workbuyconsumedie.jpgOkay, you have read a lot of nutty ideas on this in the past few years, but hold onto your hat. I am about to attempt the unthinkable… well, at least in the United States its unthinkable. I am going to attempt to go six months without purchasing something new.

Before you poo-poo the whole idea, hear me out. I am not talking about six months without a purchase, I am talking about NEW purchases. That means going to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, whatever and buying something brand new. Food is excluded because I need a constant supply of new food to live. Also things like electronic files, downloads, anything that is not a physical item is exempted. This is NOT about saving money… this is about consumption of resources.

That’s right, it is a place to reduce my personal burden on the resources of the planet. Obviously, the neccesities of my job will also be exempt. If a video production job requires a new pack of tapes, I will have to get that. I will also have to purchase gasoline in order to continue running my business.

What will not be happening after this weekend are things like new clothes for six months, new gadgets for six months, new CDs (unless they are downloaded electronically) for six months, new shoes, new bike tires, new pots & pans, new toys (sniff, sniff – that XBox 360 sure was looking attractive) for six months. If I have to unwrap it from new packaging, it will not be purchased.

In the reduce, reuse, recycle mode, I will be purchasing some of my needs used… I will be foregoing other purchases… and hey, maybe even do some good old-fashioned bartering with things I no longer need or use.

It is all a pretty silly cycle when you take a step back and look. Like the image says, we are all here to work-buy-consume-die. I think that if I buy less and consume less, I will not only play a little part in slowing down my personal waste, but just may spend less time working and dying….and a little more time enjoying and living.