I wear black socks a lot, so I know I’ll get good use out of them.

The adults gathered in our household on Christmas morning will mostly be getting things agreed upon earlier: Things we need (or maybe just want) and will actually use.

We’ll be free of those gift items never used but harboured for years. I have, for example, a wooden tea scoop that has never actually scooped a leaf of tea.

By eliminating the element of surprise, we’ll be focusing on the “reduce” part of the “reduce, re-use, recycle” mantra.

If that seems a little joyless, it’s not. We’ll be gorging on food and memories, and that’s more than enough.

My sister’s kids will be tearing open their presents, so that will be fun to watch.

But even there, they’ve been warned that this Christmas will be a little more restrained in the “piles of new stuff” department.

As we become more aware of our impact on the planet, people are starting to embrace creative ways of keeping the economy flowing while reducing the junk added to the system.

In a new book, Curing Affluenza (affluenza being the illness of too much affluence), Richard Dennis argues that we should become less “consumerist” but more “materialistic”.

Constantly buying and throwing things away is consumerist, whereas a true appreciation for material items means making fewer, possibly more expensive, purchases that will last for longer.

This approach is familiar from my own childhood.

My parents held onto things and reworked them as the need arose.

To them, a piece of fabric might start life as a curtain before evolving into a custom-made cover for camping equipment before ending life in the rag bag.

In Curing Affluenza, Dennis says we need to “foster new ways of thinking and acting that do not squander limited resources, and which support the things we value most: vibrant communities and rich experiences.”

CDs featuring local musicians; paintings by local artists; a voucher for a massage; plants for the garden; jars of local olives or packets of goats cheese; experiences such as balloon rides or a skiing holiday – choices like these add to the richness of life without adding piles of clutter destined for landfill.

But if you really need to buy a stocking filler, Curing Affluenza might be just the thing for a relative or friend this Christmas!