In Sillycon Valley, these count as "health/safety items."
Posted on 02/13/2006 10:24:46 AM PST by SmithL
While many people will spend countless hours this year lining up at Wal-Mart and maxing out their credit cards at Nordstrom, a small Bay Area group has declared it will do just the opposite.
About 50 teachers, engineers, executives and other professionals in the Bay Area have made a vow to not buy anything new in 2006 -- except food, health and safety items and underwear.
"We're people for whom recycling is no longer enough," said one of the members of the fledgling movement, John Perry, who works in marketing at a high-tech company. "We're trying to get off the first-market consumerism grid, because consumer culture is destroying the world."
They call themselves the Compact. They have a blog, a Yahoo group and monthly meetings to reaffirm their commitment to the rule, which is to never buy anything new. "I didn't buy a pair of shoes today," said Compacter Shawn Rosenmoss, an engineer and a San Francisco resident of the Bernal Heights neighborhood. "They were basically a $300 pair of clodhoppers. But they were really nice and really comfortable, and I haven't bought new shoes for a while. But I didn't buy them. That's a big part of the Compact -- we show that we're not powerless over our purchasing."
Compacters can get as much as they want from thrift shops, Craigslist, freecycle.org, eBay and flea markets, as long as the items are secondhand. And when they're in doubt, they turn to their fellow Compacters for guidance.
"We had a little crisis when Matt and Sarah had to replace their shower curtain liner and we said no," said Perry, who lives in Bernal Heights. "But we put the word out and someone found one for them. It's like the Amish -- we help each other out. We raise a barn
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
.....except food, health and safety items and underwear.
They seemed to not want to recycle their underwhere?
In Sillycon Valley, these count as "health/safety items."
...but they expect others to continue buying their goods/services.
The offer stands.
How special! I've got some used shoes and sheets they can have.
I hate to break it to Shawn but I've never paid $300 for a pair of shoes in my life.
I never shop for recreation. I'm perfectly fine with buying a used ladder. I take my lunch to work. I knit my own socks (because I like to), I have a greenhouse, compost heap, and 2 dogs.
Whose treading "lightly" now?
Sounds to me like all you need now, is a cause with a cute name.
; )
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.