Green Living

Frugalista: The ‘buy’ word for sustainable consumption

A finalist for “word of the year” by New Oxford American Dictionary, frugalista defines a person who spends conservatively but “stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying second-hand, growing own produce, etc.” I’m an aspiring frugalista — just haven’t gotten the “stays fashionable” part down yet.

And what does being frugal have to do with sustainable living? All that stuff we buy requires fossil-fuel-powered energy to manufacture it, ship it, store it, sell it, use it, and throw it away. Behind every new possession — from designer dress to electric toothbrush — is a cadre of increasingly endangered resources.

Economic meltdown aside, this hyper-consumption doesn’t bode well for the environment. Continuing at current levels, we’d need 1.25 planet Earths to sustain ourselves. And if the whole world consumed as much as the United States? We’d need six planets.

Let’s face it: We’ll always want and even need stuff. But curtailing our irrationally exuberant acquisition helps reduce the impact on the environment.
What you can do:

• Follow a fix-first, replace-last philosophy. (For ingenious ideas on resurrecting out-of-date fashions, read Reconstructing Clothes For Dummies.)
• Shop used. Consignment shops, garage sales, thrift stores, and online services such as Craig’s List offer great deals.
• Patronize the public library. Reference books are important to own. But do you really need to own that bestselling mystery?
• Choose quality over price. One vacuum cleaner may cost half as much as another, but if you have to replace it twice as often, where’s the savings?
• Read Frugal Living For Dummies for more ideas.

consumerism, energy, waste

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