(Un)Consumption

The other day, I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs: Fake Plastic Fish . If you've never heard of it... lets just say, "Now you know." :) If you've ever wanted to lessen your plastic consumption... and leave a lighter footprint....this is definitely a blog that you should check out!

Last week, she wrote a blog about "Buying Green vs. Being Green." The blog post is long... but she makes many valid points that I completely agree with. **STOP here and read her blog post:)** It's easy to get caught up in purchasing something new because it's touted as being "green" when we either don't really need it because our "non-green" item works just fine or we could and should be purchasing used anyway. OR maybe something we hadn't even thought of: NOT purchasing at all. Think about what she says,

"What we don't buy and consume is probably more important than what we do."

A point that is made in "The Story of Stuff." Overconsumption whether "green" or not... is overconsumption. In order to move past overconsumption, we have to rethink what we buy, why we buy it, and HOW we buy it. Wow... that's a mouthful.

I know the things that I used to buy a lot of and thinking back.... I had to ask myself:

How many pairs of black pants does a girl really need?? How many times am I really going to watch that movie that I just had to buy?? How many toys do my kids really need??

I do this often and I always find that when I rethink (and rethought) things... I don't need 10 different pairs of pants, I don't need to buy movies because I could rent them, and my kids don't need all of the toys that they want (yes, we've even put a limit--it's 1-- on how many gifts family can buy for each of our kids for birthdays and Christmas).

Before we make a purchase we ALWAYS first see if we can buy the item used. Some places that we check are Ebay, Craig's List, consignment shops, and I'd really like to say we go to garage sales... but I just don't move that early in the morning ;) Another one of our favorite resources is Freecycle. Ok... it's not buying... it's better... it's FREE!!) Last year, my husband built a brick patio and walkway with used bricks he gathered from other "Freecyclers":)

Want to go full-fledged into Unconsumption?? Try one of "No Impact Man's" suggestions and don't buy anything new (besides food) for one month. Here's an idea to help "fill the craving to shop."

"Only when we rethink how and what we value — so that we no longer base well-being and quality of life on excess production, consumption, and wasting — will we truly be able to address global warming and other forms of ecological ruin." -- Green Gone Wrong by Heather Rogers (go check it out at your local library ;))

Bag It

Yesterday--with my 3 year old in tow--I braved the mall.  Knowing I had lots to get... I, of course, took one of my Envirosax bags in with me.  They're super convenient (roll up into a little ball) and are also very stylish:)  From GapKids to Victoria's Secret, every sales associate happily put my purchases in my reusable bag.  We had such a good time and everyone at the mall was in a great mood-- friendly, helpful, considerate and above all accommodating.

Then we went to Dillard's to get my husband some new undershirts (I've been happily referring to them as 'tall boys').  As the sales associate checked me out, I let her know that I didn't need a bag because I had my own.  And what she said didn't surprise me... I had been prepared for it ever since it happened to my Mom over a month ago... she said, "Oh, it's required that I put your purchase in one of our bags.  Security.  That way you don't get stopped."  I politely said, "I'm sorry... I don't take bags.  It's OK, if I get stopped... not a big deal.  Thank you, though." With that, she put my purchase in my bag and I never got stopped by security.

Moral of the story: I could have easily taken a bag, but I chose  choose not to.  My choices influence supply and demand.  Yesterday, I chose not to take six bags.

What would I have done if  I didn't have a reusable bag with me? (Highly unlikely) But back in the day when I was a constant reusable bag forgetter, I would have either carried my purchases in my arms or taken one bag and put all of my purchases in it instead of six individual store bags.

I live by the motto: If I take a bag, they make a bag.