Green is seeping in. It's everywhere. And finally, the ubiquitous campaigns for conscious consuming have worked on me too. So much so in fact, that while I still have flare-ups of wanting that fabulous new thing, more and more it's all starting to look like stuff I don't need... But then I shake it off and think, hey, lets not paint ourselves into a corner here, on a DESIGN BLOG, shall we? Good design helps slow down the turnover of things in your life, because if you like it more you'll keep it for longer. Still, I can't shake the feeling that (aided by the bad news bears of finance) the unadulterated zeal for buying has been forever tainted with the greening of our conscience...
To really take stock, I started to think back to the last thing I bought for my home...and I couldn't remember! When I met Treehugger.com's senior writer, Lloyd Alter, at the Explore Design youth fair in Toronto, I posed the same question to him, and this was his answer:
Elana Safronsky: What's the last thing you bought for your home?
Lloyd Alter:
Really, I don't remember. I don't really care for new things, I want
to make existing things better...maybe a coffee machine? Yeah, I think
it was a coffee machine...
I really felt I touched on something here, so I took it to the streets. And lo and behold, it looks like Lloyd an I are not alone!
Can you remember? So is it true? Are you buying less?
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