Great Presentation of the Issues

This link is to a website with a short video that makes a very compelling argument for what is wrong with our "consumption" economy. Even if you do not agree with every single point in the presentation, it make a powerful case for why we need to change the way we think about "things". Take the time to watch it - it is worth it.
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Why do this?

We have been asked by some people why we are doing this. I can only speak for myself, so Lori will have to weigh in on what is most important to her, but here are a couple of my thoughts:

I am not trying to make some moral or ethical statement that all buying is bad, and I do not plan to go the rest of my life buying nothing new. However, I do believe that we have fallen into a trap in this country. Since we are all so wealthy (compared to the rest of the world), our view of what is normal and acceptable has become grossly distorted.

We are surrounded by messages that having more of this or more of that is “good”, and we start to believe it. A simple example is that just a couple generations ago it would have been considered excessive to own multiple TVs (even when TV was very popular in the 60’sand 70’s). Consider this statistic: Today…half of American homes have three or more TVs, and only 19 percent have just one…Compare this with America in 1975, 57 percent of homes had only a single set and only 11 percent had three or more. Obviously nobody “needs” three TVs, but we now consider that “normal”.

Americans consume resources at an astounding rate compared to the rest of the world. Again – we don’t really notice because we compare our materialism against what we see near us, or on TV. I don’t consume as much as the people profiled in that silly show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, but that is not the point.

• Even in my year of living simply, I will consume and live a vastly more materialistic life than 80 - 90% of the world…that is the point!
• If I stopped buying things for the rest of my life and moved into a log cabin in the woods, I will have already consumed much, much more in my lifetime than most people in the world ever will…that is the point!

As long as there are billions of people living on less that $5 a day, my middle class lifestyle with a decent home, a couple normal cars, and a couple TVs is roughly equivalent to the medieval castle on the hilltop overlooking the poor peasants below. All I am really doing is trying to live in a little smaller castle...that's all.

At the end of the day I guess the question for me is will I be just as happy with much less?...I don't know for sure, but I want to try to find out.

- Bob

Hardest so far...

So here is my problem...I keep forgetting about not buying anything new when it comes to small things...

A baptismal card for Baby Max. Usually I would just run out and pick out a cute card for whatever occassion. However, Wed night I sat down and made one for Max. It turned out very cute and was pretty fun. I'm not sure how I will feel when I am in a hurry and need a card right away.

A book on CD...Usually when we make the trip to SD, we go to the library or Cracker Barrel and rent books on tape for the trip. We forgot and when we stopped in Sioux Falls for gas, the gas station had some for sale. Tony and I were reading about some of them and I commented on how expensive they were. Tony says to me, "yeah, and they aren't used." Here I was ready to buy one to help make the trip pass more quickly. Good thing Tony was there. We actually ended up driving about 20 minutes out of our way to a Cracker Barrel and rented one. We would never have done that before. We would have just bought the new one.

-Lori

Jan 1st....time to begin

A few years ago, I went through a program called JustFaith. Throughout the program, I learned about social justice both locally and globally. The readings, videos and conversations really changed my outlook on just about everything that my life consisted of. I kept wondering why I had been so blessed, just because I happened to be born in an affluent nation. Why did I have so much, when so many others had so little? Many times since then, I have had the urge to sell everything and try to live a more simplistic life.

Fast forward 4 years. Bob and I are empty-nesters with all sorts of possiblities awaiting us. So, before selling everything, we thought it would be an interesting challenge to try not buy anything for a year. Funny thing is, the second day into it, we faced our first dilema:

Tony and Catherine told us Christmas day that they were going to get married (yippee!!)...in less then 2 weeks (yes, 10 days from Christmas). Tony asked Ben to be his best man, but Ben had no suit to wear. What to do? Well... we bought him a new suit. We started our compact Jan 1st and bought Ben a suit Jan 2nd. However, I would like to state for the record that I did not buy anything new for myself to wear for the wedding.

I have come to realize that stress in life is directly related to the amount of stuff you have - in one way or another. So, if all goes well, I should have a pretty stress-free year!

We'll see if it is easier to try "keep up with the Jones'" or try stay behind the Jones'.

-Lori

The Adventure Begins

Lori and I are 2 weeks into our commitment to join the movement called "the compact", and have pledged to buy nothing new for a year. We will use this blog to journal our experiences.

The compact started with a group of people in San Francisco a couple years ago and has spread nationwide. The group has several stated aims:

• To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of disposable consumer culture and to support local businesses, farms, etc.
• To reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er)
• To simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)

We've agreed to follow two principles

1. Don't buy new products of any kind (with some exceptions such as food, toiletries and underwear!)
2. Borrow, barter, or buy used...or do without

The only thing I am sure of is that this will be interesting!

-Bob