Our Shopping Experiment: Adventures in shopping used

Our Shopping Experiment: Adventures in shopping used

We have decided to try an experiment: Starting today, we will be trying to not buy anything new for a while – possibly a year.

We’re trying it for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few:

1. We have plenty of stuff! We were lucky enough to get many wonderful gifts from the wedding and we couldn’t possibly think of anything else we need.

2. Support the Re-Use Economy! There are a lot of options for buying used items when we need something, and we want to support the re-use economy. Finding used (pre-loved?) goods can often be a rewarding experience, and we often find treasures that are way better than anything we could buy new.

3. It makes us think! Do we really need that or do we just want it? As Americans we have large ecological footprints. That means we are taking someone else’s share and we want to be more aware of the consequences of our choices. When we do have to purchase something we want to be aware of that purchase and make sure we need it.

4. Not buying new things will encourage our creativity! I’ll give you an example. Last year our couch was sliding around all over our wooden floor. You couldn’t sit down on it without it moving a foot. But the hardware store didn’t have rubber feet big enough. So I took the soles off my old pair of shoes, cut them up, and nailed the rubber to the couch feet. No more slipping!

OF COURSE there will be exceptions. We need to buy food. We need toothpaste. Etc. But the guiding principle will be to try buying used when we NEED something. And if we do need to buy something new, we’re going to make sure we really need it and we are going to do our homework on that product. That means making sure it’s the best we can find. Can we find one that is made out of fully re-used materials? Is it durable and will last a long time? Who made it and where was it made? Can we buy local or sweatshop free?

This experiment will evolve as we get into it, and we’re looking forward to blogging about the ins and outs of the Re-Use economy in Ann Arbor.

Think we’re crazy? Send us an email and tell us why! Have questions? Ask away! We want to hear from you about what you think about our idea.

Love to you all,

Courtney and Arthur