Stuff News >>

Project Good Launches with a Positive Vision

While we are not in the business of getting people to buy more stuff, we realize that everyone needs new stuff from time to time (gifts, clothes, etc.). We are excited to share with you the launch of Project Good. Read More

Upcoming Events >>

"The Story of Stuff" screening

Third Sector New England, Boston, MA

Date: TBA

Join Conscious Consuming and Third Sector New England for a Boston screening of "The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever

Every dollar you spend on the stuff you need is a vote for the values you hold dear.

Stuffocation

Western consumers today have more stuff than ever. Marketing and advertising sell a consumer culture based on the "more is better" mindset. While some of us are trying to buy nothing, most Americans are accumulating more and more.

Feng Shui savvy people might clear out the old when they buy the new, but others fill closets, basements, attics, and garages with stuff they are hanging onto. The Container Store has recorded 20-25% retail growth rates for the last 25 years running as Americans scramble to store the volume of stuff in bins, baskets, bowls and boxes. The Container Store is expected to post profits of nearly $500 million in 2006, all to store our excess stuff.

What are the consequences of all of this buying and getting? Throughout the first half of 2006, the savings rate of U.S. citizens has been hovering around negative 1%, after slipping into negative territory in 2005. From 1950-1980, Americans saved about 9% of their after-tax income, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

With the expansion of globalized trade, American manufacturers moved off-shore to developing countries, where it's easier to make larger profits by exploiting low-wage workers, extracting resources, and turning a blind eye to the environmental consequences. Conscious consumers know that a shirt for $5.99 isn't really a bargain at all, as the producer has not paid for the true costs of production. These true costs include a fair wage for the worker, safe working conditions, environmental mitigation, and a "cradle to cradle" production cycle.

Conscious consumers try to carefully consider purchases to determine if the item is in line with our values. Because not all people hold the same values, for different people this will mean different things. When considering an item for purchase, however, some questions to ask might include:

REDUCE:

Do you really need it? An old New England adage says, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." Folks who join The Compact have opted to do without buying anything new for a year but food, gas, and underwear.

REUSE:

Can you borrow or barter with someone for the product? Can you buy second-hand? Try friends and neighbors, your local second-hand store, freecycle, or craigslist.

RECYCLE:

Can you find a use for the old one without contributing to the waste stream? Donate to area charities or post the item to freecycle. Many of the bigger charities will even pick up donations off of your front porch.

REDOUBLE:

Redouble your efforts to find items in line with your values. If you are going to buy new, is the item environmentally preferable? Try to find out whether it's locally produced, organic, fairly traded, sold at a co-operative, cruelty-free, pesticide-free, made of natural materials, sustainably-produced…the list could go on, but the take-home message is to really examine what's important to you, and consciously and with intention support those values with your precious dollar.