Consumer Moment
Digging for positive news and informative ideas to help the planet and ourselves has not been very fruitful the last few days. But this week there was an article in the SF Chronicle about a group that was very interesting and useful if you are in a position to do what they have done.
They call themselves the Compact. And instead of being part of the customer lines at KMart, Walmart, etc, they have made a vow to buy nothing new in 2006. Yes, I said, nothing new in 2006, except food, health and safety items and underwear.
There are about 50 people involved, from all walks of life, families with children, a very eclectic group of people who feel recycling is just not enough anymore. It started with just a few and has been slowly growing. One person ( a shopaholic ) even said he had withdrawal symptoms for awhile.
How do they do it? They shop thrift stores, Craigslist, freecycle.org, eBay, flea markets, and spread the word among the group for needed items and use some ingenuity if need be. They have a blog, a Yahoo group and monthly meetings, which seem to foster community feelings and fellowship. One couple met through the group, and were married.
What made this article especially memorable for me was a quote from Peter Sealey, adjunct professor of marketing at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, who said that this group was part of a larger trend of consumers beginning to "tread gently on our planet". That sounds like a very positive step for our community and the world at large.
They call themselves the Compact. And instead of being part of the customer lines at KMart, Walmart, etc, they have made a vow to buy nothing new in 2006. Yes, I said, nothing new in 2006, except food, health and safety items and underwear.
There are about 50 people involved, from all walks of life, families with children, a very eclectic group of people who feel recycling is just not enough anymore. It started with just a few and has been slowly growing. One person ( a shopaholic ) even said he had withdrawal symptoms for awhile.
How do they do it? They shop thrift stores, Craigslist, freecycle.org, eBay, flea markets, and spread the word among the group for needed items and use some ingenuity if need be. They have a blog, a Yahoo group and monthly meetings, which seem to foster community feelings and fellowship. One couple met through the group, and were married.
What made this article especially memorable for me was a quote from Peter Sealey, adjunct professor of marketing at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, who said that this group was part of a larger trend of consumers beginning to "tread gently on our planet". That sounds like a very positive step for our community and the world at large.
posted by Ma Carr at 5:59 PM
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