by Lydia Neave
On the approach to Mother’s Day it’s time to start thinking about our special mums and all they do for us, and how we are going to celebrate them. We tend to show them our love by offering gifts of flowers or chocolates, but let’s take it back to the origins of Mother’s Day to find out what it really means.
In the UK, Mothering Sunday has Christian origins, taking place on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Historically it was considered important for people to return to their ‘mother’ (home) church once a year in the middle of Lent. This return to the ‘mother’ church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. This led to the tradition of children, particularly those who worked as domestic servants, being given the day off to visit their mother and family. As these children walked home, they would pick wild flowers to take to church or to their mother.
The main focus of this day was, therefore, about sharing family time. However, like every day of celebration, over the centuries it has been commercialised. Unfortunately these days that means the mass purchase of single use plastics. Greetings cards, cut flowers, and boxes of chocolates often come wrapped in unnecessary unrecyclable plastic film. This poses issues for earth-conscious consumers; obviously we want our mums to feel special, but we don’t want to contribute to the plastic problem.
Let’s think of Mother’s Day in a broader context, let’s celebrate our mums whilst showing upmost respect for our planet, after all she is our Mother Nature! Remember, this day came about for the importance of sharing family time, not for sharing gifts, so you could always take your mum out for the day instead. Of course, old habits die hard, and gift-giving is enjoyable for both the giver and receiver, so how about changing it up and getting creative this year. You could try swapping: chocolates with home-baking, and cut flowers with wildflower seed bombs or the dedication of a living wildflower bouquet. Finally, make sure you always buy plastic-free, sustainably sourced greetings cards.
At Make It Wild we love that we can offer a host of plastic-free swaps for all occasions, including a relaxing soap bar and cashmere blend socks gift set that we think mums would love!
