I pretty much boycotted Christmas last year and would do it again. Here’s my Christmas message from last year:

With Christmas looming and the mass media pressuring us to buy, buy, buy, I urge you to contemplate the trail your dollars leave once you hand them over to corporations: the exploitation of foreign workers; the wars over natural resources for electronics and batteries; the oil used to heedlessly ship trinkets halfway across the globe, escalating energy demands and fueling wars like Gaza’s and Ukraine’s. Add to that the corporations’ lobbying activities, usually against your own best interests as a consumer and a citizen entitled to a clean, stable environment.

Instead of shopping from the big boxes, please consider spending your money on meaningful gifts, such as donating to worthy causes, buying from local businesses, or supporting the work of artists and writers you admire.