Dreading the holiday season? The to-do lists, the lineups and the sales hype? This year, stretch out the joy of Buy Nothing Day while rediscovering how folks made merry before the advent of the big-box store. Try tackling our three degrees of Buy Nothing Christmas – three ways to embark on a life-long project to bring a bit of authenticity back to the world’s great religious and secular traditions.

Novice: Rise Above It. Start with yourself. Forget the heaps of presents: eat, drink and cheerfully excuse yourself from the annual festival of avarice. Limit your giving to hugs and belly laughs. Then let everyone know that you mean business by downloading our “Holiday Gift-Exemption Vouchers” – just one way of saying that you care enough to let your loved ones off the gift-giving hook.

Intermediate: Keep it in the family. This year, why not gather together your friends, family and classmates to challenge them to do things differently? With the simplest of plans you can create a new rhythm, purpose and meaning for the holidays. And if a Buy Nothing Christmas is too extreme for grandma and the kids, maybe try a Buy Less Christmas. Or a $100 Christmas. Or a Regifting Christmas. Or a Green Christmas. Or a Slow-Down Christmas. Whatever you decide, ’tis the season to reclaim our celebration from the grip of commercial forces.

Advanced: Take it to the streets. Spread both joy and sane holiday alternatives by taking Buy Nothing Christmas to your local malls and commercial districts. Gather together a group of meditating Santas – “Zenta Clauses” – to offer stressed-out shoppers free soup, coffee, a place to rest their feet and (most importantly) a few friendly tips for gearing down over the holidays. Or don our downloadable Jesus mask, throw on an old bedsheet, and do the slow-motion Jesus walk for the entertainment and bemusement of the holiday crowds. It’s an absurd yet non-confrontational action that poses one all-important question for the season: “What would Jesus buy?”