Episode 223

The “buy nothing month” has actually been a pretty popular topic among bloggers, particularly environmentalists, who are either trying to save money or become more aware of the purchases that they make. This next month will be all about looking at what I do have, what I buy a lot of (clothes), where my money goes, and how I can change my shopping habits for the better. I think that the hardest part about this month-long challenge will be keeping away from buying clothes. I still need to deal with my accumulated school notes and various keepsakes over the next month… I’m thinking about art projects that will preserve bits and pieces in a way that keeps them presentable and out of the way. All month.

” If this was an ad for food, and there was someone stuffing themselves with cheap junk food to the point of bursting, there would be outrage. An ad I caught recently (for K-Mart) had a woman saying something like “$10 jeans.

As a result, the consumer buys pink ribbons during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, green products to support the environment, candy and popcorn from school children, greeting cards and gift wrap from charities, and many other, often... As a result of organizations such as Adbusters and the Center for a New American Dream, the Conscious Consuming movement began in Boston in the summer of 2003 when a group of people gathered together and planned an alternative gift fair, “Gift It... The consumer avoids considering whether the price offered is fair, whether a small cash donation would be more effective with far less work, or even whether selling the item is consistent with the ostensible mission, such as when sports teams sell... Conscious Consuming is a social movement that based around increased awareness of the impact of purchasing decisions on the environment and the consumers health and life in general. Donate unused clothes to a charity or sell them through the Patagonia Common Threads Initiative site on eBay or on our website, (where you can also buy used rather than new, eBay handles the purchase). Instead of spending time and money shopping, people engaging in voluntary simplicity buy less. Conscious consuming has its roots in voluntary simplicity, in which people re-evaluate their work-life balance in order to spend more of their time and money on the things that matter to them. ” As a result of these questions, conscious consumers find themselves supporting organic agriculture, fair-trade and sweat-shop free products, and local and independent businesses.