All I want for Christmas is a Recycled Handmade Gift

Alexandra Kruppa

Christmas has become an excuse for massive consumption, resource depletion and waste. Melton Fellow Alexandra Kruppa set an example for a more sustainable way by offering a workshop to create recycled handmade christmas gifts. The primary materials were donated leftovers from a hardware store, which would usually go to waste.

The activity met two goals. Alexandra raised awareness among the hardware workers, the 8 participants and the recipients of gifts about consumption habits and how Christmas consumption requires a lot of resources such as energy, water, raw materials and is often related to human exploitation. The workshop inspired creativity as participants shared ideas and collectively created different kinds of Christmas gifts.