Waste Watchers

    Many Americans vow to lose weight and live healthier during the New Year. I am among them- but I don’t want to limit the definition of “living healthier” just to the five food groups and some exercise. I want to take care of my mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well. A friend of mine has put herself on 2 “diets” this year. One is for her weight- the other has to do with her consumption habits. I have to say it is an interesting way at looking at cutting back on needless shopping, and I’m proud of her for doing it.

I usually think of myself as being a conscientious consumer. I live within my financial means and try not to buy things I don’t really need. My clothes come from both mainstream and alternative sources (like consignment shops, vintage boutiques, and good will) and I have nothing against buying used goods. Something happens to me every year around the holidays however; the deals just seem too good to ignore, and the bargain hunter in me takes over. It starts with finding deals on gifts for friends and family and slowly turns into snatching up “great finds” for myself. While the tightwad in me won’t let me go overboard in terms of dollars spent, the time and energy that goes into getting things that in all reality I could probably do without- or with much less of- is off the charts.

And so, just like my resolution to stick to healthy portions at meal time, I’m going to re-commit myself to observing healthy portions when it comes to consuming everything.

I interrupt the writing of my final papers for this brief message:

While procrastinating this afternoon I found a link for catalogchoice.org over at Unclutterer.  I don’t get many catalogs or magazines usually, but during the holiday season they seem to take over my home. They go straight into the recycling bin, do not pass go, do not collect $200.  Still, the simple fact that they were produced and shipped to me is something I can stop. Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decline your catalogs AND provides a place for you to register infractions. While it does take about 10 weeks for them to stem the tide of mail order mayhem, should any one dare to send you another catalog after you decline it you can have Catalog Choice complain on your behalf.  And don’t worry, if you decide that you were mistaken and you really do like having your house filled with useless catalogs (well not totally useless, I use two large ones as forms for my favorite tall boots) you can always remove your declination from the site.

I kant stop laughing at this ad

I found this on crooked timber, which I found on Blue Monster’s blog roll, who I found on Becoming Doctor Warner.