Mortaine’s Blog

I did the Compact last year for 4 months, from January to May. Why only 4 months? Because I knew that moving into an RV was time-consuming and would require things we didn’t already have and couldn’t get otherwise. I like to think that by selling, giving away, and recycling nearly everything else in my house, I was promoting Compact-friendly ways. Other Compacters didn’t necessarily agree, however, and I was lambasted for buying a fuel-consuming home instead of, oh, I don’t know, continuing to rattle around in an enormous 3 bedroom home with 2 bathrooms, washer, drying, dishwasher, hot tub…. you get the idea.

Anyway, aside from a few comic books over the weekend (which are, in fact, for work), I haven’t bought anything new since the first of this month. And I’m thinking maybe I will go back to the “no buying new stuff” thing for the rest of 2008. It was good for me, good for the environment, and I managed to do everything I wanted to do during that time without spending a lot of dough.

I don’t entirely know what the Compact’s total goals are, and I suspect they vary per person. For me, the goals are to get away from impulse-buying (which I’ve mostly done), reduce clutter, reduce waste, and in general streamline my life. Notice that “save the planet” isn’t in that list. That’s because I think “Save the planet,” while an admirable goal, is probably not practical when your home gets 8 miles to the gallon.

At any rate, here are the things I spend my money on the most:

• Yarn.
• Books about knitting.
• Comic books (for work).
• Romance novels.
• Postcards.
• Arts and crafts supplies.
• Online media and services.

Of these, the books, yarn, and arts and crafts are the biggest offenders. A few postcards don’t stop my wheels from turning, and they’re good for giveaways like the one I did last week. I inherited a box of stationary from my grandmother, so I don’t really need any more stationary. Nor do I need any more arts and crafts supplies– I’m full up on glue sticks and I can always cut up stationary if I need to glue some pretty pictures into a scrapbook.

Originally posted to Life on the Road.

UStravel.today.com was featured in the All Things Eco blog carnival this week. Check it out for some interesting posts on the environment and how to preserve it!

My fav: Leaving the Road Less Traveled, Green, which talks about how to travel without destroying your destination.

Originally posted to Life on the Road.