For us, weekends lend themselves to lots of shopping. We find ourselves perusing stores for things we don't really need—last weekend, it was a pair of shoes, a new shirt, and a pepper grinder.
We tend to overlook one very simple green move: buy less stuff.
So we're gonna step up our efforts in the spending department. Jump below to find out how.
While we have gotten better about making more sustainable choices (bamboo kitchen products, clothes made with organic cotton or recycled plastic, shoes that will last for years), the most sustainable choice would be to purchase fewer things.
In the past, we've tried "buy nothing weeks" before (usually out of monetary necessity), and they tend to give us a great sense of accomplishment, liberating us from our consumerist tendencies. We purchased only the necessities; mainly food and sometimes toilet paper.
And so, we're going to try it again. But this time around, it's not as much about saving money (though that's a nice perk), but about accumulating less stuff—the "reduce" part of the "reduce – reuse – recycle" mantra. And if we do make a purchase, we'll be sure to make it as ecological and economical as possible by buying used, or buying local, or buying sustainable. We ask one simple question before every purchase: "Is this a sustainable decision?" And if we hesitate with the word YES, we put the item back. Well, most of the time.
Have you tried a "buy nothing week," or made changes to your purchasing habits as a matter of going green? Be sure to tell us about it.
Photo by Benjamin Earwicker
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I think "not buying things" is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Last weekend at IKEA I had a meltdown at the register when I saw all the stuff I had in the cart that were so impulsive and un-necessary!
It is hard living in a consumer culture, where we are sold to all the time, to reverse that behavior.
A lot of times I find myself saying "Old me definitely would have bought that/brought that home." But thankfully new me is more aware of what she really NEEDS. And what I really need is to not bring more crap into my apartment!
view Marie's profile
Sometimes I skirt around the issue by buying used stuff--for instance off of Craigslist. It's still consumerist, but at least it doesn't hurt the environment.
view SFGail's profile
I think it's a brilliant idea to try to buy nothing non-essential for a period of time - it really makes you think about how easy it is to mindlessly spend. A friend of mine made a new years resolution to be an "ex-consumer," and then next year I joined her by vowing not to buy any clothes for a year. We blogged about it here:
http://www.sparrowpost.net/oldschool/exconsumerproject.html
It was tough, because I used to LOVE to shop, but after the year was up I had no desire to go back to my old mallrat habits! I still try to buy used, or only get new clothes (high quality) when I absolutely need to.
view SisterRae's profile
I really don't have problems with not buying things other than food. It may be the only perk of being a poor grad-student
view Hollie's profile
A couple of friends and I made a no spending for a week bet. We could not spend a single dollar for an entire week.
It was an interesting week.
Ive also gotten a lot better about breaking myself out of the habit of buying stuff I dont need. I just need to get rid of more of the stuff Ive already got.
view SleepyDweller's profile
To Hollie; The trick is to remember all those penny-pinching skills when you get done with school. I spent a few months after graduating so excited to have a paycheck I went shopping for cloths and house stuff a bit too much. Now I am going back to the cheapness to pay off bills and save for christmas.
view stellato's profile