Cheap clothes and consumerism

I ran across this blog post, The History of a Cheap Dress, which (obviously) goes into the history of how clothing became so cheap and how we've become a throwaway society when it comes to our clothes, in addition to pretty much every consumer product.

In the course of discussing it on Facebook, I was turned on to The Brown Dress Project and from there I found about The Uniform Project. Essentially, both projects involved different women who wore the same dress for a year. In the first one (the brown dress) the woman wore the same dress every day and, in the case of the second one (the uniform), the writer wore the same black dress - except she had 7 copies of it made.

The point for both projects really had to do with how we, as a society, are always in search of the new and.... look, shiny! We get rid of things long before they are worn out and, when it comes to clothes and the never-ending quest for the latest fashions, it's even more of a problem.

As stated by Alex, the brown dress woman:

I challenged myself to reject the economic system that pushes over-consumption, and the bill of goods that has been sold, especially to women, about what makes a person good, attractive and interesting. Clothes are a big part of this image, and the expectation in time, effort, and financial investment is immense.

The Uniform Project had more to do with sustainable fashion and Sheena (the founder of the project) used a lot of different accessories to spice up the dress. The other items she wore were vintage, handmade, reused, or donated pieces. She's got a pattern up on her site for making the dress and a longer-term project (you can buy a couple different styles with proceeds donated to charity) to encourage others to try it out.

I suspect that most of the readers of this blog aren't exactly clotheshorses and are less apt to follow the latest fashions than the next person. But, that said, would you be willing to wear the exact same dress every day for a month or wear a little black dress (or outfit) as a uniform for a month? And, yes, you may be smelling a challenge coming on...

Illustration by Lena Corwin

Trapped by your possessions

Do you feel like you buy too much stuff or that you are trapped by all of your belongings? I know I sometimes do.

Even if you aren't feeding into the standard commercialism of electronics and cars and clothing, it's easy to buy too many things to feed other, more sustainable hobbies.

Like gardening, sewing, knitting, home brewing, you name it. If it's a hobby and there's stuff to buy for it, the temptation is there.

It's easy to justify purchases to support self-sufficiency or homesteading or whatever you want to call it and feel like it's different than buying the latest mascara or hippest handbag. But it's not. It's still buying stuff you probably don't really need. In other words, you could probably make do with other things you already have or can share with others.

In the past I've run Buy Nothing Challenges where those that participated in the challenge pledged to not buy anything new beyond the essentials. It's a great lesson in being mindful of what's in your shopping cart. Before you head to the checkout, you run through a mental scan of "do I need this" for each item you're about to purchase. It's helpful to keep unneeded things out of your cart, but it's also easy to fall out of the habit.

I know I did. Or, at the very least, I managed to justify new purchases because it had some ulterior usage - a new compost bin here, a fancy gardening pot there. Stockpiling like a little squirrel.

In any case, even if you are mindful of your purchases and only buy things that are "useful" for your home or your projects or whatever, do you still feel like you are overwhelmed by stuff? Do you wish you could downsize and reduce the amount of material objects in your life?

Christmas debt

According to Gallup, Americans will spend, on average, $715 this year on Christmas gifts. This is up from around $640 last year. Every year, I'm amazed that people spend that much on Christmas gifts!

No wonder we have a credit problem in this country. Unless these people are saving up all year for buying gifts or spreading it out, which is probably true for a percentage of Americans, they are really taking a hit at the end of the year.

I don't think I spent more than $250 mostly because some of the gifts I'm giving were made from scratch. The ones that I spent money straight out-of-pocket were toys for the kids and gift certificates for nieces/nephews out-of-state.

Did you end up spending more or less than you were expecting on Christmas gifts? Or, maybe the question should be, did you end up spending more or less than you wanted? How does it compare to the national average?

Religious asceticism and consumerism

I don't discuss religion very much on this blog, mostly because I don't prescribe to any particular one, but I am always curious about other's belief systems regardless of what they are. Having ruminated on the most varied of religions while studying anthropology, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people that practice pretty much any ideology and am open minded to most.

In many of the world's religions there is a strong vein of anti-materialism. Jesus counseled his followers that did have money to give it to the poor and hungry: Jesus said, "If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

Buddha tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, the Prophet Muhammad lived an austere life, and more recently, individuals such as Gandhi have advised that people "live simply so that others may simply live."

Of course, everyone's idea of wealth and excess are different and one man's Hummer can be contrived as another's Geo Metro. How do we determine what is sufficient and what is excess?

Not unlike the message we read in Affluenza a while back, Father Timothy V. Vaverek has written the following:

The consumerist lust for a better life is inherently destabilizing of our personal and economic lives. Since we are not satisfied with the good we possess and since our self-worth is connected to never settling for less, we must always be earning and acquiring more.

Hence we work longer hours, fill our days with more self-actualizing activities, and increase spending so that we can have the better life now. In this way we become slaves to dissatisfaction, time, and money--harsh task masters who allow no rest.

So, how can someone who follows a belief system that promotes some level of asceticism also accept materialism? Is this contradiction justifiable? For example, is it possible to follow the teachings of Jesus and accept personal, monetary wealth at the same time?

I'm interested to get your input on how your religious beliefs affect your opinions on consumerism. Do your religious views (or lack of them) directly drive your desire to limit consumeristic desires in your life?

The impact of holiday gift giving

I keep hearing ads to encourage people to go crazy shopping on the upcoming black Friday. As such, Friday is the annual "Buy Nothing Day", which is the alternative to spending all that's left in your wallet. It suggests that, instead of buying, you refrain from shopping. Some see this anti-consumerism as a threat to our American way of life, but let's stop for a moment and consider our holiday spending and its financial, emotional and environmental impacts.

It's really easy to get caught up in the shopping fever, especially when you perceive that you are getting a deal. But, are you really? Does buying something for others make you feel better about yourself? I know that I really enjoy giving gifts, but if you are buying gifts for people because you feel obligated to do so, or if you are buying gifts for people without knowing what they want, what does that really mean? At that point you are just checking things off of your Christmas stress list?

On one hand, feeling obligated to purchase products for somebody doesn't necessarily leave one feeling the holiday spirit. There are no warm fuzzies as a result. There is stress in worrying whether or not the recipient will like what you got for them, and there is concern whether or not the reciprocal gift will match in either quality or cost. I know I also get stressed when someone spends a lot on something for me that I really just don't like and won't use.

I think one of the main reasons people get so stressed about the holidays is because of the obligations of gift giving, particularly if you are already financially strained. The shame or disappointment that is associated with not being able to buy for loved ones what they really want to get them tends to make people overspend. No wonder people are depressed during the holidays.

So, what's a person to do? I know it goes against tradition for many, but what about talking with friends and loved ones about some alternatives? Finding out what they actually want is a good first step. Buying unwanted items equals buying unused products and the carbon footprint of all that excess that is going to waste is not negligible. Second, discuss other options for gift giving.

Buying experiences instead of stuff will not only result in a more memorable gift, but will also potentially have a much smaller environmental impact. Suggesting that time spent together is far more valuable than the latest gift and gizmo is another option. I know this isn't exactly realistic for some of you when familial obligations to spend time together aren't exactly pleasant, but I suspect the feeling is mutual on both sides and perhaps others don't exactly like the whole gift expectation thing either.

I also know that fighting against cultural norms isn't exactly pleasant and can be a nerve wracking experience, but once it's done, it doesn't need to be revisited every year. The end goal is to rethink how we spend (and what we spend on) the holidays, reduce the amount of stress involved and perhaps reduce our carbon footprint in the end by buying a lot less gifts.

How do you feel about gift giving during the holidays? Do you feel obligated to get and/or match other's gifts? Or, do you enjoy buying gifts for people?

Christmas debt

I heard the other morning that Americans spent, on average, $600 this year on Christmas gifts. Apparently, this is down from $800 in previous years. I don't know about you, but I was absolutely amazed that people spent that much on Christmas gifts!

No wonder we have a credit problem in this country. Unless these people are saving up all year for buying gifts or spreading it out, which is probably true for a percentage of Americans, they are really taking a hit at the end of the year.

I don't think I spent more than $200 mostly because the majority of the gifts I gave were made from scratch. The ones that I spent money straight out-of-pocket were toys for the kids and gift certificates for nieces/nephews out-of-state.

Did you end up spending more or less than you were expecting on Christmas gifts? Or, maybe the question should be, did you end up spending more or less than you wanted? How does it compare to the national average?

How green is your sex life?

I get the distinct feeling that most people don't like talking about this. You read about greening pretty much everything else on a constant basis - your food choices, heating, transportation, entertainment, clothing, etc., but there is a fairly huge void when it comes to one of those basic human needs - sex.

Now, I generally don't like to pry into your personal lives, okay who am I kidding, it's one of my favorite past times, so let's just jump right on in.

Contraception - Unless you or your partner has been fixed or your eggs are past their pull date, this is most likely an area of concern for you. Most of the non-surgical options have a heavy environmental impact. Not that getting fixed doesn't have any environmental cost, but it's a fixed cost. Get it? Fixed cost? Moving on...

Birth control pills or, really, any estrogen or progestin interrupter-based contraception has environmental consequences outside of the manufacturing, packaging and transportation. These chemicals get excreted by the users and end up in places we don't want them. Scientists are finding increasing amounts of these hormones in our waterways, harming the fish populations and eventually finding their way back into our drinking water. Hormonal IUDs have the same potential consequence so copper IUDs may be a better bet if that's your chosen contraception.

Barrier methods such as condoms, diaphragms and the cervical cap vary in their impact. While a condom provides additional protection in the way of disease control, they are single use items and aren't exactly sustainable. Diaphragms and the cap are at least reusable so you are looking at the one-time manufacturing, packaging and distribution issue.

Disease Protection - I'm calling this out separate from the contraception because, while condoms are generally used for contraception as well as disease protection there are a number of other pieces of, um, equipment that get employed for this use as well, namely dental dams and the like. Again, you are looking at the impact of manufacturing, etc. but the benefits far outweigh the cost when you consider the potential for avoiding disease.

Of course, no method of birth control available today offers perfect protection against sexually transmitted infections except abstinence. So, what's a sexually active person to do? One thing is to get yourself into a stable relationship and get tested for STDs and use a reusable method of contraception that doesn't have the hormone issues going on with it. Of course, this may not necessarily be practical for everyone, but that's pretty much the lowest impact as I see it.

Fun and games - I'm not about to suggest that you switch over your favorite sex toys to a wood version, but do be mindful of the materials with which they are made. Far too many toys are made with plastics, poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and the like. I'm sure there are natural latex and rubber based items out there that will satisfy. If you have an allergy to latex then look into more natural items like fruits and vegetables where the impact is definitely lower.

For those wanting something with a little more oomph, you can find glass or metal toys. If you are truly concerned that your dildo is causing global warming, you can even spring for a solar powered vibrator. And don't forget the organic, natural-based lube. Just stay away from the used products - not that there are any consignment sex shops around.

Finally, instead of renting porn, opt for it on-demand through your cable or satellite or download it online. You'll save yourself from the car trip, the consumption of plastic and the leers of the guy working the counter.

For your consideration - Do you think about the environmental impact when making choices related to your sex life or are these concerns so far apart in your mind that you don't even consider it?

Related posts:
Sex is greeny!
Vegansexuality
Planning a green Valentine's
The feminization of the American male

The sky is falling! Living through economic upheaval.

I guess it seems a little silly to be posting about mundane things like pumpkins, salmon spawning and dehydrating apples when the world's stock markets are tanking like crazy.

I would imagine that a lot of you readers out there are probably better mentally equipped to handle the bumps in the road simply because you have already chosen, to some extent, a more simple lifestyle. A lifestyle that is less damaging to the earth tends to also be one that is more self-sufficient and less consumeristic and prepares you for relying on yourself and your local community, if need be.

I'm hoping that the changes you have made in your lives have made some of the political and economic shenanigans going on seem less frightening than those out there who have been completely blind-sided by all of this. I suspect it must be harder for people who have been carrying on as if the money train would keep running forever.

I'm sure there are also people who are finding some sense of satisfaction in watching the come-uppance for all those folks out there who have been living rather recklessly in terms of consumption and spending and its resultant effect on the environment.

In spite of all that, this situation is extremely unnerving for even the most hardened of us since we all rely on economics to get by. So, unless you are living in a cave (one with Internet access), you are dependent on the stock market whether you think you are or not.

Have the last few weeks made you more determined to live a simple, self-sufficient lifestyle or are you just too scared shitless to even think about it? Do you fear losing your job or home during this or are you fairly immune because you have paid off your house and have low living costs?

Buy Nothing Challenge - August Edition

Batten down your wallets, it's that time again!

Y'all have had three whole months to wallow in your decadent, consumeristic lives and now it's time for a kick in the pants. Yes, folks, it's another edition of the Buy Nothing Challenge. If you missed out on it last time you can check out all the previous posts on how much fun (or withdrawals) everyone had.

We had over 225 people participating in April, so let's see how many we can get to sign up for the August edition. I'll be hosting the weekly Sunday Confessional again where you can attempt to justify your wanton purchases. So, just think about having to confess to the world why you couldn't contain your credit card.

Here are the rules (plus a new one), in case you forgot 'em...

• No new clothes
  
• No new gadgets
  
• No new furniture or housewares
  
• No salon services (except haircuts)
  
• No new makeup
  
• No new tools
  
• No whatever the hell else people buy
  
• No eating out (yes, this one is new!)

Once more, I'm only giving you one day to prepare so you don't run off and stockpile like crazy. You should be focusing on whether or not what you are buying is a necessity or something frivolous. Food, medications and other essentials are okay.

If you must absolutely acquire something non-edible or not essential to growing your own food, preserving or storing food for the off-season or for your survival, then you must borrow, barter, or buy it used (please note: canning equipment and supplies like sugar, pectin and jars are okay). If you end up buying something new, then spill your sins at the Sunday Confessional.

Since a lot of you are probably in buying back-to-school supplies mode, try to stick to what's on your supply list. If you have young kids who don't know any better, buy their back to school clothes at a thrift or consignment store. Feel free to torture older kids with it, too. No, really, it will be fun!

Those who participated last time took about a week to get into no-spending mode, but then were amazed out how much they saved. They were also amazed at how much they buy stuff they don't need.

If you want to sign up for the challenge, leave a comment on this post and I'll add you to the sidebar under the list of participants. For those of you who stumble upon this later, you can still join. If you want to put the graphic up on your blog, just paste the following code:

<a href="http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com/2008/07/buy-nothing-challenge-august-edition.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rwHG_JqKj0SmCdZEDm1rxbmfFPBClVLcE0E9HucWMLzsK62fKpN2uprk_ijti0gZpU6elx7m4jgbiABgbbrJnuGrDbnFuwi60DZsU5ROfQNxaS6i9bxo0MiNIj-hRhk9nbAbi2IDvFU/s320/banner.jpg" border="0" alt="Buy Nothing Challenge - August 2008" /></a>

Remember folks, there's safety in numbers.

I drink your milkshake!

I hate to steal a line from the movie, There Will Be Blood, but this post is about oil. And since the quote explains how one character has been sucking up the oil from another's land, it seems fitting. The question I want to pose in today's post is this: have the last few generations essentially stolen the oil resources from future generations?

I've started reading James Howard Kunstler's, The Long Emergency, and, although I haven't gotten very far yet, I've been struck by the thought that over the last 150 years or so our generation and the few ones preceding it have taken one of the Earth's greatest resources and completely squandered it. On the most inane crap.

Granted, the industrial revolution and the industry, discoveries and innovation that were fueled by petroleum have been phenomenal in a number of ways. And, it certainly can be argued that during most of this time it was unknown how much oil existed underground, so I suppose we should give ourselves just a tiny bit of a break. But, on the other hand, we have taken what took millions of years to create and used it for suchly highly laudable activities such as driving around in behemoth vehicles to purchase cheap plastic crap and generally indulge ourselves in whatever flights of fancy it afforded.

Well, party people, methinks the fantasy is coming to a close. The age of petroleum is on the down slope. Now, being Ms. Positively, I'm fairly certain that there will be some sort of energy replacement. We most definitely won't be living as high on the energy hog anymore, but I don't believe that destitution and civil unrest is a guarantee as a result. But, either way, it distresses me that the billions of barrels of oil that we had at our disposal was used (outside a few innovations) for such stupid means.

Why didn't anyone have the forethought to conserve this amazing resource? Of those who did, why didn't anyone listen to them? Why do we still not listen to them and blithely piss away what we have left on "gas efficient" personal SUVs and trucks (now getting an amazing 20 MPG!), pleasure travel, extra trips to the store, etc. etc. ad naseum.

It's as if humanity had been handed this most valuable and precious item and all we did with it was ruin our atmosphere, water and wildlife and got fat in the process. I suppose it just shows how ridiculously self-serving and short-sighted we are. It makes me angry that we've taken something that could have potentially lasted thousands of years and just drank it up with the same amount of greed and ambition and paranoia as the character in the movie I quoted from above.

Have any of you thought of peak oil in this context or am I just lagging behind?

Green gone wild!

There have been a number of new green media announcements and launches this week. Discovery's new TV channel Planet Green launched yesterday and the Huffington Post announced that it will be working in concert with Treehugger and Planet Green on HuffPost Green.

The article in the New York Times earlier this week announcing Planet Green's channel launch gave me a hearty chuckle. No, actually, it pissed me off a bit. I even ground some crackers.

I appreciate that there is a channel completely dedicated to green issues and I have up until now been a reader of the Planet Green website, but I'm afeared that the content will be pandering to advertisers and to consumers who still want to buy, buy, buy! But, now they have a reason to - it's for the environment.

Some shows sound moderately promising. According to the article, Planet Green's new programs will show every shade of green, from "G Word", a daily series hosted by two news correspondents, to "Wrecklamation", billed as "recycling on steroids". But the rest of it sounds somewhat disturbing.

Featuring such greeny celebrities as Tommy Lee (huh?) and environmental advertisers like GM (what?), Planet Green is really stepping it up.

Another case in point: Planet Green was at the Indy 500 last month handing out T-shirts and beach balls to consumers who exemplified green living. Were those t-shirts organic or hemp? How 'bout those cheapo promotional beach balls? Hecho en China?

What? You didn't know that the Indy 500 was going green this year? I'm sorry, but there is absolutely nothing green about burning gallons of petroleum racing around in a circle. I'll even go so far as to throw in the fact that those who support these races aren't exactly "exemplifying green living".

Oh, by the way, GM (maker of the environmentally-friendly Hummer) is the "exclusive automobile sponsor" of the channel. As part of the deal, GM vehicles will be integrated into some programs, and Discovery will produce short-form videos about the company.

Now, I hope I am wrong. Really, selling green to the masses takes a certain touch. But, at the very least, I'll have something new to make fun of. After all, anything that's a "lifestyle and entertainment channel that's designed to activate people in the green space" has got to be great.

What's next? A green porn channel? The Ploughboy Channel, "designed to lubricate penises in the urban homesteading space" could be a real winner. I bet that their new show, the "G Spot" will be my favorite. Just, please, no Tommy Lee.

Voluntary simplicity

On Saturday, the New York Times ran an article, Chasing Utopia, Family Imagines No Possessions, that warmed the cockles of my heart.

It covered several families who are downshifting to a life less harried and one focusing more on self-sufficiency rather than consumerism. In essence, the families, whether they intentionally are or not, are following the basic tenets of the Voluntary Simplicity movement.

One family you may already know about. It is Matt and Sara Janssen - she writes the eco blog, Walk Slowly, Live Wildly, which I read from time to time. They have completely sold most of their worldly possessions and are travelling the country in a used veggie oil fueled motor home, teaching others how to convert their diesel vehicles into a spent fast-food grease machine. The Live Lightly Tour is quite an exciting adventure and one which I've been following closely.

Another family has sold all their possessions as well and is planning on moving from Austin, Texas to a rural area of Vermont. They are currently looking into purchasing a log cabin and hope to set up a homestead, grow their own food and homeschool their kids. In other words, the classic "back to the land" scenario.

Finally, an Annapolis, MD family moved out of their apartment with an "everything must go" party and, along with their 3-year-old son, set sail on a 44-by-24-foot catamaran. Are you listening Burbanmom? (And in case you argue that you have more than one child, I know a family who lives on a sailboat that has one kindergartner and twin 4-year-olds.)

For those of you who participated in my post last week about living out your wildest dream, you may be interested in reading this article.

Of course, this is just begging for a poll. I'm throwing in one other example, the Dervaes family in Pasadena who practice the ultimate in urban homesteading, making phenomenal use of their suburban lot to grow a tremendous amount of fruits and vegetables (6,000 pounds annually), raise bees, goats, chickens and whatnot. If you've been living under a rock and haven't heard of them yet, I urge you to check out their website.



Photo courtesy of the New York Times

Religious asceticism and consumerism

I don't discuss religion very much on this blog, mostly because I don't prescribe to any particular one, but I am always curious about other's belief systems regardless of what they are. Having ruminated on the most varied of religions while studying Anthropology, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people that practice pretty much any ideology and am open minded to most.

In many of the world's religions there is a strong vein of anti-materialism. Jesus counseled his followers that did have money to give it to the poor and hungry: Jesus said, "If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."

Buddha tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, the Prophet Muhammad lived an austere life, and more recently, individuals such as Gandhi have advised that people "live simply so that others may simply live."

Of course, everyone's idea of wealth and excess are different and one man's Hummer can be contrived as another's Geo Metro. How do we determine what is sufficient and what is excess?

Not unlike the message we read in Affluenza, Father Timothy V. Vaverek has written the following:

The consumerist lust for a better life is inherently destabilizing of our personal and economic lives. Since we are not satisfied with the good we possess and since our self-worth is connected to never settling for less, we must always be earning and acquiring more. Hence we work longer hours, fill our days with more self-actualizing activities, and increase spending so that we can have the better life now. In this way we become slaves to dissatisfaction, time, and money--harsh task masters who allow no rest.

So, how can someone who follows a belief system that promotes some level of asceticism also accept materialism? Is this contradiction justifiable? For example, is it possible to follow the teachings of Jesus and accept personal, monetary wealth at the same time?

I'm interested to get your input on how your religious beliefs affect your opinions on consumerism. Do your religious views (or lack of them) directly drive your desire to limit consumeristic desires in your life?