I’m Not Buying Anything This Year
The world is consuming 1.75 earths worth of natural resources every year.
This is an alarming statistic, that I didn’t learn until the end of last year. I always assumed the earth was consuming more than we should, but I didn’t quite know how bad it was. This inspired me to shift my personal focus to lowering my consumption of everything, not just single use items.
Why No Buy?
I decided for 2023 I was going to embark on a low buy year. I wanted to audit my spending habits, save money and reduce my overconsumption. By March, life got busy and I gave up.
So, we’re trying again this year, with a LOT of reflection & preparation.
I’m keeping track of all of my spending using this template on Etsy. It’s easy to use and opens right up in Google Sheets. I’ve added another sheet to keep track of what my purchases were and a section to keep track of how many times I put things in my online shopping cart, and successfully close the tab without buying things.
I am not tracking the following: Mortgage, Utilities, Grocery Shopping, Eating out in our budget, Medication, Pet expenses, or Business Expenses. Although I am making sustainable changes in those areas every day, (except my mortgage and medicine costs which are out of my control) my focus for 2024 is going to be on personal spending.
I did a lot of prep work in about why I wanted to do a no buy, what counts, what doesn’t, and I’ve be doing biweekly vlogs in short form to update everyone on my progress!
I’ve also pulled out my Should I Buy Guide from my vault to help me stop and think before buying, do I really need these items? I’ve added it as a widget on my phone so I have quick access if I am out and about or buying something on my phone.
Is it high quality, made ethically & sustainably, and packaged eco friendly?
Can I buy it from a small business instead of a large corporation?
Can I find this or something similar secondhand?
Can I borrow it from someone?
And, honestly, is this an impulse purchase?
All of these questions help me think critically about whether or not I should be purchasing this item, and adding to consumption, or if I don’t really need it. If I buy it new, I can justify it. If I don’t, then I save money.
If you need another reason to do a no buy year…
Americans consume more than their weight in products each day.
In the last decade, consumption of goods and services has risen 28%. The excessive demand for food, energy usage, gadgets, clothing, water usage and more are hurting our planet.
Yes, the world’s richest half-billion people are responsible for 50% of the world’s carbon emissions, and the world’s poorest 50% of people are responsible for 7%.
We need to continue speaking up. Call out celebrities who take short private jet rides. Call out politicians for striking deals with oil companies. Vote in our local elections. Stop giving our money to million and billion dollar corporations that pollute our planet. Advocate for major policy changes.
As individuals, we can make a difference in so many ways. Reduce what products you overconsume. Switch to reusable items instead of single use. Shop secondhand when you can. Recycle what can be recycled or advocate for your municipality to start a recycling program. Repair your products before sending them to a landfill. Switch to a low waste lifestyle.
Your actions as an individual matter, and together we can make meaningful changes.
