5 questions to ask yourself before buying new
It’s easier than ever to buy things. You think of something you “need” and without thinking too much about it, delivery is set for tomorrow. This way of shopping is especially convenient with a baby. I can order groceries, household goods, and whatever else I can dream of without packing everything up, making sure the baby is cleaned up and fed, and loading us all in the car to go somewhere. Night shopping became a dangerous hobby of mine during the newborn daze of 3 am feedings.
These are some of the questions that we ask ourselves before buying something new in an attempt to shop more mindfully.
If I had to go to the store to purchase this item, would I?
Is there something I already have that will serve the same (or similar) purpose?
Is this something I can find at second-hand stores?
What is the consequence of not having this item?
Will I still want this item a week from now?
Just to be clear, we still buy new. These questions help us be more mindful about what and how often we are buying new. There’s an obvious financial motivator to using this approach, but it’s also about protecting our earth.
There’s a big debate within the climate change discourse about whether or not individual effort means anything. Some say that individual efforts have a minuscule effect on overall climate change, and many require radical efforts, resources, and lifestyle changes (going vegan, eliminating single-use plastics, renewable energy). My opinion is that change starts small, and we need to make an effort on the individual level in order to expect corporations and governments to follow. Here’s a link to a good article if you want to read more.
Consuming fewer new products is a relatively easy shift in terms of things you can do to help improve the health of our environment. It’s a mindset that may take a bit of time to retrain your brain, but when you learn to pause and ask yourself these questions before clicking “add to cart” it will be easy to limit purchases.
