Let's just face it, for a lot of Americans, we have too much stuff. This thinking began awhile back for me, but today I was reminded again by my little email subscription I have to Dr. Mercola's articles. His article began explaining that research is out that online shopping actually is better for the environment/waste than direct shopping. To me this is somewhat surprising, but not really. I guess it is a little depressing because I think we have dehumanized so many things in today's society that shopping too now is something you can do without having any contact with another person. Regardless, it is better for the environment so I will definitely try a bit harder to do the shopping I can from online.
The main point though is that Dr. Mercola suggested the "uh, DUH!" advice of just consuming less in general. Uh, Duh. But really, do people think about this? In the video link (which you should watch) called The Story of Stuff, Anne Leonard mentions that only 1% of the items we buy will be used after 6 months, the other 99% are thrown away. That is sick. I can't even fathom if most everything I purchased was not used 6 months from today. I know that I personally have thought about consumption because I don't have room in my apartment for anything new. I am a pack rat who does not really like to throw anything out (if there is an empty wine bottle or a shirt too small, I will find a use for it...or so I say and it sits in the corner waiting sadly for inspiration to dawn on me). So anyway this mentality I have has sort of helped me curb buying lots of stuff I don't need-- you can imagine what would happen if I kept buying "stuff" I didn't need ALL the time (you get closets packed full of crap, and those were filled years ago so I can't do the overconsumption thing anymore). Luckily I never bought into technology much, it was way too expensive (I could find other uses for the money) and I don't like being in on things that are subject to change at the drop of a hat. I have enough change and transformation to deal with that I don't need to add fancy cell phones, ipods, and the latest computer software to my already overworked brain's list of things to keep up on.
So the moral of the story is to watch the video. It is 20 minutes long but it is really good material and easy to understand. It is a life long lesson we all need to adopt. Add "consume less" to your New Years Resolutions and your life :)
To give you more action-based suggestions that will help you actually live out the idea of "consuming less," check out the video's ideas, here.
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