I'm very excited to begin the Year of Used! It interesting to think about...I haven't owned a car for 9 years, I belong to a local carshare group, take public transportation in the winter, I haven't paid for cable TV in 4 years, I shop at consignment stores, re-use boxes and containers wherever possible, frequent the used bookstore...etc, etc....but I can do more.
I was at a bookstore recently and wandered over to the travel section. With a trip planned to Paris in April, I thought hey - I need to get a travel book - perhaps Rough Guide or Lonely Planet. And then I thought no....I can wait and borrow one from a friend or the library. I don't need to buy a new one. That's purely a result of the seed planted in my brain by the Year of Used.
It's like that with many things. As a kid, we never recycled anything. It all went into the trash - papers, bottles, cans. Composting is the same - now that it's a part of my life, there's no way I'm throwing out those veggie scraps or coffee grinds! To do so would be a crime!
At the same time, I struggle with the concept of only buying used next year. On the one hand, it feels like I'm an addict about to check myself into treatment. Let me get that one last fix. I need to buy new stuff that I want now, because in 2011 it won't be an option. Quick - to the store! Here I come Amazon.com!
I also wonder if I'm hurting an already struggling economy. If we only buy used, what will happen to retailers whose livelihood depends on us as consumers? What will happen to workers who are employed by companies creating new things? As we share cars and bikes and take public transportation, doesn't that mean the closing of more auto factories? And as a result, more people out of work?
In the end, though, these arguments in my head lose to the greater benefits that I believe will be afforded by the Year of Used.
- Less in landfills
- Saving money
- Creating a stronger community
- Focusing on what really matters
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