If there is one thing I would truly love to inspire everyone around me to do…it’s to buy less. Everyone gets into decluttering and simplifying by buying great storage containers and having big cleanouts. But. Really. The only way to simplify your life and be responsible with your consumption – in many directions at once – is to buy less stuff in the first place. Including storage containers.
Buying less saves time, it saves headaches, it saves storage angst, it saves relationships, it saves money and it saves the planet. Honestly. There is no reason to be wasting as much as we do. The facts are these:
- A 2005 paper from the Australia Institute by Clive Hamilton Richard Denniss and David Baker tells us “Aussies have admitted to spending over $10 billion every year on goods we do not use: clothes and shoes, CDs, DVDs and food, and approximately $7 billion of that is food.
- Each year in Australia nearly 20 million tonnes of waste goes to landfill. By way of comparison, this amount exceeds spending by Australian governments on universities and roads.
I appreciate not everyone can wear the same pair of green shorts almost every day for four years (actually, it’s been two pairs, same colour, same size, for eight years). Or go without buying anything for 13 months. But I reckon we can all last a month without going to the shops and purchasing. And I also reckon we will all love it when we do. I know we will. I worked this out a few years ago and live by it. Try it!
Which is my segue to this: October is Buy Nothing New month. I don’t need to spell out the gist, do I…but background guff:
- funded by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Sacred Heart Mission, it’s a Nation-wide campaign to try to get Aussies to cut down on our spending.
- if you’re joining in, you can still buy food, drink, medication, and hygiene products during the Buy Nothing New campaign.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE join me in not buying anything new. Yes?? The month has already started. No run-up. Time is nigh. Just. Don’t. Go. To. The. Shops. Easy.
Need some inspiration? How about these…
20 Tips for Buying Nothing New
* Buy second-hand clobber. Buy designer lables – second-hand – at these great outlets around the country. I bought the most amazing Christian Laboutin pink stiletto boots for $100 at BlueSpinach in Sydney…years