Then we’d be Saved!
(Grist) Nothing like deprivation to muddy up your understanding of “want†vs. “need.â€
For instance, here’s a sampling of items I’ve considered “needs†over the past two weeks: new sports bras, shower curtain, new couch pillows, lime-squeezer kitchen gadget, iPad case, duchess satin bridesmaid dress, cat scratching post, and a handmade silver ring shaped like a poppy. This is doubly remarkable, as I’m not really the shopping type. But I’m also in the middle of a self-imposed No New Stuff May, and we all know what happens when you start branding the fruit forbidden.
My No New Stuff month is a challenge not to buy anything brand-new for the 31 days of May (food and certain toiletries obviously excepted, you sickos). Why? I already have everything I need to stay hale and hearty, and my small apartment wouldn’t fit much more stuff, anyway. But really, it’s a small stand against a “Bigger, Better, More!†culture that tosses perfectly good items into landfills and gobbles up new resources to build still more stuff — much of which we don’t even need.
In all fairness, she does have a point about too much stuff being discarded into landfills……wait, she has an iPad? OK, it was given to her by work, but iPads are bad for Globull Warming, because they use lots of energy.
On a roll, I decided to freshen up our old shower curtain. It had put in a couple of years of solid service, and was basically fine, if rather grimy. Before No New Stuff month, my admittedly spotty thinking on the matter had been, “Shower curtains have a limited shelf life, right? At a certain point, they just get too gross to save.†Maybe, but honestly, mine was nowhere near that point. So I sighed, yanked it down, and spread it flat for a deep cleaning.
We’re saved!
If Warmists really want to try a month long project, they should give up all fossil fuels for a month. See how that goes.
PS : the Warmists are not really happy with me in the comments at Grist. I do enjoy their deflections, though.
