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Wednesday 2 November 2011

Inspired to consumed!

With a difference

After attending Juliet Schor’s talk on connected consumption I started thinking about how much I consume. In 2007 the average American shopped for 67 items of clothing, today I am not sure but am looking for the number and will get back to you but I am sure it has increased tremendously! Now that seems like a  lot to me and I am sure I don’t buy that much (I am not American but I’m guessing that Europe is not far behind). So I decided to put it to the test- to keep track of how many items of clothing I consume in a year, to be more specific I will categorise it into new, secondhand, sustainable and ethical- now I am sure that there will be some crossover there and where do you raw the line?

And hey if I’m doing that I might as well keep track of everything I buy? And how much I spend on it. Yes everything… food, going out, books, toothpaste, fabric – EVERYTHING.

Now I understand this is going to be a massive challenge and I’m not going to count all the pennies so there will be a little rounding up. I am almost a month in and its not going too bad – although I have spent a lot of eating out – but maybe that’s just because I am in New York. That will be interesting to compare New York to London. And of course this will not be 100% accurate- there will be things that I forget and what about things I consume that I get for free? Or get bought? Then there is the question of what am I throwing away (thanks Josie!). Maybe next year I will get into that, if I even make it through this year. But I am hoping keeping track will make me more aware and it will be interesting to see where I am spending my money. I will keep you updated!

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