The End of NoBloShoeMo

From 22 pairs of shoes to 12. Not bad.

December Challenge

So tonight when I get home, I'll officially wrap up NoBloShoeMo, and give you an official count of shoes kept and shoes going.

But right now, I want to introduce my challenge for December.

As some of you know, I pretty much live on pre-packaged foods. I'm not much of a cook, which is to say that I can cook, but I don't derive particular enjoyment from cooking, and I don't have a ton of time. I know, excuses, excuses.

But I know that pre-packaged foods are not particularly healthy, and are also definitely not environmentally friendly. So this month, my challenge to myself is:

1. No buying pre-packaged dinners
2. No buying fast food

For one month. So I can either cook, or go to a sit-down restaurant. But I can't order take-out from a sit-down restaurant unless I bring all my own containers.

I'm really excited for this challenge, but also a little scared. This challenge requires a lot of preparation, and it also requires that I remember my lunch every day before work. Luckily for me, I'm doing this particular challenge in December which means that I'll be with family for a chunk of it, and probably have lovely dinners cooked for me!

My only problem is that this challenge doesn't have a snappy name to it. So if anyone wants to come up with one, that would be great. Otherwise, maybe I'll go with DeSloFooMo.

November Wrap Up

Augh. This jet lag thing is killing me. I meant to finish off NoBloShoeMo tonight, but I'm falling asleep as I type, so I promise I'll finish tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I'll introduce my December challenge! I'm very excited about this one, and I swear it won't involve a billion pictures of my shoes!

'Tis The Season To Be Cranky

Humph. I am cranky today. This may be because I have a lingering cold, or it may be because I woke up at 3:30 am today (thanks jet lag!) or it may be because it is only 26 days until Christmas and I am starting to stress out.

The problem is it's all very well to SAY that my non-consumption doesn't apply to gifts, but in practice, I'm finding it hard to go forth and shop. Also, for various reasons I will not go into here, I'm on a tight budget which is further complicating matters.

So then I committed to making some of my gifts, and I feel relatively confident about what I am making and in my ability to make it, except that I'm having some trouble getting all environmentally friendly raw materials. Which means I am probably going to have to settle for some environmentally friendly raw materials, and some ... not. Which is not sitting well with me, but at this point I'm a little at a loss.

And then I keep going round and round in my head about Christmas decor. I love Christmas trees, and I've had one for the past few years now, and would love to get one again this year. But it seems a little wasteful, especially since I'm going to be at my uncle and aunt's for Christmas itself, and they will definitely have a tree at their home.

Sigh. As a wise frog once said, it's not easy being green.

Freeze Yer Buns- Part III

It's almost the end of the month, so I thought I'd give you a little update about this. So far, so good. I haven't turned my heat on in my apartment at all. It's a huge psychological help that the heat doesn't work too well, so I know that even if I turned it on, it would be forever before the apartment warmed up, and I'm better off just putting on a fleece and wrapping myself in a blanket.

Of course it's not even winter yet, so the true test is yet to come.

The Rules

Yesterday, Amelia asked me in the comments what exactly I was and was not consuming.

Since I've been making up my rules the best way I see fit, I figured it was worth clarifying what I can and cannot do. While I looked to The Compact and Colin at No Impact Man for inspiration, my rules are slightly different.

1. I cannot buy any new durable goods.
2. I cannot buy any clothes. Period. This does not include shoes.
3. I can continue to use non-durable products I already own, but once I run out, I need to find the most environmentally friendly replacement.
4. I can spend money on experiences- concerts, plays, museums, etc.
5. Presents are exempted from my ban on new goods, but I try and make a good faith effort to buy something either from a small independent artist or producer, or to buy my friends experiences.

That's pretty much it.

To Consume or Not to Consume

So I had decided long, long ago that my trip to Egypt would be my one exception to my non-consumption this year because going to Egypt is a once in a lifetime experience and anyway, I rationalized to myself that by buying in Egypt, I'd be supporting a third world economy.

But I wasn't entirely prepared for the confluence of emotions that hit me as I prepared to shop- there was a pent-up desire to shop, there was relief that if I needed/wanted something I could just get it without having to jump through a myriad of Ebay or Amazon marketplace hoops, and there was lots and lots of guilt.

Even though I had told myself Egypt was an exception, it was hard for me to buy without feeling like I was cheating on my non-consumerist vows.

As a result, I ended up buying a lot less for myself than I usually do when I go on trips which is good. Mostly I bought gifts for friends, so now almost all of my Christmas gifts are taken care of, so that's somewhat of a relief.

I still have a few more Christmas gifts left though, which is another struggle. I also decided that when I became a non-consumer that gifts would be exempted. Mostly because I didn't want my friends and family to hate me. BUT, I still feel weird about buying gifts. I'd rather buy experiences- tickets to plays or concerts or museums, but experiences can be kind of expensive so I'm not sure if that's going to work out. Any ideas for inexpensive experiential gifts would be much appreciated.