Despite the complex and rather dark history behind the fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving remains, at its core, a holiday meant for family, friends and gratitude. As cheesy as it sounds, the true meaning behind this holiday is important, but in my experience, it has often been overshadowed by consumerism.

As I sat down in the main cafeteria to eat lunch with my friends last week, we began talking about our plans for Thanksgiving break. While the conversation started with family traditions and travel plans, it quickly turned to Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. I want to be clear—this isn’t a criticism of my friends’ or anyone else’s choices. I, too, continually get caught up in the excitement of holiday deals. But as I thought about it, I realized I wanted to approach this holiday season differently—in a way that puts less focus on shopping and more on what really matters.

Over the past few years, I’ve found myself ditching in-person Black Friday shopping with friends and family for shopping online. While this has made my holiday gift shopping a little easier, it has taken away time I would normally spend with my loved ones. More importantly, it has contributed to the overall commercialization of the holidays, shifting the focus away from gratitude and spending time together in favor of consumption.

Many people started shopping online more during the pandemic, and this trend has continued over the past few years. According to a holiday spending forecast by Adobe Analytics, 71% of consumers said they plan to shop online during Black Friday this year, with 70% saying they proactively look for deals during Cyber Week. 

Despite the ease that comes along with online holiday shopping, consider the environmental cost of these mass online purchases. According to Clean Hub, studies suggest that Black Friday deliveries generate an estimated 429,000 tons of greenhouse gasses to the environment each year. Additionally, according to the Columbia Climate School, Americans produce 25% more waste than usual between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. 

Instead of completely condemning Black Friday shopping, as I’m sure I’ll do some shopping then myself, I encourage you to consider shopping at local small businesses. One of my personal favorite shops, Silver in the City, is located in downtown Carmel and has great gifts to give friends and family. For music lovers like me, Indy CD & Vinyl and Luna Music have an amazing collection of vinyl records, CDs and more, and are both located in the Broad Ripple area. 

Another suggestion is to give back to others this holiday season. There are many charitable organizations you can donate to including The Salvation Army, UNICEF and Feeding America, to help people in need. 

All in all, I encourage everyone to express gratitude and spend time with their loved ones this holiday season. Rather than getting caught up in the holiday deals, let’s focus on what we have, the people we care about and making memories that’ll last a lot longer than the items we buy on Black Friday. 

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Mady Kiser at [email protected].