Thursday, January 3, 2008

I don't think I am *quite* as caught up w/ the whole "stuff" thing as many people in our society,
but still, I have way way too much stuff.
One place I really see that I can help cut down on the amount of waste that I produce is to buy exclusively from Buyers Club. I haven't bought from buyers club for 2 months now bcz of daughter Breinn's wedding/Christmas expenses. I do have bulk food in reserve, stored that we have been using. Still tho,
I definitely have been visiting my local grocery store here and there to pick up the slack,
plus Christmas and wedding preparations,
plus just being sooooo busy that I have been indulging in a bit of convenience type foods over the last couple weeks (like haven't been making bread etc). Man oh man,
does that store bought food produce waste tho! That stuff has more plastic packaging than food inside. And aside from the fact that the bulk foods produce less throw away garbage in packaging,
when I buy cases of small quantities thru them , like bbq sauce and such,
the packaging from buyers club is GLASS ie recyclable,
which also creates a lot less throw aways.
I forgot about that BIG advantage to buyers club. A person remembers the whole foods aspect and healthier food being as the stuff is organic and msg/preservative/chemical/genetically altered free,
but I also need to key in on the fact that bulk is less garbage/less consumerism.
So even tho buyers club is expensive(and I am trying to avoid consumerism)
I am really going to work toward doing my monthly or bi-monthly purchase.
But the whole consumerism thing really struck me too watching all these Twilight Zone reruns the last couple days on tv from the late 50's and early 60's. It was crazy for me to see all the styles and the consumerism of that day. Like the clothes, cars, appliances, lamps, furniture,
just "the lifestyle" of those days gone by that made them look so 50's. And that is what the world looked like then. People worked long and hard to buy those *things*. I mean,
just like *today*,
people were totally driven by consumerism. They worked their entire lives until retirement to pay for all that stuff. And now,
50 yrs later,
most all those people from that show are dead. And basically ALL of that *stuff* , the products from that consumerist society of that day and age,
are long gone and in a land fill. So whats the point???? I mean,
it seems so futile in my mind to work and work and work to buy STUFF. Stuff that lasts just a short short while and then is broken or is no longer needed and it is thrown out.
I hate that Mike has to go to work. I hate that we need so much money to be consumers. Isnt there more important goals in life besides working working working to BUY STUFF????????????????
Of course I understand that in our society a certain amount of consumerism is necessary,
I know we cant live on love:))
But,
I wish I could think of other areas in my life where I could work away from the consumerist mindset of our society and more toward a simple life. Like the buyers club type of buying.
does this make sense to anyone? anyone share my desire?

here is an awesome 20 minute video that covers many aspects of consumerism. Worth the watch:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

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