(My) Rampant Consumerism
I’ve been stewing on this all day, thinking, weighing the benefits against the costs, and I’ve come to a decision. Each day, for the next year (give or take) I will, at the end of each blog post, include a little running tally of what I have consumed that day. The list will include three categories – miles driven, types of food eaten (i.e. veggies, fruits, breads, and animal products), and the things I have bought. In this way, I hope to both provide myself with a record of my habits but also encourage myself (and maybe some others) to curb my consumerist habits.
I simply need to cut back, and the more I think about the things that I struggle with – my dietary choices, my clothing choices, my entertainment choices, my spending choices – I find that many of them would be greatly simplified if I just consumed less. I could save money by eating less in general and by eating more healthily, by reading more often and using the library for “supplies,” by eating less I will probably lose weight and, thus, have less need for new clothes to fit my growing body, etc. All in all, less consumption seems the simplest answer.
Yet, I balk, not because it’s complicated or really that shocking an idea. Really, it’s a no-brainer. But I hesitate because I know it’s going to be hard. Just today, I could have paid to “rent” a movie from the library. Given, that choice is cheaper than Blockbuster or even Redbox, but the fact is that I have Netflix and a player that streams movies to my TV – therefore, I don’t need more options. I have too many as it is. Earlier, as I sat in my office hour, I thought about getting a soda for a couple of bucks, but I knew that I would a)either drink a ton of sugar or b)ingest chemicals in a diet drink, and either way, I’d be spending $1.69 that I could donate to people who don’t even have choices such as these to drink. In the end, I came home movieless and drank the water that I had brought in my reusable water bottle. Better choices all around.
I suspect the mileage issue will be hardest because I drive some distance to work and because Dave lives an hour away, but here I will curb too. I can walk to the store and to drop off my rent. Maybe I can even figure out how to take the train to Dave’s house.
This is a step that must be taken, and perhaps the shame, or maybe I should more healthily call it “accountability,” of having to post my consumption each day will hopefully be just the reminder that I need to take in less. Wish me luck.
Today’s figures – 96 Miles, $0, vegetables, cereal, crackers, bread, plum butter, homemade biscuits, homemade tapioca.
