Want to Help the Earth? Buy Less Stuff

Sometimes it seems as if people in our society are in a contest to see who can fill their house with the most stuff. Because our culture trains us to be consumers, we are often unaware of the many, many benefits to being frugal. Remember, everything you own owns you.

Everything you buy you must maintain, store, repair, clean, and perhaps insure. Our stuff quickly becomes a psychological burden. The more you buy, the more money you need, which increases your work time at the expense of your family and friends. Finally, all of our stuff takes natural resources to produce, making everything we buy environmentally costly. Here are a few pointers to help you buy less stuff:

1. Fix broken things. Our disposable culture encourages us to replace broken items even when they are relatively easy to fix. Just because you can afford a new lawn mower doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to fix your old one.

2. Reuse stuff. You can reuse many so-called disposable items, such as paint brushes, sandwich bags, and plastic containers.

3. Borrow from friends. Borrowing saves resources, money, and time and also helps build community. Check our books, movies and CDs from your local library. Ask your friend id she has a pipe wrench, since you only need it for a day or two.

4. Ask yourself, Do I really need it? Advertising makes us feel as if we’ll be left out if we don’t have the latest gadget or name brand clothing. When it comes down to it, we don’t need much of what we buy.

5. Take a shopping list. Plan ahead before you shop. Decide exactly what you want before you go; otherwise fancy displays, colorful packaging and salespeople might convince you to buy something you don’t need.

6. Avoid impulse buys. Companies actually design their stores to encourage impulse buying. Do you really need any of that junk that surrounds you in the check-out line? One powerful technique to avoid impulsively buying big purchases, such as a new stereo, is to wait two weeks before you buy it. If you still really want it, then get it.

Adapted from The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make a Big Difference by Ellis Jones, Ross Haenfler, and Brett Johnson (New Society Publishers, 2007).

Read more: Home, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, buying, impulse, shopping, thrift

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Kathleen K.

9:16PM PST on Dec 26, 2011

good ideas!

send a green star

iii q.

4:03PM PST on Nov 30, 2011

yep, forget the tschotskes.
return to what we were taught by our grandparents - recycle & reuse...

janet T.

10:59AM PST on Nov 11, 2011

I agree, buy less, it is less to dust, polish, take care of and get rid of eventually.

Michele W.

7:43AM PDT on Sep 7, 2011

Great article.
Thank you

Beverly L.

7:08PM PDT on Oct 2, 2010

Great article and food for thought!

Josefina N.

3:59PM PDT on Sep 24, 2010

Thanks

Lynn D.

6:25AM PDT on Jul 25, 2010

How true! My dad always said, "Half your life to collect it and half your life to give it away!" thanks ever so much!

Anne H.

8:26AM PDT on Jul 3, 2010

The world market is shrinking and refusing to buy "made in China" or any other country is not going to bring those jobs to your country. Many of these items are brought to your shores because of a trade agreement....where many of your items go abroad. See wiki "list of countries by export".

Many humans have this problem not just those who can afford the extra stuff. The storyofstuff illustrates the issue.

Many of us think by purchasing we are also helping keep people employed. Alas, we all know that there are too many people and ironically we blame issues on the Chinese. A country with population control programs.

Buying used stuff helps slow the process. Becoming comfortable with yourself will help us not worry about our stuff or the people who judge us by our stuff.

Allison B.

12:58PM PDT on May 11, 2010

thanks for all of these great tips! another recommendation for my fellow readers: "10 things you should never buy" http://blog.greensherpa.com/index.php/tips-and-tricks/10-things-you-should-never-buy/

Kristen R.

4:31PM PDT on Mar 30, 2010

Great tips. Thanks for the article and thanks to all for your comments.