate the tree and the stage with all of the ornaments from Snoopy's award winning dog house. Charlie returns to a warm greeting and a touching last scene with them singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”
Christmas seems to have an ever-increasing focus on consumerism, which not only brings unneeded stress and conflict to many of us but it can have a dramatic effect on our natural environment as well.
There's no doubt that consumerism has reached a level in society today that is showing up daily in our weather patterns and even in our stores with poorly constructed mass-produced toxic toys. According to an article on National Geographic online, approximately 1.7 billion people worldwide now belong to the "consumer class", representing an increasing demand on global resources.
However, there seems to be a positive trend in "green shopping" this Christmas. More and more consumers are seeking out eco-friendly ways to give the gift that keeps on giving. Below are some links to help you evolve into a qualified Eco-Consumer, or in the case of the so-called Black Friday, Anti-Consumer this Christmas.
|
