Buying Nothing? You’re in Good Company
January 19th, 2009 by Nubby
Some people just aren’t shopping at all and it has nothing to do with the recession. GOOD Magazine has just profiled five groups of anti-consumers that includes:
1. The Amish: With an estimated population of 232,000, they have a strong commitment to simplicity that includes traveling by horse and buggy, sewing their own clothing and cooking on wood-fired stoves.
2. No Impact Man: Blogger Colin Beavan has vowed to produce no trash whatsoever. Even more amazingly, he pulls this off in New York City with his wife and daughter in tow. A life without toilet paper sounds challenging….
3. The Church of Stop Shopping: 20,000 members strong, the church has members in every continent but Antarctica. They have vowed to do anything to stop ‘The Shopocalypse’ including marching down Disneyland’s Main Street and even releasing a documentary called What Would Jesus Buy?
4. The Compact: A group of friends from San Francisco teamed up and vowed to buy nothing new for an entire year. They allowed themselves to buy food, health and safety items (and underwear), but everything else was off-limits. Now close to 10,000 people strong, The Compact hosts monthly meetings.
5. Freegans: Most freegans are middle-class and well-educated, but choose to dumpster dive instead of contributing to an economic system that holds profits above everything else.
Read more on these groups here.
Tags: anti-consumerism, consumption
