Two Buy Too Much
Winthrop’s Office of Sustainability stands up to superfluous spending
We’ve all done it. We’ve all picked up the multi-pack of batteries at the checkout or surrendered to the drive-through window for a cheeseburger when we had food at home. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to not buy anything for a day? Luckily, this day exists. Buy Nothing Day. This “international day of protest against consumerism,” is Nov. 27. This is a time to step back and think before we buy. This day not only gives your wallet a break, but also encourages you to think about whether your purchase decisions benefit sustainability. And this is where Winthrop’s Office of Sustainability comes into the picture.
Sustainable purchasing means considering the long term effect of the things we buy, such as the waste purchases produce and the impact purchases have on society. The Office of Sustainability explains this in two of the six R’s of Recycling on its website,“Refuse to use or purchase items that are not useful both in the short-term and long-term...Re-think how choices are made and question what the impacts are to social welfare, ecological integrity, and economic vitality during the product's life cycle.” In other words, the Office of Sustainability says don’t buy things you don’t need or will only use once and throw away. This leads to waste and negative societal consequences.
To draw attention to these efforts, I tracked a day of spending for one student and compared it to my own. The person I chose was senior marketing major Natalie Daczkowski. On the day I tracked, Natalie made two purchases: a birthday card for her father, $4, and a yogurt, $1.50. The purchases Natalie made, though inexpensive, were not sustainable because they were not necessities and had very limit usage lengths, the longest lasting only a day.
“I bought my dad an expensive birthday card. He’ll probably throw it away tomorrow or next week if I’m lucky...then I bought a yogurt at Publix and I ate that in seconds,” Natalie admitted.
Purchasing items that don’t have the potential to be used long term, such as impulse purchases like a cup of yogurt on the go, often lead to more waste going into landfills because the purchases are unplanned and once they are used, they are tossed.
My purchases were a little different. Let me start by saying I didn’t pick the best day to track. My first purchase was a tattoo. You heard me. I spent $70 on a tattoo. The second purchase? A new North Face jacket that cost a whopping $65. The last thing I bought was a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory for $7.95, which I devoured quickly and failed to recycle the container it came in. My purchases were excessively more pricey than Natalie’s, but they were all premeditated purchases. Does the fact that my purchases were planned mean they were sustainable? Absolutely not.
The Office of Sustainability Coordinator, Chris Johnson points out that much more goes into being a sustainable buyer than recycling your qualifying items. In fact, even planning your purchases to reduce landfill disposal is not enough to call purchases sustainable. According to Johnson, sustainable purchasing benefits society as well as the environment. “Consider how your buying habits contribute to sustainability, for example, how what you buy can simultaneously advance economic vitality, ecological integrity, and social welfare,” says the Office of Sustainability website.
I doubt my tattoo or Natalie’s birthday card did much for social welfare. Regardless, Natalie’s frugality and my planning are both steps toward becoming sustainable buyers. As Buy Nothing Day approaches, take a moment to consider what you buy on a daily basis, and decide if you’re doing what’s best for your wallet and for the globe. On this day, try to skip the quick purchases that can lead to hundreds of years of waste, like the yogurt. Instead, plan your purchases for a later date, then dispose of the waste properly. Buy Nothing Day gives you the chance to recognize the impact that purchasing has on you and the environment, so take advantage of it. Skip the purchase.