Advent Conspiracy trades consumerism for loving, giving
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 at 06:00PM 
We continue to bemoan consumerism that has taken over Christmas. Why do the stores get ready so early? Why do I find myself responding to ads just so I can get a loved one (or myself) one more cheap gift?
But what do we really do about it?
Advent Conspiracy is one answer. The challenge is for you to buy one less gift this year and give the money to support the clean water charity, Living Water International. Cutting back on your gifts severely would be tough especially since some people wouldn't understand. But think about what's left over when the festivities of "the holidays" are done:
And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?
What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?
Welcome to Advent Conspiracy.
According to their website, Americans spend more than $450 billion on Christmas each year but it will only take about $10 billion to solve the clean water problem. That number seems awfully low to me, especially if desalinization plants will be needed, but even if the real cost if five times higher we still spend 14 times more on Christmas.
So what will you do about it? I am planning on giving a small dollar amount in honor of each of several friends and family members. Living Water International has PDFs of Christmas cards made specially for this purpose.