don't shop

“Don’t Shop While The Bombs Drop!”
Re-thinking Movement Strategy
by Paul Rockwell
Oakland, California
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/opin/pr_shop.html

Hey kids, you want to be radical? You want to be revolutionary? You want to do your part to help bring down the corporatistas?

Buy used, not new, whenever possible. Recycle things and use them to make other things, or for other purposes.

All the resources and materials used to make it new have already been used, and would have to be used again to make another one. Help reduce your carbon footprint, and cut into the corporatists’ profits.

here's what some women down here in Redneck City are doing.

What’s Your Bag?
by Amanda Mayer

In today’s world, life is terribly expensive. Our whole nation is in debt because everyone spends more than they make. Somehow, amidst all of this, my friends and I have devised an easy, effective, green way to keep our kids happy, and our wardrobes up to date.

Kids grow fast, one day they’re a size 2T, and it almost seems like a day later they’re wearing a 5, and they’ve adopted a ‘favorite’ color. At least for that week. The point is their size, styles, and clothes change all the time, and usually it’s not cheap.

My friends and I go through all our closets quite frequently. When we’re tired of wearing the same things or our kids have outgrown their clothes, the things that are in good condition get tossed into a bag and the bag is sent to another friend. Each of us goes through the bags of clothes, takes out what we like or could use, adds things we’ve gotten tired of. Then the bags get closed up and sent onto another friend. This cycle continues until we’ve all gone through the bags. The last one with the bags drops them off at the Goodwill after dropping the kids off at the bus stop or whenever we find time. That way another family can love our once loved things for a tiny fraction of what was originally paid for them. It works out great because not only do clothes get lots of miles on them before they’ve had it, but it also saves money and time. We’re not stuck in hour long lines at the Wal-Mart buying clothes anymore. I’ve had to buy very few things outside of socks, undies, and new shoes for the kids since we started this game of trading around clothes. It’s always new, fun, and a great way to keep costs to a minimum.

Most of us are part of multi-kid families and if we can save money on clothes, it frees up money for things most parents wish they could afford to do for or with their kids. We’re average families with one or two parents and as much income as we can manage.

If you know other parents with younger or older kids than yours, - through your daughter’s daycare, or maybe your son’s 1st grade class - you might give it a try, and soon you’ll see the pennies collecting in your piggy bank.