What could you live without?

Image by BJN

Every generation owns more personal possessions than the last. Like magpies we keep adding to our hordes, and the list of things we 'can't live without' is ever-extending. Our society tends towards exaggeration, and this shows in the way we speak about our belongings. I've had people say to me, "I couldn't survive without a car." Or, "I really need new shoes." Would these people actually drop dead if they could no longer use their cars? Of course not. Do these people really need new shoes? Will they have to go barefoot tomorrow if they don't buy new shoes today? Probably not. But the way we talk about our possessions tends to remove us from the conscious choice we made when we acquired them. Every acquisition is a choice, with consequences that the buyer becomes responsible for, even if they aren't actually aware of what the consequences are. Ignorance of the consequences doesn't mean they aren't happening.

It's pretty much impossible to know all of the consequences of buying a particular item. There are too many unknowns. If I pick up a pair of jeans, they might say "Made in China" on them, but they don't say "Made in a sweatshop by children" (I'm not suggesting all jeans that are made in China are made in a sweatshop by children; this is just an example). They don't tell me what miniscule proportion of the retail price was paid to the manufacturer. And they don't tell me what environmental policies (if any) the manufacturer follows. So, we are often shooting blindly when it comes to the consequences of our purchasing decisions.

If you are going to buy something, there are ways to decrease the uncertainty of the consequences:

• Buy from stores like TradeAid, Ecostore or the SAFE store. These retailers have ethical policies in place that the products they sell must meet, and they are open and transparent about the life cycle of the products they sell.

• Read packaging and signs. Many products have to be labelled with their country of origin nowadays, and products that have environmental or ethical kudos are likely to promote it. Look for the the Fairtrade logo, or statements like "Not tested on animals".

• Research big purchases in advance. You can usually find information by searching online to help you make the best choice about what you are planning to buy. Plus there are sites like Greenlist that collate the contact details of responsible retailers and service providers by area and product/service type.

There's another much more effective way to reduce the consequences of your purchasing: buy less. I'm not advocating wearing your current shoes and clothes until they fall apart before buying new ones. What I'm suggesting is that before you buy pair of shoes number 27, you could try thinking to yourself, "Do I really need these? What else could I spend this money on?" I don't know about you, but the thought of spending my money on something like a hot air balloon ride or putting it towards a holiday is even more exciting than buying yet another pair of shoes. I get a bit overwhelmed when I have too much stuff. I live in a small apartment, and struggle to fit in what I already have without adding to it. The clutter makes me feel like the place is always a mess. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way - there are TV shows dedicated to decluttering people's lives.

There are some things I have decided I can live without, in order to decrease my impact on the planet's resources and avoid being overwhelmed by clutter. Here are a few:

1. Buying every book I want to read. I try to borrow off friends or the library unless I know it's a book I will want to read or refer to again and again - then I try to buy it second hand : )
2. Eating meat every day. I've cut down the amount of meat I eat a lot, and surprisingly I don' t miss eating it more often at all.
3. 'Pretty things' for my room. There's nowhere to put them anyway, but I've always had an aversion to knick-knacks. Probably stems from the fact that you have to dust them.
4. Newspapers. You can read the news from anywhere in the world online for free. That is much easier than reading a physical newspaper too. Why must they make the sheets of newsprint so big that it is practically impossible to read one while eating breakfast and drinking a cuppa? Plus, the media usually makes the news so negative I'd rather not read it at all!
5. CDs. I'm surprised there's still a market for these. I find it difficult to understand why someone would go and buy a physical item that has to sit somewhere, gathering dust, when you can buy almost any album online from iTunes, and stick it straight on your iPod (something I couldn't live without!)

What do you or could you live without? Please share with us by commenting below.