Buy Nothing New… failure.
I love the idea of buying nothing new. I think the campaign is a great way to get people to rethink their consumption and their buying habits. It is also an eye-opener for people to realize that Christmas doesn’t have to mean massive shopping and piles of gifts under the tree. I fully support the campaign… but I didn’t follow it.
Image courtesy of The Clothing Exchange
In my family there are rarely surprises at Christmas (you get what you ask for, which is great) and we fully believe in buying items that you need and will USE. Typically this means that t-shirt with the holes in gets repurposed into a rag (usually after being threatened by my mother as to what will happen if we ever wear it again) and its replacement is settled under the tree. If there is nothing on your list than you get yummy treats in your stocking, a good magazine or two, and extra attention on Christmas, not something you don’t want or need.
While I love the campaign and all that it means, I don’t do much shopping for myself or others outside of the holidays. My whole family hates shopping, and we much prefer to wait until we desperately need something to go out and buy it.
With that said, I have an athletic clothing addiction. Do I use them all? Yes. Do I need them all? Probably not. So my buy nothing new challenge for myself is to make it through the rest of winter and spring without breaking down and buying another piece. There are better ways to reward myself for my hard work. And maybe a more focused version of buying nothing new is more reasonable for people.
