How Much Do You Buy in a Year?

When trying to live in a more sustainable way, reducing waste and minimising your negative impact on people and planet, what you choose to buy is one of the most important things. We all have to remember that a lot of our power as individuals comes from what we choose to buy (and what we choose not to buy).

Our impact extends out from our homes to encompass all the things we buy and bring into our lives. The more wisely we buy, the smaller our footprints become, and the more positive our impact can be. Buying less and buying better are both crucial.

Other than food and drink that we do not grow at home, and the materials/tools we have needed for our barn conversion project, I really have not bought much at all in the last year.

In the last year I have bought:

• A sustainable mattress for our bed (to replace a very old one that really wasn’t fit for use any more.)
• Organic cotton, fair-trade and Oekotex certified bedding.
• Some second-hand books and a handful of new ones.
• A few sustainable organic cotton garments.
• A sustainable work gilet for my husband.

I haven’t kept notes, but those are the only purchases I can recall. Have you bought more in the last year?

It is not about doing without. It is just about realising and thinking deeply about what you really do need. When you think through every purchase carefully, you might find ways to significantly reduce the amount you buy in a year. Which, of course, can have many knock on benefits for you as well as in the wider world. How much have you bought in the last year?