Ecologico Experiences: Not Buying New

So as if raising two toddlers, working 3 jobs between two of us AND running Ecologico wasn't enough we've decided to do a "Not Buying New" Year. Why? Well, maybe we've gone crazy, orrrrr maybe it's to stop us going crazy. Consumerism is overwhelming at the best of times, and I'm pretty sure there are enough material goods in the world that we can survive by breaking up with shopping, plus the break from incessant marketing can only be a good thing (for our mental health and our bank balance at the very least) right? This challenge is a big one for me: pre-Eco I was a huge shopping addict (and I don't use that term lightly). In the past, if I was happy, I shopped. If I was sad, I shopped. Angry, lonely, bored... You get the idea. I was a bargain hunter and thrived on searching for bagging the best deals; even more recently for secondhand stuff and eco-friendly products. It was a genuine rush and if I was sourcing preloved or eco-friendly stuff maybe it wasn't *as* bad, but it still meant I was overbuying. Having so much stuff is actually overwhelming. It creates anxiety. We were drowning in stuff and we needed to reset. Obviously, we'll need to buy some stuff: food, cleaning stuff, other consumables and there are some things we might need like new tyres, that we probably should get new. In general, we won't be buying anything new; hopefully, we will shop our own house using clothes, toys, materials we already have and reusing, repurposing, borrowing and mending. Anything we do need, we'll try to source secondhand or make ourselves. It's time to rethink, or even just think before we buy. We won't encourage anyone to gift us new stuff either and although we'll accept gifts and we will try to focus on experiences, not stuff. Thinking caps on, it's time to get creative! I'm planning on producing a monthly Ecologico Experiences which will be an honest look at how we're doing and the lessons we're learning along the way as things crop up (MOTS, work, birthdays etc). Like with everything "Not Buying New" is definitely an aspiration rather than an expectation so feel free to try joining in, even if it's just for a week or a month and let us know how you're getting on.