During this holiday shopping season, a heck of a lot of people are using the Internet to indulge their consumer tendencies. Some others, including my wife and I, are trying to use technology in a different way-- to turn against consumerism.
Meet The Compact
Lisa and I first heard about the Compact, a group of people who swore off buying nearly any new products for a year, on public radio. But the group, which launched about a year ago, has spread its anti-consumerist message through a blog and a super-active e-mail discussion list.
The groups founders started it for a number of reasons: to simplify their lives, to reduce waste and clutter in their lives, and to strike back against the modern throw-away culture, where even expensive products like computers, television sets and kitchen appliances get discarded after a few years. The group wanted to "go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc.," according to the Compact blog.
As practiced by strict adherents, the Compact seems to be a form of anti-e-commerce. The founders of the group came up with a list of rules, including exceptions to the not-buying-anything-new rule. Obviously, itd be tough to find used food, although theres a movement called the Freegans who try to do just that. But scrounging for food in dumpsters isnt everyones idea of a fun Saturday night, so food is one of the exceptions in the Compact.
Medicine is also an exception, but "elective treatments like Viagra or Botox" are banned. Compacters are allowed to buy new socks and underwear, but not "couture or ornamental" undies.
So the rules may seem a bit subjective. Its OK to pay for downloaded music (no packaging), but its apparently against the rules to buy blank CDs if you want to burn that music. Huh?
And yes, this all may be a little liberal-hippyish for some peoples sensibilities. However, moderate and conservative religious leaders have long preached against the dangers of consumerism, and several Evangelical leaders have focused on environmental concerns in recent years.
Combatting Clutter
For my wife and I, the decision to follow the Compact, or at least a liberal interpretation of its rules, was prompted by several factors, all tried together in one big lump of consumerism.
We had a baby just over a year ago, and were trying to remodel our basement to add some useable space in our smallish 1950s Cape Cod. Even though weve lived here just five years, our basement is full of... stuff. Just this morning, I was trying to clear space for a contractor to do some work on a natural gas line, and there was all this junk in the way. Where did we get all this stuff?
As Lisa put it, "Every time we try to do something [in the basement], it becomes apparent that weve shoved stuff into every corner and crevice of this house."
Then theres the eBay addiction Im trying to get a handle on. My midlife crisis seems to be centered on learning to play the guitar, and eBay is a great place to find guitars and amps and all the other gear that comes with looking cool and sounding cool. On one hand, I can legitimately argue that buying a cheap electric guitar on eBay is a less destructive midlife crisis than several other options. On the other hand, I cant even play an F chord correctly, and I own four electric guitars.
Then there are the boxes with packing peanuts. This probably drives Lisa more crazy than anything. Whether we buy stuff from the big-box store down the street or order stuff from online sources, as wed done frequently until the Compact entered our lives, nearly everything we buy these days seems to be vastly over-packed. You order one book from an online retailer and it comes in this huge cardboard box, with bubble wrap filling the vast space that the book doesnt occupy.
Online Assistance
Before I get too far into my criticism of e-commerce, let me say that the Internet is proving to be a great source of used goods as well. While I probably dont need another guitar for a while, eBay and Craigslist make following our version of the Compact easier than it would have been just a few years ago. One of the first debates on the Compact blog was about using eBay and Amazon.com to buy used products.
Some Compacters suggested people try to buy used products from local sources first. Others noted that many sellers on eBay and Amazon.com are mom n pop stores that the Compact aims to support.
Lisa and I are in the second camp. While buying a used item online wont eliminate packaging, it still feels more virtuous than buying new. Were doing some of our Christmas shopping through eBay and other online sources of used products, buying from local sellers when we can. Before we signed up for the Compact, Lisa said she wanted a Roomba vacuum cleaner. Theres a huge selection of used and remanufactured ones online.
Weve also found, with some exceptions, that individuals selling on an auction site or small-scale retailers selling used books and CDs through Amazon.com tend to use less packing materials than retailers shipping new products. Maybe theres less concern a used book will be nicked up in shipping, or maybe a small online seller cant afford to buy cardboard boxes in bulk.
Tech: Both Means And Crutch
Technology certainly enables buying and buying and more buying. It also adds to this modern, throw-away culture-- a 2-year-old PC is downright ancient, a 6GB MP3 player doesnt hold enough music, a 27-inch television set isnt big enough to see the sweat on the fullbacks nose. But technology is just a tool, and some people are turning technology against the consumerist model.
For now, Lisa and I are doing OK without buying anything new. Well see how long that lasts. After all, theres this brand-new Taylor electric guitar that looks really, really cool.
