Today, I also came across a blog post by Sara at her Walk Slowly, Live Wildly blog. She has been living “the Compact” way since October 2006.

“The Compact” was originally a group of 10 individuals in San Francisco, who pledged not to buy anything new for an entire year. The only new products allowed are food and bare necessities for health and safety — things like toilet paper, brake fluid & underwear. Today, it has grown into an international trend that attracts follower from Bucharest to Taipei.

The Good Magazine has a pretty in depth article about them. You can join the group through their, The Compact Yahoo Group, page and see what they are up to, or visit their blog for other interesting posts.

I am truly interested in this lifestyle. Even though the pledge was to do this for one year, most people who have done it, made it a permanent part of their life. They don’t do this just for the environment, but also a way to improve the quality of life, by learning not to make impulse purchases and reuse what you have or make your own from what you already have.

Jeremy and I do spoil ourselves with new things, and that will need to change with our full time RV lifestyle. We have certainly reduced our belongings to the minimum and wish to not have to purchase anything new unless absolutely necessary.

“The Compact” seems to be a good place to start. The way we consume is not only hard on the environment, but I think it is getting hard on our spiritual selves too. The need to buy the latest and have the best seems to be embedded in the younger generation and that is just going to make things worse.

I can’t say that I will be able to stick with the 365 days of not buying anything new. But I sure will keep that in mind whenever I am in the store.