Letters to the Editor: Don’t let virtue-signaling environmentalists spoil your holiday fun

To the editor: Paul Thornton’s grinchy opinion piece, “Christmas gift-giving turbocharges our trash problem. This is how I cope,” drips with virtue signaling. It makes me want to triple wrap all of my Christmas gifts to little ones.

Life is short, and the joy brought by little ones shaking a box, trying to guess what treasure lies inside, and ripping off colorful paper is part of the fun and joy of Christmas.

Bah, humbug!

Denise Lariviere, Pasadena

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To the editor: Thornton’s thoughtful insights on gift giving and some of its impacts on the environment are timely. We need to do better.

Recently, I attended a workshop at Japan House on Sunset Boulevard on furoshiki, the traditional Japanese way of gift wrapping. The square piece of fabric, often silk, lends itself to any shape or form, looks attractive and can be reused.

In the Japanese tradition, the gift is unwrapped and the wrapping (furoshiki) returned. It’s a tradition, a gift that keeps on giving while celebrating the textile arts of Japan.

We can borrow and share traditions that are kinder to the environment by reaching across the globe.

Ida Talalla, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I am a 66-year-old native Angeleno, and The Times was a staple in our home. My mother realized the impact of excessive waste on our planet decades ago, so in the late 1960s we started using The Times’ pages to wrap gifts, with reused ribbon, yarn or fabric decorating the boxes, which looked great.

In my home, the gift-giving is minimal, the presents are meaningful and the wrapping tradition lives on.

Sarah Fink Aylard, Santa Barbara