I was looking at second hand books on the web the other day, and was rather astonished by the purchase and handling costs from local suppliers. So I checked out Amazon and found I could buy what I wanted much cheaper from the States - even with the currency conversion and freight costs. And then I got an attack of the guilts about the ethics of carting something around the world just so I can save a few bucks. Doesn't seem right somehow (especially as I am after a couple of Peter Singer's books on Ethics and Globalisation).
Upshot - no books, old or new for me. But on the positive side I am getting more patient and acknowledge that I don't necessarily have to have them Now.
Goodbye instant gratification.
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7 comments:
Have you had a search in the local libraries for the books you are after?
Since becoming a Downshifter last year, I've also become a keen member of a lot of Melbourne's libraries - and saved lots of money in the process!
I also went through our own bookshelves, and started selling books I'd only read once and weren't likely to read again, with the result that the sales paid for our grocery bills for about three months running, and cleared out our house, giving us lots of extra space.
These days, I freecycle what I don't think will sell, or I can't be bothered selling, and sell the rest.
Hmmm...I think I need to do a proper post on the blog about my Downshifting experience!
I have "One World" somewhere, and I reckon it would only be a train ride (low emissions) from Sydney.
Do you want me to see if I can find it?
Mandarina - you may be about to make me a happy woman (always the best sort). If you can find it and bear to part with it I would be happy to pay.
Email me at compactoz.hotmail.com and we can maybe make an arrangement.
Thanks
Alana
Hi Alana. I have a copy of Peter Singer's The Ethics of What We Eat. If it is a title you've been searching for, then I am happy to send it your way - although from north Qld it would probably involve an aeroplane...let me know via bryan@bryan-west.com
Hi,
I've been really inspired by the Compact but can't quite make the commitment to it completely ... instead I'm just taking one new personal and one political step a day - I think Governments like it if people just stay busy being "Green" and leave them to it, but the really big changes have to be political ones as well ... thanks for the inspiration ... I'm using it,
Lis from A Year In A Day, Blackheath
lemme see if I can find it first (could be a few days!).
I second Daharja's suggestion about libraries. I hadn't gone to a public library for years until I had the first of my kids 5 years ago but I now take the kids weekly. Despite being in a small rural town (about 3000 people) I now have free access to the latest editions of many magazines and can get most new books as soon as they arrive in- I'm constantly surprised how many times I've read a review in The Age one week and the next I find the book on the 'New Books' table. Well worth a try!
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