I try not to buy because:
I can do with a little less.
Someone somewhere probably already has that pair of sneakers I am looking for.
Perhaps they no longer need it or have more than one pair and are willing to share.
We seldom pay for the real price of things. How can I ever pay for the 2,700 litres of water required to make a single t-shirt in just a few rupees? And that’s only water we are talking about.
It’s my effort to live the gift culture way of life. I not only try not to buy, but I also help whoever else is trying not to buy. I freely give away things that I no longer need or have in excess, but are in a usable condition. Please see my wishlist for things I am currently looking for and want to give away.
It’s an attempt to cut down waste. After a bag or a mobile phone or the zillions of things that make up our material existence have lived their life, they frequently end up in the landfill. So, the less you buy, the less ends up as trash. Of course, the other alternative is to buy things that are not designed for the landfill, but can be rotted, re-used, recycled. But when you must have something that cannot be rotted or recycled like those sneakers I need for my daughter’s badminton classes, it’s all the more important to try and not buy a fresh pair.
I can wait and see if I really need that thing. Many a time not rushing to buy brings clarity on whether that item is really necessary. Buying comes at the very end of the acquisition journey, it’s best not done on impulse.
It’s a way of winning back our life from the dependence on money and the toxic spirals it pushes us into.
The very act of asking for something helps me tame my ego. While hand-me-downs have always run in the family, asking from rank strangers is still new. In aspirational middle-class upper-caste India, you’d rather not borrow or take from others what you can buy. While that might massage our egos and bring us some temporary joy, it makes the world a little more dirtier. Children also grow up equating buying with happiness, when really the more you share, the happier you are. It’s a truth as old as the hills. Why would I rob my children of this simple joy of giving and receiving? Hence, I ask and give.
I can do with a little less.
Someone somewhere probably already has that pair of sneakers I am looking for.
Perhaps they no longer need it or have more than one pair and are willing to share.
We seldom pay for the real price of things. How can I ever pay for the 2,700 litres of water required to make a single t-shirt in just a few rupees? And that’s only water we are talking about.
It’s my effort to live the gift culture way of life. I not only try not to buy, but I also help whoever else is trying not to buy. I freely give away things that I no longer need or have in excess, but are in a usable condition. Please see my wishlist for things I am currently looking for and want to give away.
It’s an attempt to cut down waste. After a bag or a mobile phone or the zillions of things that make up our material existence have lived their life, they frequently end up in the landfill. So, the less you buy, the less ends up as trash. Of course, the other alternative is to buy things that are not designed for the landfill, but can be rotted, re-used, recycled. But when you must have something that cannot be rotted or recycled like those sneakers I need for my daughter’s badminton classes, it’s all the more important to try and not buy a fresh pair.
I can wait and see if I really need that thing. Many a time not rushing to buy brings clarity on whether that item is really necessary. Buying comes at the very end of the acquisition journey, it’s best not done on impulse.
It’s a way of winning back our life from the dependence on money and the toxic spirals it pushes us into.
The very act of asking for something helps me tame my ego. While hand-me-downs have always run in the family, asking from rank strangers is still new. In aspirational middle-class upper-caste India, you’d rather not borrow or take from others what you can buy. While that might massage our egos and bring us some temporary joy, it makes the world a little more dirtier. Children also grow up equating buying with happiness, when really the more you share, the happier you are. It’s a truth as old as the hills. Why would I rob my children of this simple joy of giving and receiving? Hence, I ask and give.
