Starting Fresh

So, being an extreme type of person, this year I have a New Year's resolution that is kind of crazy- I'm not going to buy anything new for an entire year. This isn't a new idea, I heard a story on NPR about some people doing this a few years ago- I think they called it "The Compact." Pretty much, the idea is to curb consumerism by eliminating the purchase of anything new (within reason). Food and sanitary items are excluded of course- and I am excluding things like office supplies (paper and printer ink...). My main goal is to think carefully before I buy something. Do I really need it? If so- can I borrow it, buy it used, or make it? People do this kind of thing for a lot of reasons, and I'd say I'm doing it for most of those reasons. Certainly it will save money and help my family pay off a mound of student loans but really, there is much more to it for me. Here are some reasons I came up with:

1. Shift the focus from "What can I buy to make my family" to "What can I do to make my family happy?" Marketing has done a good job of convincing us that happiness comes in a box. This causes us to pull out our wallets whenever there is a problem or dissatisfaction with life. Countless studies have shown that this actually makes our problems worse and that a focus on non-material things will bring more enduring happiness.

2. Conserve resources. It is ridiculous that in our "going green" craze people have been convinced that going green involves buying more things. For things that are used up frequently- cleaning supplies and such its a good idea, but surely we understand that we have to weigh how much more efficient the new product is to the old one (say a washing machine) against how much energy and resources went into making the new product. Beyond this, as an excessive consumer, I have realized that I have more stuff than I need and I keep buying more. This demand I create for unessential items puts a strain on our environment as our precious resources are used to create all of that junk.

3. Become more globally aware and responsible. This reason is certainly debatable and complicated and I hope to contemplate on it more over the year.
There are great inequalities in the world. Excessive consumerism in the US seems to perpetuate this a little. Yes, we are buying goods from other countries, thus giving them an economic livelihood. We also demand that our products be cheap, so we can buy more things. Our demand to have it all means we have forsaken our native manufacturing plants in favor of the pennies-a-day labor of other countries. Certainly there are a lot of Americans that could use a job these days. In addition to this, while we are supplying jobs to other countries that need them, the wages earned for these jobs ensure a life of poverty by American standards. How would all of this change if we bought less and accepted a higher price tag for more globally responsible products? Yes, this messes with pure capitalism a little and supply and demand. However, what if the demand in a market driven economy included a desire for social responsibility? We could still get the lowest price for living wage produced products- it would just cost more than we are used to today. Global economics is not one of my strong suits and I intend to read up on the issue and I welcome input from others on this matter.

This year is intended to be an extreme solution to my over-consuming instincts. I understand very well that if everyone in the US stopped buying anything new for an entire year we would have a lot of serious problems (although I can't imagine that ever happening). I'm not saying this is an answer to all of my problems and the world's. I do know that looking at the situation from this extreme vantage point will help me to contemplate things more clearly and hopefully do a great deal to bring my family closer together and de-clutter my life.
The choices I make concerning this resolution will be guided by the reasons I have listed above and I will post updates around the first of every month and maybe more if I feel like it but I don't intend to go overboard with the blogging.
If you would like to join me in my resolution, or have any thoughts on it, I'd love to hear it.

~Carma