Filed under: Anti-Consumerism
Its only been 6 days since our ‘buy nothing’ experiment began, and I’ve already had to make a tough decision. Last month I promised my sister I’d see The Golden Compass with her, and unfortunately we didn’t see it in December. That meant that I’d either have to break my rules or break my promise. After debating the idea with my parents, I eventually decided to go to the movie.
Although I didn’t technically spend money (my parents bought the tickets), I still feel like I compromised my values. Part of the idea of the experiment is that if we do spend money, it should be to support things we like, and the Century Cedar Hills Crossing movie theater is definitely *not* something I want to support. The theater is part of Cinemark, which is a chain of 404 theaters in the US and Latin America (not quite ‘local economy’, if you know what I mean). On top of that, the place is part of the sprawling Cedar Hills Mall which completely auto-oriented and has lousy bike parking (I had to leave my racing bike attached to a cheap bike rack in the rain for 2 hours).
I actually think the most ethical thing to do would have been to just sneak in.
As for the film – it was pretty good, but I’d suggest waiting until the trilogy is out on DVD (the end of the film was basically a ‘to be continued’). Also, if you really need to spend a couple hours watching a screen, I think you can do better for the planet by seeing something like DiCaprio’s inspiring film about climate change, The 11th Hour.
I’m glad I was able to keep my promise to my sister, but if I do need to go to another movie this year, I think I’ll see an independent film at an independent theater.
– Peter
Filed under: Anti-Consumerism | Tags: Exceptions, Jenny, No-Buy List, Overview, Peter, Strategy
Anti-Consumerism: The Experiment was an idea Jenny had a few weeks ago when the holiday shopping season was in full swing. She got disgusted with the American consumerism. In her opinion, it now seems like a fully fledged religion, complete with rituals and holidays. She didn’t want to buy another single thing! Instead Jenny talked with Peter and they came up with an experiment to not buy anything other than essential items for the year 2008. We will be keeping this blog as a way to track our progress and share thoughts on living an anti-consumerist lifestyle.
Meet: Jenny
A sophomore at Portland State University studying Environmental Science, she loves photography, anything outdoors, and hopes to become a certified Wilderness First Responder. Jenny is semi-vegan (she still eats eggs and fish). She has a blue road bike that she loves dearly. Her personal blog can be found here.
Meet: Peter
A junior at Portland State University studying Computer Science, he loves long bike rides, hot chocolate and pastries. Peter is vegetarian (unlike Jenny he eats dairy, but no fish). He has a cyclocross bike named Eve and a road bike named Calypso. His personal blog about his ideas, bikes, design, architecture, politics, tech and software can be found here.
Peter and Jenny are dating and living in an apartment in Portland. They do not own a car, television, dishwasher, washing machine, or dryer. Their only pet is a stuffed dragon named Fig. They both ride bicycles for transportation.
Anti-Consumerism: The Experiment
One year (365 days) starting on January 1st, 2008 and concluding on January 1st, 2009 without purchasing any item that is non-essential with a few exceptions. This will encourage appreciation for the things that we have, time to spend bonding with family and friends, and by reducing our contribution to pollution and waste, living a more sustainable life.
College is busy and we understand that having time to eat meals at home all the time is somewhat unreasonable, so we will try to eat out a maximum of two times a week. Our focus is to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, so buying local unprocessed foods as well as eating at restaurants that are locally owned and use locally grown products is preferable.
The No-Buy List
- Coffee drinks
- Non-school related books
- Movie rentals
- Movie tickets
- Non-essential clothing
- Gifts
- Non-essential food
The Exceptions
- Textbooks
- Basic food
- A maximum of two meals a week out
- Health or hygiene-related items
- School tuition
- Rent
- Health copays
- Transportation (bus tickets)
- Equipment rental from the university’s Outdoor Program
- Essential bike gear
We both brainstormed some strategies for how we will accomplish this. Here is what we came up with …
Strategies
- Plan menus ahead of time
- Cook extra and save leftovers
- Pack lunches
- Make our own gifts
- Set up weekly dinners with friends
- Check out library books
- Spend time in bookstores just reading
- Salvage unused items from friends and family
- Find non-commercial forms of entertainment and recreation
- Volunteer in exchange for organizational memberships, supported bike rides, etc.
