"The Compact".......

In today's New York Times (which interestingly, even though I live in California has become my local paper, in fact the article I am talking blogging about takes place in S.F. just up the street, ehm, ok freeway) There is an article about "The Compact" a group of individuals who have decided to reduce the impact on the planet by doing the following:

#1 Don't buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
#2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.

Now I don't know if I can go to that extreme, but I'm fairly good at the following (as my friends and brother will attest):

- Yard sales are a particular joy for me, I find brand new or very lightly used goods there all the time. And this is just opportunistic yard sales, I don't pursue just if it's down the street or along the way, I'll take a look. I got my chairs, some kitchenware, shelves. You name it. Ok, so it doesn't all match, and there are roses on my dresser handles -- but, it gets the job done).
- Freecycle, (www.freecycle.org) where I got my scanner (major win, compatible with Mac and PC, I believe in diversity) and backgammon set.

These are ways of reducing and reusing that can reduce the impact on the planet. People need people for encouragement, and this is a great community. This is in contrast to going to work where it's all about new stuff.

My favorite comment was that the money they save goes to eating out, and for a foodie like me, I can completely endorse the substitution.