the first month

It's been a month today since I first began the non-shopping, or rather the non-new shopping as I did have that lovely Value Village binge.

I was talking with some friends last night about responsible buying and I realized that buying from VV (instead of, say Women in Need) doesn't keep the money as much in the local economy. Also, I don't know whether they sell things largely where they receive them or whether they ship between stores. I have emailed them to ask.

So my non-food/drink/tobacco purchases in month one consist of 1 newspaper, 1 book (sort of second hand because someone else had already bought it), a set of watercolour crayons with sketch pad and brush for a child's present, a 12 pack roll of toilet paper and 2 pen refills. Not bad. Less than I would have done without the commitment. I plan to keep a list of all the non-used non-edibles (drinkables, smokables) that I buy this year and so I can see just how much it adds up to. (in dollars it amounts to about $70 and that plus the $120 I spent on second hand shopping a couple of weeks ago and my guess is it is somewhat less than I would normally spend. Since I figure this project will save me money I plan to put more money into making sure more of my food purchases are local.

I was walking by my local she store the other day and, as I always do when I pass it, I stopped to look in the window and dream about what shoes I might buy. This time what caught my eye was a pair of polka dot flats. But some of the joy has gone. Even though I rarely buy shoes there (seriously expensive) there has always before been an open-ended possibility but this time I quickly recalled that I couldn't buy anyway and moved on.

The thing I most want to buy is straws. I haven't bought any for a couple of years for obvious reasons but now that I can't buy them, any time my smoothie is too think I find myself longing for one. I wonder if anyone makes a resuable straw--one without bisphenol A. I have 11 months to research it.