We tried to purchase nothing new all January. Right here’s how we received on

January was Purchase Nothing New Month – a brand new exercise so as to add to the lengthy, darkish first month of the yr. Established by Preserve Britain Tidy, its goals are easy sufficient: get monetary savings, embrace a brand new passion (that isn’t procuring) and, after all, reside extra sustainably, creating much less waste.

Though the pondering behind Purchase Nothing New Month is commendable, it does have a knock-on impact for small unbiased companies that depend on year-round money circulate.

“Whereas a no-spend mindset can actually assist the family funds by stopping meaningless spending with giant companies, we ought to be embracing a ‘assume the place you spend’ tradition,” says Gemma Crawley-Roberts, proprietor of The Arc, an unbiased store in Bedford.

“Native indies like us rent native folks and supply an actual sense of group on the excessive avenue. We’re immediately reactive to buyer wants and work tirelessly all yr spherical to ensure we provide an expertise you’ll love. Each penny spent with us goes straight again into your native economic system. Supporting native has far reaching advantages that may be immediately felt.” she says.

Purchase Nothing New Month (BNNM?) would possibly want a snappier title if it’s actually going to lodge itself within the public consciousness, however we requested three Optimistic Information staffers to present it a go. Right here is how they received on.

Tom Pattinson

January is already miserable sufficient, however I made a decision to totally lean in. I took on the triple problem of Dry January, Purchase Nothing New Month and Birchall’s Inexperienced Tea Problem.

Dry January, surprisingly, was the simplest of the lot. With little or no truly taking place in January – few occasions, a near-empty social calendar and a busy work schedule – meant I barely left the home. Temptation was minimal. 

Whereas I did have the odd espresso, I made inexperienced tea my default drink as a part of Birchall’s Inexperienced Tea Problem, changing my commonplace builder’s tea with one thing I take pleasure in anyway. The mixed impact of no booze and detoxifying inexperienced tea left me feeling unexpectedly sprightly, and I’m pretty positive my liver seen too. I additionally assume I shed just a few kilos, although the fitness center and I nonetheless want re-aquainting. 

After the same old Christmas splurge – youngsters’ toys, new socks and a shocking number of cleaning soap – I didn’t really feel an enormous urge to buy a lot in January. Except for the permitted meals store, I did fairly properly for Purchase Nothing New Month. I did have to purchase a carbon monoxide monitor after sturdy options from the person who surveyed the boiler, and there was additionally a lunch with a colleague however that’s nonetheless meals proper?  

I now carry a refillable espresso (or inexperienced tea) cup and a water bottle all over the place, which has turn into a part of my leaving-the-house guidelines – keys, cellphone, bottle. Takeaway coffees had been changed with bring-your-own teas, and I seen my month-to-month bank card invoice was additionally properly slimmer than it’s on a standard month.

My solely actual crack got here simply earlier than the top of the month, after I was strong-armed by my four-year-old into shopping for a youngsters’ journal, sadly loaded with plastic tat, following a very uncomfortable go to to the opticians. I blame the emotional vulnerability however total discovered all of it surprisingly much less painful than I anticipated. 

Angela Garwood 

Full disclosure: I failed at Purchase Nothing New Month. Fairly abysmally, truly.

From the outset, a no-buy January was at all times going to be a tall order. I agreed to participate pondering it is likely to be fairly enjoyable – I like a problem – earlier than placing a psychological pin in it and forgetting all about mentioned pin. For many of January, it moderately slipped my thoughts. I’d failed earlier than I’d even begun, largely because of forgetfulness, or probably quiet unconscious self-sabotage. I write the whole lot down, meticulously, so a part of me wonders whether or not I prevented doing so on this event as a result of, on some degree, I knew I didn’t actually wish to participate.

No pointless purchases? Nothing new? In January? May now we have picked a much less acceptable time to disclaim a girl of her proper to… pleasure? “No-joy January,” I muttered quietly to myself as the concept was first mentioned. Shopping for issues is enjoyable; January is miserable. The previous serves as an antidote to the latter. 

That mentioned, I used to be curious. May I do my bit for the setting? Maybe I may search pleasure elsewhere? Go on extra walks, delve into the books I’d already gathered… and what number of cleansers does one particular person actually need? (4.) These ideas proved fleeting. 

Quickly sufficient, there was the beautiful bedding I “desperately wanted” (a bobbled quilt and mis-matched pillow state of affairs; a tragic state of affairs that wanted rectifying), the skincare that I’d argue was virtually medicinal; dry pores and skin is an ailment in any case, and the attractive cardigan that was (supposedly) important, all within the sale, after all. Then there have been the lattés I may have skipped… however didn’t.

Opposite to my declaration of full failure, I did have many profitable days the place I didn’t purchase something in any respect, although largely by default versus restraint. Whereas I’m dissatisfied in my efforts, I’ve determined that if I’m going to do that correctly, I want accountability; a like-minded buddy to undergo it with, somebody who understands the attract of an enormous SALE signal. 

It’s, after all, an endeavour I’d encourage, an vital marketing campaign that fosters mindfulness, challenges our buying habits, and asks us to think about the environmental impression of what we purchase and the way we purchase it. It prompts many questions. 

What would possibly change if extra of us embraced second-hand clothes or just purchased much less, extra thoughtfully? Campaigns like this get folks pondering; and that may solely be a superb factor.

I simply ask that maybe we attempt “no-buy July” subsequent time. It’s a much more forgiving month, season/weather-wise, for these up for the problem. And it rhymes. 

Gavin Haines

Look, I failed spectacularly. To be trustworthy, one thing about Purchase Nothing New Month didn’t sit fairly proper with me, regardless of its good intentions. Collective acts of abstinence – not least Dry Jan – foment a insurrection inside. So it was apt that I flunked on New Yr’s Day with a pint of Guinness and packet of crisps in my native pub, which, frankly, wanted the customized via January. 

Pub visits apart, I did commendably for the remainder of the month with out actually making an attempt. My looming tax invoice and empty checking account had been motivating components for my miserliness. However to be trustworthy, Purchase Nothing New Month felt like most months. I realised that I don’t typically purchase a lot stuff, and what I do purchase is often secondhand. Classic retailers, charity retailers and reclamation yards are my stomping grounds. That’s partly out of concern for the planet and my funds, but additionally as a result of scouring these treasure troves is extra enjoyable than stomping round identikit excessive avenue retailers.

The one model new factor that I did purchase was value breaking the regulation for. Having left my ebook on a bus in Amsterdam, I wanted a substitute for an extended prepare journey, so I purchased a duplicate of Till August – Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s closing novel – in Centraal Station. It was so good that I learn it once more on the best way again. 

The opposite non-essentials that I bought had been a pre-loved t-shirt (sourced from a kilo store in Groningen), a Van Gogh calendar (closely discounted in my native charity store), and a Victorian hearth (sourced on eBay for a discount value). 

Purchase Nothing New Month has a worthy mission in difficult rampant consumerism, albeit one that might impression small companies at a time after they want assist. The true problem, nonetheless, is discovering contentment with much less for the remainder of the yr, and making certain that the cash we do spend goes to companies that align with our values.