Mother’s Day (zero waste and meaningful gifts)
Just like any other ‘special days’, Mother’s Day has gone from being a nice way to celebrate your wonderful mum, to a consumerist binge of plastic tat and junk food, all to make the big corporate giants even richer.
Mums of course are there to protect and nurture us, make us laugh, keep us away from bad friends and men, and (hopefully) teach us how to cook, talk politely and be there with the tissues, when we get our hearts broken for the first time. And the next time. And overall they make the world a kinder place.
So why on earth would you celebrate all this by purchasing a cheap card wrapped in plastic, and a box of factory-farmed chocolates? Let’s find better ways to celebrate your mum!
How much does ‘big business’ make on Mother’s Day?
This Lilac Stripes Mother’s Day card is ideal to celebrate your lovely mum! With a pastel purple and peach striped background and ruby red heart, it’s a lovely way to remind someone how cherished they are. Blank inside, for your own message.
Everything at Good Tuesday is printed on recycled paper, sent in plastic-free packaging, made in the UK and beautifully designed.
In the UK, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter. Rooted in 16th century religious tradition, it originally was when people would visit their ‘mother church’.
But today it’s a consumerist binge of 29 million cards and buying pesticide-laden flowers from petrol stations and supermarkets, usually wrapped in plastic.
In history, Mother’s Day was also when domestic servants were given the day off, to visit their mothers. People would take a simnel cake (fruit and marzipan) home.
In the USA, Mother’s Day was influenced by Anna Jarvis, who led a campaign for a national holiday following her own mother’s death in 1905. Her mother was a social activist, who organised ‘mothers work clubs’ to improve public health and sanitation in the 1850s.
Later on in life, she became outraged that the day was being commercialised by florists and card makers, eventually leading her to campaign against the holiday she created, even threatening lawsuits.
She lost all her money trying to stop the commercialisation. And yet when she became ill and spent the rest of her life in a sanitorium, the florist industry secretly paid her bills, and even paid for her funeral.
Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. Stevie Wonder
Buying flowers? Choose local organic bouquets
Mothering Sunday is the biggest flower-buying day of the year. So choose local organic seasonal bouquets, rather than the norm. This also supports florists, but also supports nature too.
Many flowers (including all bulbs) are unsafe near pets. Also avoid facing indoor foliage to outdoor gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.
If you don’t want or can’t grow your own flowers, choose sustainable independent florists (find them at Flowers From the Farm).
One member is Bristol’s Organic Blooms, a social enterprise that also provides jobs for people with disabilities. Their bouquets are good for wildlife, and sold in compostable packaging. Somerset’s Common Farm Flowers also sells local flowers (collection only, and not available in winter!)
Store your flowers in a cool, dark place. Change the water regularly and keep trimming the stems. You can donate used bouquets to Floral Angels, where volunteers re-gift them, to people who need cheering up!
Zero waste ideas for Mother’s Day
This eco-friendly dog mum card is printed on recycled card and sent in plastic-free packaging. The card is personalised so let your dog mum know how special she is!
Read our pets tag for more dog-friendly posts!
You don’t need to ‘buy anything’, as most mums would likely just prefer a nice forest walk or ‘experience’, rather than a physical gift. Here are a few ideas:
- Visit a local art gallery together (many are free)
- Take a nice nature walk together, time to just be.
- Visit a local botanical garden or ‘open garden’.
- A luxury spa day at a local beauty salon
- Vegan afternoon tea at a local hotel
- Watch a film at an independent cinema
- Take a trip to the local theatre or comedy venue.
Grieving the death of a mother
Of course, many of us had lost our beloved mums. And Mother’s Day can be a tough time, when your own mum is not around anymore.
Grieving the Death of a Mother is by a grief counsellor, who compassionately guides you through the process of remembering and honouring your mother, without rush. Through all feelings from sadness to guilt to celebration, and the reality of living without a mother (or step-mother or grandmother).
My mother is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness and being. I may sometimes forget the words, but I always remember the tune. Graycie Harmon
