Jane Powerson recycling gifts.
Instead of subjecting you to a joyless "the shocking waste of Christmas" article, I'd like to look at one way we might slightly quell the riot of present-giving. And I apologise for raising the subject more than a month before the date, but time, as you will see, is of the essence.
Now that we're giving more gifts than ever at all times of the year, and presenting each other with tokens of esteem at the drop of a hat, the scope for missing the mark is greater than ever. Each of us has tucked away in the back of the wardrobe the gift that prompted the polite and disarming "Oh, you shouldn't have!" and the inward "But how could you? How could you get it, and me, so wrong?"
Yet, although that gift may be a worthless encumbrance to you, it may well be someone else's heart's desire. In other words, one man's unwelcome roll-out putting green is another's Tiger Woods fantasy; and somebody's unwanted tinkling table fountain is another's soul-soothing water music.
The challenge, of course, is to find those some ones and somebodies - which is where the internet comes in. It can winkle its way into places you never knew about and reach people you never knew existed. It is the perfect vehicle for seeking out the man, woman or child whose life will be electrified by the unwanted gift that makes your hair stand on end, or for finding the item that is your dream gift but another person's nightmare.
Freecycle (www.freecycle.org) is my favourite internet-based apparatus for givers and takers of stuff. There are 19 groups in the Republic of Ireland (with close to 10,000 members) and six groups north of the Border, (with a healthy membership of 6,737). You join a group in your area (you'll need to set up a free Yahoo account), and then, via e-mail or a web page (take your pick), you can offer your unwanted gifts to, or ask for items from, all the other people in your group. If you live in Ennis, for instance, there are about 600 individuals registered - and you can be sure that one of them wants what you don't or is disposing of exactly what you need.
Other web-based recycling groups in Ireland are www.jumbletown.ie and www.dublinwaste.ie (click on Free Trade). As with Freecycle, no money changes hands among members. If you can't bear to part with something without some small remuneration, then try Cheapcycle ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CheapcycleIreland).
And, it being nearly the season to be jolly, don't forget that your old Christmas decorations could become someone else's new Yule ornaments. From tired trinket to treasure trove - all in a few clicks of a mouse.