Is it ok to 'regift'? Two etiquette experts take on a question a lot of people will be asking themselves this holiday season.

• Author: Lockard, Mindy
• Position: DEBATE

YES

The quality of a gift has nothing to do with where it came from or whether you paid for it. The beauty of any gift comes from knowing the recipient's preferences and needs.

Regifting is giving new life and purpose to an item we treasure, or one that is simply better suited to someone else. Maybe you have a necklace that a friend has commented on many times or a book you know a friend would enjoy. It's perfectly thoughtful to take things you don't need and give them as gifts.

There's also a strong environmental argument for regifting. Americans generate 220 million tons of waste each year, and about 55 percent of that ends up in landfills, according to Duke University's Center for Sustainability and Commerce. Regifting extends the lives of our treasures or unneeded gifts and keeps them out of the waste stream. Why go out and buy more when we already have so much to give?

Of course, the gift must be worth giving in the first place: Just as it's inappropriate to give someone a piece of junk you bought, it's also wrong to regift something just to unload it. That's how regifting got a bad name.

Done right, regifting is an act of confidence. How could someone not cherish getting something with sentiment behind it when it's been carefully and individually chosen for the recipient? That's impossible.

--MINDY LOCKARD

The Gracious Girl

mindylockard.com

NO

It's wrong to regift. It's inconsiderate, and it takes the thoughtfulness out of giving. People take great care in choosing gifts--at least they should. Selecting the right present isn't about paying a lot of money; it's about the sentiment. Many people look at a present as...