Good Green, Bad Green: Consumption 'sumption, what's your function?
Good Green:
~I now buy 75-80% percent of my clothing second hand. I make exceptions for shoes, socks and undergarments, and some pants (it's hard to find my size second hand). My husband does a bit better, we only buy his socks and underwear new. I hadn't been sure how my 11 year old would feel about used clothing and I was happily surprised that we found 4 pairs of pants at a second hand store that she was willing to wear a couple of weeks ago.
If we had more money, I'd love to buy organic underwear and socks, like they sell in the Harmony catalog.
~We quit the DVD club a couple years back and now get all our DVD needs met at the library. It's amazing what I've been able to find there. Last week I checked out "March of the Penguins" . This week I checked out the second season of "Sex and the City" and the 6th season of "The Simpsons". I get to keep them for a week and its free.
~We own one car, a 1989 Honda Civic that I've had for 8 years. I'm hoping to own it until we can afford a gently-used hybrid. I've actually been trying to win a new one of those whenever it's been offered at a sweepstakes prize (I've been trying to win a Mini too -- they're just so cute!) but I haven't been so lucky yet. We get by pretty well with one car. My hubby takes the trax and walks to work most of the time, and the times he needs the car, I walk to work. We've both been fortunate that we live fairly close to our places of employment, and I hope to be even closer to a trax station when we move in June.
Bad Green:
~I never met a notebook I didn't like. I have a thing for notebooks. You have to keep me away from those back-to-school sales when the spiral-bound 70 sheet notebooks go on sale for 10 cents each. I have a couple of boxes full of blank or nearly blank notebooks. I hate to think how many trees had to give up their lives to feed my notebook fetish.
~I'm almost as bad with books. I love books. I could happily live in a bookstore or library. Books aren't cheap and I have dozens that I've never even had the chance to read. On the plus side, I've been really good about purging books for good causes, like fundraiser rummage sales or to donate to the library. I've moved too many times in life to want to be burdened with moving so many of them.
~I love buying scrapbook supplies. I have several storage boxes full of scrapbook supplies. Don't let me loose in a craft store with money or credit cards -- baaaaaad idea.
Scrapbook supplies mostly consist of various paper products, just like the books and notebooks. What is it with me and things made from paper? I love trees. I hug trees for real on a semi-regular basis and feel a strong connection to them. I'm finding these two sides of myself difficult to reconcile.
Consumption is hard on the planet. The process of getting the raw materials can be destructive, such as logging and mining, as well as the (oftentimes polluting) manufacturing process. How much do we really need to be healthy and happy? Ironically, one of the books I still own but haven't yet read is called Affluenza which deals with having much, much more than we really need.
~I now buy 75-80% percent of my clothing second hand. I make exceptions for shoes, socks and undergarments, and some pants (it's hard to find my size second hand). My husband does a bit better, we only buy his socks and underwear new. I hadn't been sure how my 11 year old would feel about used clothing and I was happily surprised that we found 4 pairs of pants at a second hand store that she was willing to wear a couple of weeks ago.
If we had more money, I'd love to buy organic underwear and socks, like they sell in the Harmony catalog.
~We quit the DVD club a couple years back and now get all our DVD needs met at the library. It's amazing what I've been able to find there. Last week I checked out "March of the Penguins" . This week I checked out the second season of "Sex and the City" and the 6th season of "The Simpsons". I get to keep them for a week and its free.
~We own one car, a 1989 Honda Civic that I've had for 8 years. I'm hoping to own it until we can afford a gently-used hybrid. I've actually been trying to win a new one of those whenever it's been offered at a sweepstakes prize (I've been trying to win a Mini too -- they're just so cute!) but I haven't been so lucky yet. We get by pretty well with one car. My hubby takes the trax and walks to work most of the time, and the times he needs the car, I walk to work. We've both been fortunate that we live fairly close to our places of employment, and I hope to be even closer to a trax station when we move in June.
Bad Green:
~I never met a notebook I didn't like. I have a thing for notebooks. You have to keep me away from those back-to-school sales when the spiral-bound 70 sheet notebooks go on sale for 10 cents each. I have a couple of boxes full of blank or nearly blank notebooks. I hate to think how many trees had to give up their lives to feed my notebook fetish.
~I'm almost as bad with books. I love books. I could happily live in a bookstore or library. Books aren't cheap and I have dozens that I've never even had the chance to read. On the plus side, I've been really good about purging books for good causes, like fundraiser rummage sales or to donate to the library. I've moved too many times in life to want to be burdened with moving so many of them.
~I love buying scrapbook supplies. I have several storage boxes full of scrapbook supplies. Don't let me loose in a craft store with money or credit cards -- baaaaaad idea.
Scrapbook supplies mostly consist of various paper products, just like the books and notebooks. What is it with me and things made from paper? I love trees. I hug trees for real on a semi-regular basis and feel a strong connection to them. I'm finding these two sides of myself difficult to reconcile.
Consumption is hard on the planet. The process of getting the raw materials can be destructive, such as logging and mining, as well as the (oftentimes polluting) manufacturing process. How much do we really need to be healthy and happy? Ironically, one of the books I still own but haven't yet read is called Affluenza which deals with having much, much more than we really need.