buying things is fun

Enjoying shopping doesn't have to be a bad thing - It can even be Sustainable

BY NICK HEYWOOD

Yesterday afternoon I bought two shirts (a t-shirt printed with sailor's knots and a solid blue button-down), a picture frame (which I will probably not put a picture in for a few years), four tubes of toothpaste (massively on sale) and envelopes (to send out belated Christmas thank you notes). All of these items were made from recycled materials, used or organic, but that's not really what I'm getting at. Buying these boring tidbits was my favorite part of yesterday, between waking up earlier than I would have liked, working, studying for an art history test and sleeping. I like most of what I spend my life doing, but I think I like buying things best. In this I am not alone, as all of us go out every day to buy things we need, things we think we need and things we don't need at all.

This used to make me feel guilty, all this junk of life and how much I enjoy spending money, but my guilt was overcome with sadness when there was no money around to get the junk. There must be some alternative, I reasoned, some way to have fun and not spend money.

This is when I discovered the joys of The Considered Life. In the Considered Life you spend more time thinking about the things you will not buy than you do actually buying things, and about those things in life that you already have but could do away with. It's remarkable how much getting rid of things feels like shopping, and how seamlessly the act of collecting can be replaced by the act of abstaining. Did I really need the deep freeze in the basement? Not really, and donating it provided a nice tax break. Did I really need air conditioning? Not with a few fans and open windows, cool drinks and fortitude. What about hot water in the washing machine, or a dryer? Those were really the easiest to chuck, as the hot water makes no difference with the soap I use to wash, and my clothes smell better after drying in the breeze. Needless to say, all of these things are good for the environment, take little or no more time than the alternative and save money.

Clearly I'm preaching to the converted, but whenever I hear people suggesting these simple, sustainable changes in daily routine they leave out how much fun all of it is. I've come to realize that it's the act of choice that I enjoy with shopping more than the shopping itself, and that's something you can just as easily get at home without money. But buying things is still fun … I'm just careful what those things are, where they are made and what they are made of. And all of the changes at home leave me more money to buy these carefully chosen items.

Comments

[Martin Landau]

Considered Life?

Consider this, maybe while you're sitting around "thinking" about what not to buy, you're helping the terrorists win. Because Osama Bin Laden fears us and our economy. Why else would he have hit the TRADE towers.

GET IT! You nutjobs are all the same with your earth friendly this and terrorist aiding that. Did you ever consider that the bible says we got domain over the earth. We use it as we see fit, that's god's WILL! You dolphin-loving wacko!