consumerism

Me: "Thank you for stopping, how can I help you tonight?"
Customer: "I'll have... two hardshell tacos, three Taco Bravos, and a medium Pepsi."

Who knew such a simple exchange of words could reignite a long-forgotten passion of mine.

A week or so before my partner and I began our quest to buy nothing new for one year, we found a bicycle outside our door. It had obviously been stolen or abandoned some time ago, as it was quite rusty. But this was no ordinary bike, and my partner saw its potential right away. She brought it in the house and posted found notices on craigslist and in nearby bike shops. No one claimed it.

I've decided that I was being way too strict in my self-imposed guidelines on the purchase of consumables. The Pact, on which this endeavor to buy nothing new is based, allows for the purchase of consumables like toothpaste and toothbrushes. I think my goal where toiletries and the like are concerned will be to buy as ethically as possible.

I remember watching High School Musical when it premiered on Disney channel. It was geared towards--you guessed it--high school students, but had that random let’s-break-into-song theme that used to only be workable in childrens movies. Young adults were a new ballfield for this type of movie.

It's day four of buying nothing new, and already I have run into trouble. There are just so many things I buy without thinking about it! Most of these have to do with personal hygiene, which might be considered a necessity along the lines of food, but I'm torn. The one that really trips me up is razors. One cannot buy used razors.

I am pledging right here, right now that I will buy nothing new for the next year. I just watched a film called The Story of Stuff and it has cemented my conviction that consumerism is among the worst problems the world faces. If we don’t experience a major paradigm shift soon, we will hasten our demise.

Yes, gas is expensive. Get over it.

People sit and bitch all the time about the gas prices, but then have no trouble blowing money on designer clothes and makeup. We go to restaurants and buy overpriced food. We go to theaters to watch overpriced movies. We go to Best Buy and buy overpriced video games. We go to record stores and buy overpriced music.

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