Thoughts on Non-Consumerism
I've published 4,306 blog posts since 2008, which is kind of crazy. Everything from a love letter my cast iron skillet to a tutorial on how to remove demonic spirits from your thrifted finds. (My absolute favorite blog post!) Most of my blog posts center around how I get around buying new stuff and live my life outside of mainstream consumer culture.
Being unapologetically cheap most of the time, but also spending out on simple travel and helping my kids as they establish their adult lives. Utilizing everything my library has to offer and finding contentment in free and almost free activities.
It's coming up on twenty years since I read a short article about a small group of San Franciscans who made a one year pledge to stop buying anything new. They called themselves "The Compact" and I dove right into the deep end without hesitation.
Do I ever buy anything new? Occasionally, but mostly when it's something that actually needs to be new. Think toothbrushes, light bulbs, personal hygiene, household maintenance supplies and such. I figured out that eBay is an excellent source for open, (but new!) packages of underwear and that thrifted wool and a darning needle make socks pretty much immortal.
I've garbage picked everything from light bulbs to hair elastics to dishwasher detergent. I even garbage picked a toilet seat a few years ago, although I did go home to grab a pair of gloves.
There is already enough manufactured stuff to fulfill our needs for decades to come. Especially if we took the time to repair our belongings and recognized that something being "outdated" is a implanted idea from Madison Avenue. They'd love nothing more than for us to discard our perfectly good stuff, just so we can then buy their brand new products.
It's messed up that consumers just accept that idea that we need to rebuy our possessions every few years when they start to look outdated. Clothing, furniture, dishes, decor, colors schemes, even how our facial features are supposed to look.
It's called "Perceived Obsolescence" and it's explained well in The Story of Stuff.
I'm not immune to the appeal of Cool New Stuff, but I'd like to think that I take a critical eye to how I interact with consumer culture.
Buying used saves money, but also takes a stand against the environmental devastation created from unnecessary manufacturing. Neither reason is morally superior to the other.
Do you consider yourself a "Nonconsumer?" If so, why? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I think I have read your blog since late 2009. I love the fact that I loathe my power company and you “get” the fact that I beat my rugs with a broom outside, do not own a hair dryer, wash my air conditioner filter and let it dry in the hot sun here, then reuse it. I refuse to get a tv and have not had one since 2010. I loathe Amazon bc of how they treated their temporary older workers during The Great Recession and refuse to buy from the! Most folks act like I am a bit “touched” in the head, which is a euphemism a friend used to describe me! I feel like you and your readers are my besties!
Oh, to answer your question, I feel like I am a low consumer. I occasionally get new socks, new suit for work, in an emergency ( like a house fire destroying most of my clothes and furniture and well, everything) but I generally do not buy much new, or buy much at all.
I consider myself a nonconsumer. At different periods in my life I have been forced into nonconsumerism by financial circumstances. At other times I've turned to it because I find it interesting to see how far my money can go. A huge part of nonconsumerism for me is doing my part, small as it may be, to try to aid our beautiful planet in getting back to and remaining healthy. This includes reusing things until they have arrived at the end of their useful life cycle, recycling by using my trash company's recycling system, selling or donating things I no longer have a use for and buying used for myself and my household. Also reducing commodities by using my car less and sharing that one car with DH, watching our water and oil use carefully (especially this year re the gas and oil with this crazy war ongoing). I find I not only need less to stay happy but I want less. It has produced a sense of calmness I didn't have before I embraced nonconsumerism and frugality. Also, these two things are very interchangeable in my life. One helps increase the other.
I aspire to be a non-consumer. I am trying to reduce my consumerism, but I do find it hard not to just order what I need, particularly because I dislike shopping. I do despair at the amount of consumer goods in the world, and appreciate your efforts and the model you are providing.
May I just say that your darned socks are a work of art!!!