Day 91: A Compact update

(Not a pear tree.) But I don't have a pear tree handy to take a picture. Good thing, since they make me sneeze.

Three months into The Compact (a movement to buy nothing new) and still going strong! So far, I have bought new:

Two area rugs (made in USA)
A toilet cap thingy to keep sewer gas out of our house
Underclothes for various members of the household
A roller shade that had to be an exact width (I was on a time budget or I might have been able to find the needed size at Goodwill or a garage sale eventually)
Some pieces of pipe
Two pillows for houseguests (our current ones are flat enough to make patio seat cushions)
Mistint mark-down paint (astonishingly I couldn't find quite the right shade in my abundant personal paint closet)
A magazine for a last minute gift

And a partridge in a pear tree

Actually, now that I look at that list, maybe I'm not as strong as I thought. But hey, it could be worse. Over half those things are home improvement related and not clothes, books, and knickknacks, which I knew would be personal problem areas when joining The Compact.

I've had several kids stop by, peddling wares for various school and scouting fundraisers. I offered to make a cash donation instead, and only one time I was turned down.

Could I have done better overall? Maybe. I'm not sure what I would change. My exceptions were made with the spirit of the experiment in mind, rather than an unwavering conviction at all costs.

But I have no excuse for the partridge in a pear tree. At least it's sustainable.

Day 46: So many ways to be a good compactor

I mentioned yesterday that I had been reading a book called No Impact Man. There are a lot of concepts that ring true with me in this book (and some I take with a grain of salt).

One quote from the book as follows really summed up my feelings on trying to be a good neighbor, a good steward of the earth, a good parent, a good-whatever-else:

"I went into this project wondering if I could make a difference. But the question isn't whether or not I make a difference. The question is whether I want to be the type of person who tries. We can all make a difference. We all have the responsibility to make a difference. You might think the responsibility part is oppressive, but I began this experiment, in part, as an expression of my victimhood and powerlessness. To understand that I can make a difference is so freeing."

The project he refers to is a year-long experiment to make no impact (carbon footprint) on the earth while living in the middle of New York City. Some components were eating locally, buying items without packaging, walking everywhere, and turning out the electricity and using solar power.

I used to think things were all or nothing and I found that I was discouraged at my perceived "failures."

I forgot my reusable bags and had to use two paper bags to carry home my groceries. Guess I should just give up on being a good steward of the earth because I stink at it anyway. No, how about remembering all the times I did bring my bags and focusing on that instead?

I eventually bought two area rugs brand new. Guess I should just quit The Compact now. No, I made a thoughtful purchase of a quality product which will now hopefully enable me to use certain rooms that were just too cold before.

We all have the ability to make a difference and we all have the ability to "fail" at making a difference. Will we focus on the attempts or the failures?

To paraphrase a quote on parenting: "There are no ways to be a perfect Compactor but many ways to be a good one."

Day 35: I thought this would be a piece of cake

Gluten free of course. And make that vanilla, not chocolate.

I figured sticking to The Compact would be no big deal. After all, I never thought of myself as much of a consumer/shopper.

Boy, how wrong I was.

Yesterday, I went to sort clothes for the thrift store and (as part of our volunteer "duty", felt compelled to shop). In two hours I considered purchasing (and ultimately rejected because I had no cash) the following items:

New with tags Colts jacket.

A set of Corelle dishware in a pattern that matches six cups I already own.

A rug designed for playing cars

A pure wool sweater that didn't make the cut and was therefore being "baled" (after reading Overdressed, I vaguely know what this means). I wanted to unravel it for wool yarn, by the way. Or wear it to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party (after mending the giant hole, that is.)

A couple pairs of shoes in the kids' sizes

At one point, I wondered if the friend I was with wondered "Doesn't she do anything but shop?"

Honestly, I do more than I realized. Although since I am not buying new, it does become more of a process to shop. Look at ten items before buying one. Reject most of it but always have your eyes open because Christmas comes sooner than you realize and Walmart and Amazon aren't there to bail you out (in my pretend world at least).

But I really do find it harder than I thought to give up the thrill of the hunt. Which probably explains why I am super excited about the fantastic deal I can score on toilet paper at CVS tomorrow.

In the meantime, instead of shopping, maybe I'll bake a cake.

Day 10: The original compacter in my life

I owe my mom an apology. For years (the teenage ones, surprise!) I was inexcusably rude and critical of her frugality and environmental concern. I remember one year at camp she turned an envelope inside out and used it to mail me a letter. I called her tacky.

Years later, I found out how hurtful that was. Now that I'm older and wiser, I know why she turned the envelope inside out. Was it that she couldn't afford a new one? No, it was because she decided early on to minimize her effect on the planet. She was "carbon footprint" conscious before it was the in thing. 

My mom and dad choose to live with very few possessions so that they actually use what they own. They can quickly find what they need because it's not buried under a bunch of useless junk. They also don't throw out a lot of trash because they aren't making any. But their simple lifestyle doesn't make them cheap or miserly; in fact they are the most generous people I know and I hope to reach at least half the level of their hospitality and kindness. 

Whenever I do something seemingly insignificant that I hope makes a difference anyway, I think of my mom and how she led the way. I hope my daughters don't grow up and call me tacky but if they do, I'll take a lesson from my parents and be true to myself anyway. They'll understand soon enough.

Day 8: Saturday randomness

My first quandary: what to give a school friend of Big Girl's for an upcoming birthday? Normally I would make something along the lines of an interest but this party being so close after Christmas it kind of caught me unaware.

Determined to stay true to my decision to not buy stuff just for the sake of buying stuff (and operating under the assumption that this child's mom feels similarly that toys are taking over her life) I pondered this dilemma.

Finally, inspiration! A play date to the zoo when the weather warms up. No waste, no little pieces to keep up with, and a future memory to be made.

The floor lamp search continues. I scouted out the local Goodwills today and found nothing but a strange brass concoction circa 1989 or so. No thanks.

I did find this, marked confusingly as an "auto min." For roughly five minutes I wondered how in the world one would use this in a car, and finally figured out it's the phonetic spelling of "ottoman." Auto min or ottoman, I have been looking for just such a storage container for Big Girl's toys. The lime green is an asset and not a liability in this case.

Despite my shortage of floor lamps, I somehow managed to run out of lightbulbs. I considered the alternatives briefly but rejected the idea of using candles. To me, lightbulbs fall into the category of acceptable under The Compact (I decided to just go ahead and take the leap and formally commit). I did, however, try to buy a good brand, rather than the ones that burned out in three and a half minutes. I'm thinking of it as an investment of sorts.

I also found this 100% Merino wool yarn, thrifted. One of my New Year's goals is to learn to knit socks. I got some double pointed needles for Christmas and found some others, thrifted. I'm delighted that The Compact does not preclude crafting; one just has to get creative about it.