This has been bothering me for some time. There is a guy who stands outside the supermarket I got to selling the Big Issue. I think the BI is both a good publication and a fantastic initiative, and like everybody who sells the magazine this guy could obviously do with some more trade.
But I don't buy it because, well, I'm compacting and I am trying REALLY hard not to buy things. But funnily enough in this instance it is not making me feel so good.
To buy - or not to buy?
5 comments:
You could always give him the money but not take the magazine...
I have thought of that - but think it defeats the purpose of what they are trying to do.
This is essentially why I can't get my head around compacting as a concept.
I'm all for buying hardly any stuff. But then it comes to things like the Big Issue, or to buying some Fair Trade silk, like I did last week, or buying something that supports a local artist or designer, for a gift for example, and then I'm torn.
I think there is good buying and then there is bad buying - so rather than compacting I try to only do good buying!
Perhaps you could buy it on behalf of your local library, or a local high school library? And they might let you have first read!!
I actually DO buy the big issue from my vendor. He's a lovely bloke that obviously has some slight mental illness, and the huge smile, small chat I have with him coupled with the fact that he is doing his absolute best to get himself out of the loop, make the $5 I give him (It's a $4 cover price - $2 goes to the vendor, but I always give an extra $1) makes me think that the purchase is necessary.
ALSO, last week's issue had a fantastic article on conscious consumption. The brand vs earth philospophy, everything that compacting is trying to achieve.
Three months ago it also had a stort on I-pods and the fact that the factory that makes them in China pays their staff slave labour wages and it runs 24/7. I would never buy one after reading this article, and I applaud the magazine for running the story.
I also bring the magazine to work so everyone here can read it. Then I leave it downstairs in my local cafe.
I think it's content can often run parallel to the compact philosophy. I am happy with my decision and feel that it enhances my compacting lifestyle.
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