There is a movement called The Compact. From what I understand, it was started by a few friends in San Francisco to abstain from buying anything new for a year. From the blog (sfcompact.blogspot.com), here are the reasons:
- to go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc;
- to reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er); 3) to simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact).
I was then inspired by a blog Joy shared with me: WalkSlowlyLiveWildly.com, a Christian gal who lives in a veggie powered RV and is a raw-foodie. I love food too much for that, but we’d love to veggie our land cruiser some day.
I know I struggle with materialism, so I’m going to attempt to be a ‘Compactor’ for the next few months – don’t know if i could go a year. And especially living in such a small community, its not like we have a thriving Craigslist or Freecycle network, so it will be hard to buy things used. At the same time, its not like we have any normal shopping options – but will have to remove my Steep&Cheap firefox plug-in.
So, the main areas I’m going to focus on are clothing, home goods and sporting equipment (Dave has already excluded the bike he is buying me – I’ve tried, but haven’t been able to find it used).
What I aim to accomplish:
- Setting up a compost bin in the backyard
- Making all gifts (so i can buy yarn… but try to borrow needles if i don’t have the size)
- If i do need to buy something new (if i can’t find it used), it must be at least 40% off retail price.
- Join the local food CO-OP to get organic and locally grown food.