Wear it out

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

When something starts to break, people go around saying they "need" to buy this item of clothing or they "need" to buy that household object, but there is a difference between want and need. Mindful consumption is about evaluating whether you truly need it, and whether it will be worth the expense not only in terms of your bank account, but also in terms of depletion of natural resources, pollution, and unfair labor.





For example, this was my old backpack. When a hole first started appearing over a year ago, most would run out and replace it with a new backpack right away. This particular backpack company also offers a lifetime warranty where you can send backpacks to be repaired, but when I called to ask about the specifics about this, it was very unclear as to whether the rips in mine fell under their warranty policy or not, and I wasn't willing to go a month without a backpack to find out. Instead, I repaired the hole with needle and thread, and later when the mended stitch no longer held, with safety pins, and eventually just went around with a giant hole in my backpack. Was it unsightly? Yes. But was it still functional? Actually, yes, it was. As long as I had an umbrella when it was raining. Finally, I decided that it was time, and that I wanted a new backpack that would carry my groceries more securely. My old backpack saw me through high school AP textbooks, treks lugging my computer and notebooks around my college campus, and NYC bike rides weighted down with a lock and groceries, so it lived a long life, and it got a second life when I donated it to the textile recycling stand at the Greenmarket.

Likewise, I got a new computer this winter. My previous computer was an 8 1/2 year old dinosaur purchased for my college freshman year. Over the years, it was repaired with a new keyboard, motherboard, and hard drive. But for probably the last three years I had it, it was plagued with slowness, frequent freezing and poor internet connectivity. I dealt with this by using my then-boyfriend's computer (which he wasn't too happy about) or getting things done on my computer at work, or simply having patience. I resisted getting a new computer, since I recognized that I didn't absolutely need one. I originally planned on waiting until it died a nasty death. I finally decided it was time this winter, when I wanted to be able to blog easier and do demo recordings of my music. I went with a refurbished macbook, which is rated as having adequate environmental controls. Luckily my old laptop was a Dell, which you can recycle at Staples, but Staples will also accept non-Dell electronics for a $10 fee. Electronics Takeback Coalition has a useful guide to electronics recycling here.

The delayed gratification involved in mindful consumption also makes me appreciate it all the more when I finally buy something new. How do you feel about mending broken goods and making do?

Elements of a Minimalist Bedroom

I am a minimalist in that I don't like buying and owning too much stuff. Just the idea of it weighs me down. The more things you have, the harder it is to clean your home and to move homes. It doesn't make sense for us to deplete the earth's resources so that we can acquire things that we don't really need and that force us to have larger homes to house all that stuff. Each time I move, I take it as an opportunity to figure out what else I can get rid of. I've also learned a few tricks over the years on how to manage with fewer things in smaller spaces. I will admit I have many kitchen things, but in general I aspire to minimize my belongings. This is how I live in a 70 square foot room. (Note: many of these photos are from my previous apartment, which had better light.)

- While keeping my mattress on the floor means I lose storage space under my bed, I also like the simplicity of it and not having a bedframe to move around when I change apartments.

- A storage container doubles as nightstand, covered by an attractive sheet.

- Rather than use a duvet, which I find cumbersome to remove for washing, I just keep my comforter between two sheets.

- I don't have a desk. In the past, I used a tray table, although my current room doesn't have room for that, so I usually bring my computer to my bed or the living room coffeetable.

- I don't own many books (since I do my reading via library loans), I don't own any DVDs (that's what the internet and netflix are for); and I recently made sure all my CDs were burned onto my computer so I could recycle them all at Best Buy.

- You can just see the black suitcase standing hidden behind the door, which serves as storage and also doubles as extra surface area in a room short on it.

- In the past, I have also used boxes for storage instead of buying more shelving furniture.

- I like to hang a plastic bag rather than having a garbage can. You're going to have a plastic bag inside the can anyway, so why bother buying another piece of plastic just to keep it in?

- I try to keep as many of my appliances as possible plugged into one power strip, that can easily be turned off whenever leaving home to avoid using phantom power.

- I periodically reevaluate all my clothes to give away anything I have determined that I no longer like to wear or consider useful. 

Do you have any tricks for simplifying your home and eliminating unnecessary furniture and "stuff"?

My First Etsy Purchases

I've been an occasional browser of etsy and I see lots of pretty things on there, but I am what you might call an anti-shopaholic, so it requires a lot of deliberating and motivation for me to take the plunge and buy something. Which is why I'd never bought anything from etsy before until now - because I finally had the perfect reason.


After my friend Elaine's wedding, I really wanted to give her something handcrafted for her home, something made with love that would last a long time and be an heirloom in the making. She requested a wooden fruit bowl, considering her "current lack of fruit display options" so I scoured etsy for something just right and finally decided on this bowl, turned from reclaimed Georgia wood and finished with natural tung oil by MyTurningShop.


I wanted to give her a little something else too, and when I spotted this adorable lovebirdie vase, I knew I had to get it, since Elaine's invitations featured birds. The redhotpottery shop has some really awesome ceramics for sale, including heart-shaped ramekins, so check it out!

New Secondhand Clothes

I try not to buy clothing brand-new. I usually check out thrift and consignment stores first to see if I can find what I need. I also don't really like shopping (trying on clothes that never fit - sounds like fun!), which helps keep me from buying too much. Inspired by Josyln's Things I bought Thursdays over at Simple Lovely, here are the "new" clothes I've gotten since April when the spending hiatus ended:

Boots from Sweet Virginia, a darling little boutique recommended by a friend that sells used, vintage, and reworked attire. However, the store is so little that, because I was the only one in there and I took my time looking at things, I felt awkward like I needed to buy something. Hate that. So it was a mistake to get these boots because they're too big and the bottoms are too smooth, making them slippery and dangerous in snow and rain.


These shoes from Buffalo Exchange, the consignment store in my neighborhood fit all my qualifications: comfy, nice enough to wear to work, black goes with anything for everyday wear, and sandal-like for hot summer temps


Tie dye dress stolen from my sister. She never wore it, but all it needed was some stitches to make the slit up the back less risque.


Hippie dress from Buffalo. Can't wait to wear this and the tie dye one to the bluegrass festival this weekend!


The cutest red halter dress, again from Buffalo. It was the perfect hostess dress for my Memorial Day BBQ and for my friend's upstate winery wedding last weekend.


As well as a spluge on one "new" item:
Multipurpose Teva sandals I had my eye on for a year before I made the purchase last week. Sustainable cork, eco-friendly company, waterproof uppers, nice enough to wear to work, comfortable enough for every day wear and long walks, sturdy enough for easy hikes. Worth the cost! A friend of mine liked them so much she went out and bought them this week too!



Still on the lookout for a dressier dress for other weddings coming up this year.

Baby Steps

I'm skipping work today and am off for a long weekend with to middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania for a baby shower, with this pink and blue confection in tow.


I had a fun time shopping for the baby gifts at a few stores in Brooklyn. My favorite store was an independent baby boutique with organic and handmade goods in Park Slope, which makes sense since that neighborhood is the baby mecca of Brooklyn.

I've never remotely thought about baby stuff before, but I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with:


rattle from here


organic onesie from here


sweatshirt from american aparel

a New Economy

While I feel good about my personal efforts to cut back on consumption and not suport big corporations, some have remarked to me that, "If everyone was like you, there would be no economy!"

And it's kind of true. Now that the economy has tanked and everyone is buying less to save money out of the fear (or reality) of losing their jobs and 401ks, it only adds to the cycle of making the economy worse. It makes it seem like we're doomed.

But I have some ideas. I'm no expert, so I could be totally wrong here, but these ideas give me some sense of hope:

* What if the loss of corporate jobs opens up room to create green jobs, which Obama says he's going to do (and I certainly hope he does!)?

* What if we buy fewer things, but choose our purchases carefully, to buy from independent stores, businesses, artisans, and farmers - putting more money directly into the hands of individuals who need it, instead of CEOs?

* What if we create more jobs that focus on repairing goods rather than producing new goods, so that instead of throwing things away, there is a network of businesses we can rely on to repair our stuff?

* What if people get used to making do with less, instead of trying to keep up with the Benjamins, so that there's no longer a need for a hypercrazy economy in which you can make a bazillion dollars?

* What if we cultivate creativtity in the design field to turn our cradle to grave consumption system into a cradle to cradle one? Meaning that products are designed from birth to be recycled with maximum efficiency, instead of being designed to be tossed in a landfill and replaced by new resource-hogging products?

On that note, I highly recommend reading Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. It is so well-written with such optimism that it really makes you believe we can harness humanity's incredible intelligence to emulate the life cycles of nature in industry, so that we can return to harmony with the earth, instead of working against the grain and destroying it.

Not Buying It

I am no stranger to "not buying it." I can't really remember how long it's been, but I do know that I've been making a conscious effort to not buy new clothes and stuff for over a year.

I was prompted by a desire to save money and to save the environment, because it upsets me to think about how our throwaway culture is burning through the earth's resources.

I was also inspired by the Compact, a group of people in San Francisco who vowed to not buy anything new for year; a book called Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping; and fellow bloggers Arduous and Fix, who took a hiatus from all spending July, food included.

And do you know what happened? Something surprising - I started to dislike shopping. I now think of shopping as a chore. I would much rather spend my time in other ways, like indulging in my blog addiction, having a nice meal, going for a walk or bike ride, and so on.

I will warn you though, sometimes I do feel bored with my clothes, or frumpy when I'm wearing the same falling apart shoes every day because I haven't gotten the motivation to go shopping. (I also tend to feel frumpy because I think the business casual crap I have to wear to work is so boring. I don't feel like I have many opportunities to express myself through clothes anymore anyway. It sucks.)

But it works for me because I am also not one of those girls who cares about looking perfect. I don't wear makeup (have you ever considered how many scary ingredients are in makeup?), I don't blow dry or style my hair. I like me just the way I am, and my boyfriend agrees that I'm pretty without all that stuff.

This is not to say I'm a saint and haven't bought ANYTHING in the past couple years. I will admit to using gift cards to buy new clothes; used clothes are totally allowed; I buy things when I need them (like today I might go out and replace my holey socks!); J-Man and I went a little overboard at ikea this fall; and I ended up buying more gift things for Christmas than I wanted to.

But I think it's better to try to be mindful about consumption than to not try at all. Every little bit we do helps. Which is why i was so happy to see so many blogger friends signing onto the spending hiatus.

Of course everyone's priorities are different, so instead of spending my money on things, I tend to spend the most money on food. I buy most of my food from the farmers market, which is not cheap when meat is involved. And we eat and drink out a lot. Hence why my spending hiatus is more about trying to cut down on spending money at bars and restaurants, to save money and bring food back home, where I have direct control over the healthiness and sustainability of my food.

Argentina and Spending Hiatus

We have decided that we are going to take a trip to Argentina in the middle of February! I'm actually really excited about this for several reasons. Because it's on the other side of the equator, it's summer there! I've heard lots of great things about Buenos Aires and how it is like a South American version of Paris. And last but not least, I will get to see one of my bestie former coworkers who moved there this year to be with her Argentinian boyfriend (cutest love story ever)!

Another plus is that it's not going to be as expensive as I feared, since flight costs are signficantly cheaper than what they once were. Factoring in our credit card rewards redemption, we're paying about $450 each for the flight, and once we're there, everything is much cheaper than up here in the states.

To compensate for this trip, we're going to try to go on a spending hiatus back in the states for Feb and March - We are going to cut eating out from once or twice a week to once or twice a month. Same goes for bars, plays, concerts, and movies. And we won't buy any new clothes, gadgets, stuff, etc. As for cutting costs on the vacation, unfortunately this loft is already taken, but I'm hopeful we can still find a place to stay with a kitchen so we won't have to eat out every meal while we're there. At least I hope so, so I don't feel so crazy for agreeing to this spontaneous vacation on such short notice!

So if anyone has any recommendations of things to do in Argentina, I'm all ears!

Productive

I had a very productive weeekend, shopping-wise. I normally avoid shopping like the plague, but time was drawing nigh. I needed to stop limping around in the snow on broken boots.

I checked out one of my favorite consignment stores first. The problem with thrift and consignment stores is that things don't come in multiple sizes, so it's hit or miss to find anything that fits. Alas, I did not leave with any shoes, but I did find this great deal: a leather Lucky Brand bag, which retails for over $200, for just $43. I am in love with it. It's pretty and it looks vintage, and it should last a long time so someday it will be kinda vintage. And it's big enough to fit all the crap I bring to work, replacing my stodgy plain black bag.

I ended up finding boots at Nine West, which is having a sale. My goal was to find boots for under $100, and these were $90, so not too shabby. Previously I would balk at spending so much - my shoes have mostly been from Payless, and they last me about 2-3 years. But lately I'm seeing the value in buying good quality stuff that should last even longer. So I really hope these last for three years and then even longer after getting them resoled, to make it worth the extra cost and the environmental impact of buying new shoes.


I do feel guilty about buying shoes newlymade in a factory in China, but I didn't have the inclination to research for better brands or scour thrift stores for weeks in search of shoes that I needed yesterday. But next time around I'm going to try to do some research first. If anyone has any tips on "green" shoe brands that involve recycled materials or independent ethical craftsmanship, I would appreciate it, because I'm going to look for new flats next month!

Cheap Wine Glasses

Why are wine glasses so easy to break? I just broke another one tonight to add to many broken past glasses - while mildly washing a champagne flute with with an angry drunken disposition - leaving me with a bloody finger, and just one red wine glass, one white wine glass, and one champagne flute in my kitchen cabinet. Can someone in design please do something about that?

I'm really into design and decor and hairpieces lately. Like oh my deer's gorgeous hairpieces below. She has more for sale on her etsy. Can I just say I finally get etsy? It's filled with tons of pretty handmade one-of-a-kind things - jewelry, clothes, aprons, crafty things galore - the kind of things that I think, oh I could make something like that myself - or I could let these talented people do a better job for me, and they don't tend to charge that much either.


Appropriately enough, a picture of me with a flower in my hair at the event that caused aforesaid drunkenness is forthcoming.