Mendolonium

In my palm pilot (Yes I use a palm pilot. I know it’s sooo turn of the century.) I keep a list of “things to get”. The list includes things such as floor puzzles for Thomas” and “half-pint canning jars”. Although we try to limit our consumerism, there are things that we need and want that aren’t absolute essentials. There are also some big ticket items (like a twin bed and dresser for Thomas’ room) that we would like to purchase. Over the past year I have become more aware of the impact that our purchases have on the environment. Every item that we buy new took water and energy to manufacture and took even more energy to transport to us. I know that clearly defining what are needs vs. wants and buying used when we do need something are the keys to lessening our consumer based environmental impact. I have been doing well on the wants vs. needs front and have put many an item back on the shelf at Target, however, I am still shopping for new items at Target.

So from now on I commit to checking out craigslist, thrift stores, resale shops, and/or garage sales before I buy new.  On top of the environmental costs, the rising cost of goods coupled with our reduced income as compared to a couple of years ago (now that I only work part-time) has made the financial benefits of shopping used very attractive.  We started off well this week when I found three used floor puzzles for Thomas in perfect condition at a children’s resale shop.  He certainly won’t care that they are “pre-owned.  I  hope that if make buying used a regular part of our lives he will grow up with this way of life as normal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 9:47 pm and is filed under Change of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.