My consumer irrationality, let me show you it

[firecat]

Last night I received a promotional e-mail from a company I shop with regularly. The subject line was "Celebrate Earth Day with Free Shipping!" If that's not the definition of "unclear on the concept," I don't know what is.

I mean, I assume that Earth Day is about trying to reduce the damage humans do to the environment, and I understand that one of the ways humans damage the environment is to overuse natural resources and create pollution by turning those resources into new products to sell.

If so, then causing brand-new products to be made and causing them to be moved around the world using fossil fuels doesn't seem like a celebration of Earth Day. Encouraging people to order extra products because you're going to absorb the cost of shipping them, ditto.

So I didn't order anything from this company. But I tell ya, "retail therapy" is something I indulge in regularly, and at times it's very soothing to me, almost as soothing as clicking crop squares on Farmville.

Retail therapy for me hooks into my obsessive tendencies, which means I spend a lot of time making lists of stuff I might want. Either I decide I want something and I go to multiple stores that offer it and make a list on my computer (I have a very long list for socks, for example), or I go to some web store and methodically click through every category they have, and leave wishlists behind the way guinea pigs leave pellets.

Since I don't necessarily buy stuff when I do this, I guess if I'm going to engage in retail therapy that's one of the less environmentally damaging ways of doing it. Except for all the resources involved in the web store's making an enticing description of the product and putting it on the web, and my use of the web to look for it. I don't have a good sense for the extent to which use of the web damages the environment.

But one insidious aspect of my acquisitiveness is that when I do decide to buy something, I have a strong urge that it be a brand-new thing.

At first I wasn't aware of this as an urge per se; I just bought brand-new things because that is simply what is done in my culture. You want something? Go to a store and buy a new one.

So when my handbag started falling apart (see previous entry) I went to various online stores and shopped for a new one. And if I had found one I probably would have bought it. But I couldn't find an exact replacement. So I went to various online stores and made lists of bags that could substitute.

But it took me a while to realize that I could go to eBay and buy a used one. And when I got there and was looking at various bags, I found myself resisting buying a used one, even though it would save me money and many of the bags were advertised as having no flaws.

This resistance wasn't worry about being ripped off. I have bought enough stuff on eBay to know that many of the sellers are scrupulous about describing an item's condition. It was an irrational feeling of "I want a brand-new one."

So for example I was trying to decide between a new bag from http://tombihn.com and a very good condition used Tom Bihn bag from eBay, at half the price. I resisted buying the used one. It felt fundamentally different in a way that makes no rational sense.

This particular story has a happy ending for the environment. I didn't buy anything, either new or used; I found a backpack at home that will do what I want.

The moral of the story is this: My consumer habits tell me to take the following steps to meet a need: 1. Buy a new one, 2. Buy a used one, 3. Use something I already have.

I would be better off, and so would the environment in a microscopic way, if I reversed the order of the steps.

How do you approach acquiring stuff that you need/want?

Comments

[wild_irises]

I'm completely the opposite; I have no draw towards brand-new things. I actively prefer used, if the condition is okay (and I'm not fussy about condition). I try to buy only what I genuinely need, to minimize shipping, and to be frugal. A few years ago, I made myself a promise not to buy any new electronics, because of the way new electronics exploit African mineral deposits. I've stuck to that except for one new cell phone (I changed companies, and my new provider, which is otherwise righteous, requires you to buy directly from them.)

[firecat]

Were you always that way or did you make a conscious shift at some point?

[wild_irises]

I think I've always liked used things, and felt smug when I spend less because it's used. The electronics thing was a conscious shift, based on how scared/angry I am about Africa in general.

when reduce, re-use, recycle isn't enough

[snippy]

I shop extensively. I rarely find exactly what I want available at all, so it's always a compromise--and once I've compromised, it's easier to shape the purchase in lots of ways, including not making a purchase at all. I shop online first, in stores (that sell new merchandise) second, in my home third, and second-hand last.

I like to buy new things. At least some of the time, and for some general areas of purchase, I would rather buy used to save money, if I can find a close approximation of what I want. I've bought things from Craigslist and Goodwill and other second-hand/resale/consignment shops locally.

I keep the things I like for a very long time--I take care of them, I mend and polish and air out and so forth. Some old things I refashion into new things, when I can.

I still have every purse I've bought in the last 25 years (it may be that I have a collection of purses--but not one cost me more than $35). I'd rather keep something I already like than search for something that will inevitably be a compromise, so I invest a lot of time, energy, and money into both maintenance and *careful use* of my favorite things.

I've been doing a lot of the "reduce" part, because I haven't had as much money to spend as I used to and I had to make do with what I already owned. I've done the "re-use" quite a bit, and as you know I have really enjoyed that. (Makes me regret the clothes I've donated to Goodwill in the past! But at the time, getting them out of the house and off my mind was important, too.)

[ailbhe]

I prefer to buy used unless I am feeling poor. If I am feeling poor, buying cheap used things makes me feel worse.

I love Freegle/Freecycle and we've had a lot of luck with it - including our rotary washing line, and various large items of furniture, and bikes, and things. We get rid of a lot on Freegle too.

What I really like is not having to go into shops. I hate shops, almost all the time, and since I almost never find EXACTLY what I want I find shopping in shops very stressful.

I resent buying new clothes, because I really like cotton and it's a horribly ecologically unsound crop, as well as usually grossly exploitative.

[elainegrey]

I spend a great deal of energy on the disposal side of use. Can it be repaired? (Even taking it to someone else and paying for a repair?) Can it be repurposed? Can i use the parts?

A lot of that keeps me too busy to shop. 8)

I've found "shopping in my closet" to be very productive: see your find.

[(Anonymous)]

I actively hate to shop. I even did long before the mobility stuff made it, mmmm, painstaking. When I need something (I rarely buy stuff, except books, just because I want it; books are almost always used), I always have a really good idea of what I want and what it needs to do. I figure out if we can "make do" with what we have. If not, I look for gently used first. If I have to buy something new, I go for the best value I can find. I expect stuff to last a really really long time.

[nanila]

I do almost all of my shopping on line, except for groceries and used books. I really dislike shops - they exhaust me quickly and by the time I'm supposed to be making a decision about what to buy, I don't have the energy and I often walk out without buying anything.

My strategy is to to put the things I want into my online shopping basket and then leave them there for a week. If I come back after a week and I still want them, I buy them. 85% of the time I end up not buying them.

[serene]

My thought process has changed. When I had more money, I was more likely to buy stuff new. Now that money is an issue, I tend to go like this:

Ask on freecycle --> Do without if possible --> Repurpose something --> Check the second-hand stores --> Look online (eBay and other places) for a reasonably priced solution

This is not virtue; it's necessity. I have gotten to actually like the recycling aspect of it, and to feel a little virtuous about it, but I'm not sure I'd still be as "good" about it if I had more money.

[flarenut]

I generally shop new, just because I love catalog porn. But I also do my best to keep stuff and mend until hell wouldn't have it. But I do a lot of shopping just as recreation -- seeing what old lathes and welding equipment and computer stuff is available on craigslist, or dropping by a kitchen store to see the shiny bits I don't need.

I bought a used phone on ebay, but that was purely a matter of survival -- new sans contract costs way too much. When my number rolls around for a new "free" phone I'll probably go right in and get something shiny.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I am the opposite! With very few exceptions I'd rather buy a used anything than a new anything. Not just because it's cheaper, though hey, cheaper, but because it's not a clone. You walk into a bag shop or a clothes shop and they have a million copies of the same bag, or the same shirt. Used, it's all treasure hunting, and everything is different. Maybe the shirt won't fit you and they sure won't have it in another size, but that's a good thing -- every item a unique treasure.

With books I'll buy new if I can, but when I go into a new bookstore it's going to have the exact same selection of this year's books as any other new bookstore. A used bookstore -- maybe it's all crap, but you never know what you're going to find.

[e4q.livejournal.com]

badly.

but i would vote for any party that was standing for a day off a week for airports. sunday flight free! it would be awesome.

[living400lbs.livejournal.com]

A big part of why I've been doing a "virtual window shopping" series on the blog is to get my "hey shiny new clothes!" squee without, y'know, actually buying anything.

[ladythmpr.livejournal.com]

I do try to use what I have before getting something else. For example, I turned some towel rack/bar things into shoe holders.

When I actually need to aquire something, I tend to think used before new most of the time, in about this order: Freecycle, Craigslist free section, garage sales, thrift stores/flea markets. (Yes, I am a cheap bitch. :) I find that most Ebay sellers charge too much for shipping, so I only buy there if I can't get it somewhere locally.

There are some things I tend to buy new: Beds, upholstered furniture, shoes and clothes. The first two I buy new because I have enough allergy issues that buying used is a dicey proposition; shoes I buy new because I have weird feet; clothes I buy new because I usually buy clothes only when I absolutely need to, and I don't often find my size readily in thrift stores.

Beads tend to be my items of retail therapy. I buy most beads new, and I buy used if I can find beads used. Sometimes, garage sales are really good for jewelry that I can take apart and make something new.

[firecat]

I've found some nice beads at thrift stores too.