October is the month where people can experience not to buy anything new. The Buy Nothing New Month is „the global movement for collective, conscientious consumption“. This idea started in Melbourne and spreaded to the Netherlands and the USA.
The challenge consists in not buying anything new – with exception for essentials like food, hygiene and medicines. It’s not about never buying anything new. People is invited to think about their consumption in an alternative way. We should ask ourselves „Do I really need it?“ and if we do, „can I get it second-hand, borrow it or rent it?“. Let’s think about the alternatives and about where all our stuff comes from, where it goes when we’re done and what the alternatives could be. Let’s discover how we can extend the life of our stuff by transforming, readapting, reusing it in another way.
So, if you want to get rid of your affluenza (see here or here) try one month of not buying anything new, get some tips here and enjoy the difference.
It’s easy, it’s fun and it moves from „consumption-driven to community-driven“. – And don’t forget to let your kids participate.
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Categories: Expat Life, Parenting
Expat Since Birth – A Life spent "abroad" 
Beau principe!….que je ne suivrais pas ce mois-ci…à moins de pouvoir avoir accès à des sites plus lisibles. N’y en a t-il pas un plus généraliste sur le sujet et accessible à une maman-tout-le-monde comme moi ? Je consulte souvent la référence net hollandaise en matière de 2ème main et recyclage. Les images sont très petites. Il est difficile de faire une enchère sur quoi que ce soit à moins d’un achat très précis …et pourtant à l’inverse, je recycle bien sur ce site.
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Bienvenue Maman-tout-le-monde de 3. Cela me fait plaisir que de recevoir une réponse en français! Merci. Pour ce qui est de sites plus accessibles, il faudrait savoir à quel sujet. Celui du upcycling? J’ai trouvé plusieurs sites qui donnent quelques indications:
http://www.weupcycle.com/
http://php5.arte.tv/yourope/fr/2011/11/20/upcycling-ou-comment-transformer-les-dechets-en-objets-design/
http://www.utopia.de/magazin/pimp-your-waste-geniales-aus-muell-upcycling-toffife-lampe-muelltonnensofa-palettenbank-verwertung?all
En faisant une recherche par images on peut aussi accéder à un grand nombre de blogs, sites etc. – J’espère que cela aide un peu?
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I recently read another blogger attempting the same thing…no new purchases for a month. My home is in the middle of major home repairs so this months would be very difficult. Love the idea though.
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Yes, I read a few other blog posts about this too. I can imagine that this is not possible for you right now. I wish you all the best or “success” like they say here in the Netherlands. Maybe November would be better? I think December is the hardest month in the year to try this out. Every year I try to keep gifts etc. as simple as possible for Christmas but I never manage…This would be another challenge.
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January would be a good month for no new purchases. Start the new year off right. Maybe I will try it them. It will take a lot of discipline!!
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Great idea! Yes, it requires a lot of discipline, but after Christmas it should be easier.
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Check this site http://miloscrafts.com/upcycling-is-so-cool-check-out-these-pages/ about upcycling.
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Interesting idea. It can help us remember how we have become a consumer driven society which is all about consumption.
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Wow, I wish I’d seen this sooner. October sounds like a good month to do this. Once I head into November, I always seem to be getting ready for Christmas (and buying things…). Love the concept. It’s so easy to think “I need this”, when I really don’t.
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Love the idea! This month I have already bought loads of new clothes … although I hadn’t bought any for ages so need to sort out my wardrobe. I like it! I think I should give it a go in another month – someone suggested January which is a good idea.
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Yes, sometimes we just need new things – or our children do and second hand is not always an option. The main thing is to really think about if we really need “new” item(s). January sounds good to me too. Well, nobody said that we have to limit it to October 😉
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I love to Freecycle, have you heard of this? I have written a post about it, hope you will find it interesting and spread the word..
http://adventureincroatia.wordpress.com/2012/07/04/i-like-to-freecycle/
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