Buy Handmade Pledge: Christmas craft revolution
November 24, 2007
Did you notice stores were stocking shelves with Christmas merchandise weeks before Thanksgiving? Did you refuse to think about Christmas shopping until the day after Thanksgiving, and when you did think about Christmas shopping, did you stay home on Black Friday and avoid the stampede to get through the mall doors first? Are you in the group of people who long for a simple, stress free, less commercial, more thoughtful, more meaningful Christmas?
Buy Handmade has launched a campaign for those who would like to make a pledge to buy handmade gifts from independent artists and artisans this Christmas shopping holiday season and those making the pledge ask others to give handmade gifts in return. To date, almost 7,300 people have taken the handmade pledge. Buy Handmade lists several reasons why buying handmade goods make better presents.
Less stress. The buyer of handmade gifts avoided the nightmare of crowded parking lots and long lines typically encountered at big chain stores. Better gift. A handmade gift reflects the craftsmanship of the artist or artisan and will be a one-of-a-kind gift. In other words, everyone in your neighborhood is not going to have exactly the same thing. A handmade gift supports an independent artist or artisan, reconnects us to the maker of the goods we buy and encourages more quality goods to be in the market. Handmade is greener.
According to Buy Handmade,
“The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.”
The Handmade Consortium is a collaboration between Etsy, Craftster, indiepublic, Craft Magazine, Interweave, Burdastyle, The Austin Craft Mafia, Design*Sponge, and The American Craft Council.