One good thing that has emerged out of all of this is my complete aversion to shopping. I can't stand the thought of wasting money on things I don't really need and I've learnt to be highly discriminatory about what I do need. Ikea gives me the heebie jeebies - all those products literally piled up makes me feel like I'm drowning in the landfill of tomorrow. Even Bunnings and Officeworks, with their warehouse approach to retailing just confuses me and I end up becoming overwhelmed by anxiety and leaving without buying anything because I keep picking up things that I didn't go there to buy!
In the same way some people will only adopt a pet from an animal shelter, I actually prefer to acquire goods second-hand and nothing gives me greater pleasure than finding another home for the things that I don't need any more. And I'm obviously not the only one. There is actually quite a large movement against unsustainable consumption and people are organising themselves to resist the lure of marketing and create a new world order.
Freecycle is similar to craigslist, gumtree or trading post, except that every thing on Freecycle is, well, free. I've been using this for a while in my local area and so far I've managed to get rid of stuff that has been in storage for years and has no real economic or even sentimental value. I would have to pay to put it on ebay and probably not get any hits at all. Freecycle uses Yahoo groups, there are clear rules, the moderators are very good, so the system remains really simple - and it works. I love the fact that most of this stuff would have ended up in landfill through hard rubbish collections meanwhile the recipients would have been purchasing a brand new cheap import that only had a limited life and then also ended up in landfill.
Buy Nothing Day started as a protest against the crazy post-thanksgiving sales in America (similar to our Boxing Day sales) and has grown and been absorbed into the Occupy movement. The latest development is OccupyXmas which promotes the celebration of the Christmas tradition without conspicuous consumption. I really like the activities they promote for the day like the Zombie Walk and Whirly Marts.
The Compact was started by a group of ten friends in San Francisco who pledged not to buy anything new for a whole year This movement is quite popular with people adopting the rules of play for a full 12 months or just a month or a week. You can find lots of blogs of people's experiences weaning themselves off their shopping addiction.
It really is amazing how your perception of your previous behaviour changes when you stop shopping for the sake of shopping and start focussing on doing or creating. Many would relate to my previous behaviour of buying something off the rack on a "spree" along with a number of other items and then never actually wearing it. You keep it in your cupboard for years and yet pass over it every morning and complain that you have nothing to wear. These days, if I buy it new, I buy one item at a time and I try to lay-by when I can. It stretches out the anticipation of owning it and I can keep going back and making sure I really want it before I actually get it home. Research has shown that excessive consumption is fuelled by consumer "desire" not by the actual products being purchased. We all know that feeling when you're shopping and you see something nice, you imagine wearing or using it for the first time; it's exciting. Three months (or less) after purchase, the feeling is gone. I'm trying to prolong the anticipation by buying things that cost more, last longer and are more versatile so I can create new applications for it and keep the romance.
I guess all of this helps to deal with my current financial crisis but I'm beginning to suspect that we will all start to reduce our consumption in the future. I don't think I'll ever go back to shopping the way I did before, it's weird how it seems slightly obscene now.
In the same way some people will only adopt a pet from an animal shelter, I actually prefer to acquire goods second-hand and nothing gives me greater pleasure than finding another home for the things that I don't need any more. And I'm obviously not the only one. There is actually quite a large movement against unsustainable consumption and people are organising themselves to resist the lure of marketing and create a new world order.
Freecycle is similar to craigslist, gumtree or trading post, except that every thing on Freecycle is, well, free. I've been using this for a while in my local area and so far I've managed to get rid of stuff that has been in storage for years and has no real economic or even sentimental value. I would have to pay to put it on ebay and probably not get any hits at all. Freecycle uses Yahoo groups, there are clear rules, the moderators are very good, so the system remains really simple - and it works. I love the fact that most of this stuff would have ended up in landfill through hard rubbish collections meanwhile the recipients would have been purchasing a brand new cheap import that only had a limited life and then also ended up in landfill.
Buy Nothing Day started as a protest against the crazy post-thanksgiving sales in America (similar to our Boxing Day sales) and has grown and been absorbed into the Occupy movement. The latest development is OccupyXmas which promotes the celebration of the Christmas tradition without conspicuous consumption. I really like the activities they promote for the day like the Zombie Walk and Whirly Marts.
The Compact was started by a group of ten friends in San Francisco who pledged not to buy anything new for a whole year This movement is quite popular with people adopting the rules of play for a full 12 months or just a month or a week. You can find lots of blogs of people's experiences weaning themselves off their shopping addiction.
It really is amazing how your perception of your previous behaviour changes when you stop shopping for the sake of shopping and start focussing on doing or creating. Many would relate to my previous behaviour of buying something off the rack on a "spree" along with a number of other items and then never actually wearing it. You keep it in your cupboard for years and yet pass over it every morning and complain that you have nothing to wear. These days, if I buy it new, I buy one item at a time and I try to lay-by when I can. It stretches out the anticipation of owning it and I can keep going back and making sure I really want it before I actually get it home. Research has shown that excessive consumption is fuelled by consumer "desire" not by the actual products being purchased. We all know that feeling when you're shopping and you see something nice, you imagine wearing or using it for the first time; it's exciting. Three months (or less) after purchase, the feeling is gone. I'm trying to prolong the anticipation by buying things that cost more, last longer and are more versatile so I can create new applications for it and keep the romance.
I guess all of this helps to deal with my current financial crisis but I'm beginning to suspect that we will all start to reduce our consumption in the future. I don't think I'll ever go back to shopping the way I did before, it's weird how it seems slightly obscene now.
