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Sustainability Challenge Day 5
September 23, 2020
Cozy up to Sustainability
You may have heard of the “Story of Stuff,” a popular 2007 video that attempts to explain how our linear system of producing and consuming things is wrecking our planet. (You can still watch it – the iPod and Radio Shack makes it feel dated, the stats are off slightly for today, and it is definitely depressing, but the main ideas still hold true).
“Stuff” is one area of sustainability that most of us struggle with: we are surrounded with messages telling us to buy, buy, buy, without any explanation of its consequences. Some messages even tell us how “good” our purchases are for the planet, as if consuming more of the Earth’s resources makes it healthier.
To help address this conundrum, author and artist Sarah Lazarovic came up with the idea of the sustainability sweater (read more about it here).
The Buyerarchy of Needs:
Lazarovic suggests one way we as individuals can be more “thoughtful and informed” is to follow the Buyerarchy of Needs pyramid (a play on Maslo’s hierarchy of needs, as well as the USDA’s old food pyramid). If you look at buying new as the last
option, you may find other ways to fulfill your needs that have financial benefits for you, and also are better for the planet and your community.
option, you may find other ways to fulfill your needs that have financial benefits for you, and also are better for the planet and your community.
But in an era that tells us all our needs can be purchased on the internet and will arrive in two days or less, how do we avoid the tip of the pyramid?
Pledge to try:
The idea of borrow, swap, thrift and “make” may seem quaint and old-fashioned, but there’s a surprisingly large number of people and organizations succeeding at it! Pledge to explore at least one of the following, and then take the Big Step below.
Use What You Have: This can be hard to do if an item is broken. In non-COVID times, you could go to a Dare to Repair Cafe, but there are other options. Online services like Angies List and Yelp suggest local repair shops for everything from shoes to clothing to bicycles. (My mom recently had new soles put on her favorite pair of boat shoes, which brought her much joy.) You can also search the all-knowing internet for directions or videos on how to repair things. My husband successfully repaired our microwave handle by following an online video!
Borrow: You probably know you can get books from a library, but your local branch may offer other things to borrow, from a do-it-yourself bike repair station to a 3-D printer, or even loans of art. And if it’s books you are looking for, Little Free Libraries offer access to books without having to go indoors. Speaking of bikes, Buffalo has a bike share service. And members of The Tool Library in Buffalo can borrow tools instead of buying them.
Swap: Groups like freecycle help people trade instead of throwing out and buying new. There are internet sites for swapping paperbacks, video games, and even sharing gardens by swapping land, tools and labor!
Thrift: Oddly, the best list of Buffalo-area thrift stores is in the right-hand column of the Buffalo Department of Streets webpage. If you are anxious about shopping indoors, checkout online companies like E-Bay, ThredUp and Rent the Runway. Fun fact: AMVETS even offers personal shopping, where they’ll search for a used item for you!
Make: Pinterest. Enter “How to make _____.” Enough said.
Buy… On those occasions when you can’t avoid the red triangle, there are things you can do to buy better. We’ll explore some of those on other Challenge days.
Big Step: Pledge to Buy Thoughtfully:
“Never let yourself buy anything right away. If you walk away from your computer for even a few minutes that impulsiveness often dissipates. You can also write down or draw what you want on a piece of paper. Basically, any action that allows you a pause to let emotion fall aside and logic take over. The internet is brilliant at convincing us that we must purchase immediately…the key is to remember that this is rarely the case.” –Sarah Lazarovic
Day 5 Check-in:
Today marks one-quarter of the 20-Day Challenge! Does this Challenge seem harder & more complicated than you had expected? Remember, you don’t have to complete everything in 20 days, but you can start to make a plan. We’re going to continue to ask you to do to what you can, and then ask you to do a little more. Let us know how you are doing!
A Look Ahead:
Tomorrow we put our money where our mouth is…