Appreciate your wares with Buy Nothing New Month
For most fashionable gals, a wardrobe bursting at the seams isn’t a foreign notion. Luckily, the month of October is a chance for you to give your widening wardrobe – as well as your pockets – a break, with Buy Nothing New Month.
The initiative is self-explanatory – it is an attempt to reduce waste and thoughtless consumption when it comes to clothing. Born in Melbourne, the idea has since spread around the globe with strong followings in The Netherlands and United States.
The challenge is simple: to buy nothing new for the entire month of October. There are, of course, exceptions to the essentials of food, hygiene products and medication, referring instead to any kind of decorative accoutrement. Buy Nothing New Month was not created to enforce individual sacrifices, but rather to not indulge that little voice inside your head that says, ‘I want it’.
Get your clothing fix instead from swapping amongst your friends and family, or giving your old things a bit of a revamp with needle and thread. The initiative’s website also makes a number of suggestions to help you get through – try keeping a spending diary and repair everything that’s broken and lying lonely in the back corner of your wardrobe.