When friends, families, and communities make small efforts together, the rewards multiply—for our health, our budgets, and the environment.

I don’t know about you, but we’ve been hearing mixed messages and having mixed feelings this holiday season.

Feel safe gathering with friends and family again! (But travel is still a little scary.) Feel free to shop! (But everything is more expensive or missing from store shelves. And for many of us, the photos of cargo ships idling in the ocean is really making us think twice about what we buy and where it’s from. ) The economy is recovering! (But the traffic is creeping back into our lives and emissions are at pre-pandemic levels.) 

If things are getting back to normal, are we good with that?

What if some of the most important lessons we learned during the pandemic can actually improve our holidays, our everyday lives, our communities, and the planet? What if small, meaningful, collective efforts can bring us joy?

How effort causes joy

You’re probably experienced it—a sense of accomplishment or pride, or a rush of endorphins or pure joy when you’ve managed a challenging task. 

I recently received a FREE treadmill from my neighborhood Buy Nothing list, and I vowed to walk or run at least five days per week. I don’t always want to do it. But every single time, about halfway through, I am proud of myself and feeling pretty great.

And this phenomenon extends beyond physical challenges. Studies show that meeting challenges through personal effort can make you feel more confident, stronger, and happier in the long run, even when the effort isn’t joyful in the short run. It’s true in academic accomplishments, in exercise, in building things, growing things, cooking, cleaning, making and more. 

Community efforts you can take this season (and the joy they bring)

Small shopping & gift giving tweaks

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Buy Nothing” neighborhood groups “added two million members between March 2020 and October 2021.” Part of the allure was necessity—with millions out of jobs, communities came together to help one another with food, clothing, and the goods of everyday life. 

But part of the allure was the community itself, and not all Buy Nothing exchanges were for goods. Many people gave gifts of service, do grocery shopping trips for those who couldn’t get out or rewrite resumes for those seeking a job. 

This holiday season, we can take a note from the values of Buy Nothing and bring that sense of community into our holiday celebrations.

A few ideas:

• Buy locally-made. No shipping container necessary for products that are made locally. And you’ll be supporting your neighbors. 

• Buy less, or nothing at all. Know a loved one who has worn out their favorite sweater, boots, or bag? Try mending or sending them out for repair.  Or offer up toys and other items in good repair to your Buy Nothing group and take advantage of a book or piece of art that someone you love would enjoy. 

• Pay attention to Love Languages. Thoughtfully purchased gifts can be perfect. But for some of the people closest to you, they may prefer acts of service or words of affirmation. Consider having your loved ones take the love language quiz. Use their results to offer handwritten letters, a clean house, a massage, or a one-on-one hiking trip. 

• Buy secondhand or reusable. I don’t know about you, but I’ve found some of my favorite articles of clothing at vintage, secondhand, and thrift shops. You can make an adventure out of it, taking friends, family, or kids to the thrift shop on a mission to uncover the hidden treasures. 

Small food tweaks

Eating and drinking is one of the biggest pleasures of the holidays, for kids and adults alike. During the pandemic, we came face-to-face with food shortages, the need to cook at home, and the missed pleaser of eating with friends. With a few small tips from the past two years, you can increase the joy of party food while benefiting your wallet, your waist, and the planet. 

A few ideas:

• Expand your side dish offerings. On the holiday table, side dishes are where we typically find the veggies. And eating more veggies costs less, is healthier, and is better for the planet. Check out these yummies and these for inspiration.  

• Eat more and waste less. We are big fans of making our own stock, which you can do with all the things you trim from your side dish veggies!  And this year, we plan to make dumplings with leftovers after taking this dumpling-making class from the Li sisters of Food Waste Feast. And what we don’t use up, we’ll compost. https://coffeesock.com/the-sock-life-1/2021/5/23/three-simple-ways-to-compost-at-home az

• Try the gift of foraging. If you’re one of the millions who watched the Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi, then maybe you’ve already started noticing the mushrooms poking out of the ground around you. Of course, you don’t want to toss them in your mouth without knowing they’re safe. That’s where a guide comes in. Consider a foraging adventure as a gift or alternative to an indoor party. Hire a guide or take a course, and get to know the bounty of mushrooms, berries, nuts, fruits, and other edibles that grow right from the ground around you.  

Small transportation tweaks

The parties, the family gatherings, the happy hours and events! Travel seems like an inevitable part of the holidays. During the pandemic, we saw clear (literally) benefits from driving less. Many people saved time from not commuting, and virtually everyone experienced cleaner air from…people not commuting. And being outside instead of confined spaces, like cars, was safer. With a small amount of effort, you and your crew can even make the travel part your events!

• If it’s possible for you, walk or bike. With a little planning, you may be able to map out a route to your celebration by foot or by bike. And if it’s in the budget and makes sense for your commute, electric bikes are showing up more and more as a mode of transportation that’s much cheaper than a car and much better for the environment and the waistline. Even better? Build the walk or bike into the celebration’s agenda!

• If it’s possible for you, swap out public transport. If you have a bus or rail option, now may be a good time to see if it can work for you. Yes, it takes more planning. But it can also be part of your holiday adventure. And experience on public transit can be an excellent part of learning independence and safety for kids. 

• Try carpool, or even car repair. CoffeeSock is in Texas, so yes we drive cars regularly and have fewer public transport options than we wish we had. To offset our driving, we arrange carpools when possible and keep our tires aired up properly and our car in good working order. You can read more about the impact of car maintenance here.  

Small things, often. 

Have you heard of The Gottman Institute? Drs John and Julie Gottman have been teaching relationship skills for couples and parents for more than 40 years. And what does this have to do with small community efforts? A lot, actually. 

One of the key principles of relationships, according to the Gottmans, is making regular small efforts. It’s even the title of their podcast! 

And when we think about our relationships with our communities, our families, our own selves and yes, our significant others and children, the same ideas apply. Small efforts, done often, create lasting change and bring joy. 

What small effort will you make today?