The Compact
A friend of mine has joined The Compact, which is a group of individuals who have made a commitment to not buy any new products of any kind during 2007, but instead to barter, borrow, or buy used. There are, of course, some exceptions - they don’t expect people to buy used underwear, for example. Their goals are as follows:
- To go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of disposable consumer culture and to support local businesses, farms, etc.
- To reduce clutter and waste in their homes (as in trash Compact-er).
- To simplify their lives (as in Calm-pact)
Their main Yahoo group currently has over 8400 members, and they have a number of regional groups as well, including the Compact Canada, which are listed on their blog.
I’m not ready to make that type of commitment, but I fully admire those who are, and I strongly support donating unwanted gifts to other people or organizations rather than throwing them in the garbage where they’ll end up in the landfill.
