The Lazy Environmentalist – Don’t Buy Stuff You Don’t Need

As we wander the globe, we carry all of our possessions from place to place. Onto a bus; walking to a hostel; onto and off of planes. Day in and day out. It’s a lifestyle that clashes with the goal of being lazy, yes; many apologies for the blatant hypocrisy. But it does encourage us to lug our stuff in the laziest way possible! We aim low by owning little. Schlepping around more than three pairs of socks would smack of effort. 

Interestingly, all this stuff-lugging has made us aware of what we buy. Plunking down cash for extra doo-dads and whats-its has a cost. And it’s not just the money paid upfront—often, that is the least of what we spend to possess things.

Stuff has a storage cost. Confessedly, this might be less if you have a permanent address, as houses tend to be more spacious than backpacks. We keep buying bags and zippered pouches and waterproof sacks to find the perfect way to store our stuff, and we used to buy houses to do the same. Storage is not infinite, whereas the desire to accumulate possessions seems to be so. 

Stuff has an environmental cost. Everything we own had to be made, transported, and someday will have to be disposed of—even if we pretend otherwise. We don’t feel this cost when we buy things, but the bill adds up, and someday we will all have to pay it.

Stuff has a mental cost. You have to keep track of the things you own, or they stop being useful. Have you ever found something you didn’t remember you owned? Or bought a duplicate because you forgot you owned something? Yeah, me too.

So am I suggesting that we should never buy anything ever again? Of course not. But next time we are seduced by the desire to own that shiny new thing on the shelf, I think we should ask ourselves:

• Where will I store this? Will I be able to find it when I want it?
• What is the environmental cost of this item? Can I buy it secondhand or borrow it from a friend instead?
• Do I already own something else I could use instead?

If you get past all of those questions, consider pausing. Maybe buy it tomorrow instead of today. Perhaps then it won’t seem quite so shiny (I can almost guarantee it won’t seem so shiny tomorrow). But if it does, go ahead and buy it. The Lazy Environmentalist never recommends depriving yourself, but just being sure before bringing one more thingamabob into this world.

And every time you resist buying something, be happy and proud. You’re helping to save the planet, your finances, and probably a little bit of your sanity. And you accomplished all of that by doing nothing. Nice and lazy.

Other questions to consider:

• Where was it made? Where is it shipping from? Can I find something more local?
• How is it packaged? Is there an alternative with less waste?
• Can I buy it used instead? Can I make it myself?
• Do I need it at all?
• Should I just sit back and drink a domestic beer instead?