As people's living standards grow higher and higher in recent years, buying has become an integral part of people's lives. Especially for many female consumers, shoes are never enough, lipstick is too much to draw, and wardrobe is always short of clothes. And major businesses have also looked at opportunities and made great efforts. Not only do they often use promotions such as "ultra-low discounts", "time-bound special sales," buy one get one free "and other promotional means to seduce you, but they also create countless" shopping festivals, " It makes you feel sorry if you don't mince your hands, but you don't enjoy your life without chopping your hands.
These days, however, a group of "weirdos" have been discovered. For a whole year, they didn't buy anything except the necessary food, groceries, consumables (such as gasoline)! You must think this is a fantasy, how can you live without buying things? But in fact, these people are not a minority, they live in Australia, up to 50,000 people! They not only live, but also live very happy!
Today, this group of Australians were reported by ABC News as headlines, and their real life was absolutely unexpected to you.
What happens if we don't buy anything for a year? This group of Australians who decided not to buy was actually ordinary people like you and me a year ago. They should eat, drink, buy, and buy. They never thought about giving up "shopping."
Until one day, a young man living in Western Australia named David Klein, life suddenly appeared a little bit of a change. However, even this small incident, not only completely change his life, but also the whole of Western Australia, a huge change!
Here's the thing.
When David was at work that day, he suddenly received a text message from the landlord saying that he had to move within a month because of something urgent. According to the contract, David could have stayed for another year, but now he has to give time to move.
But this is the move, let him find something terrible! After packing up his belongings, he didn't expect anything to happen-he thought he wouldn't have a lot of luggage for a boy, but the reality was that he had three cases of clothes and shoes alone!
Then when he opened the boxes doubtfully, he was deeply shocked: there were a lot of clothes inside, which he had bought when he thought they were cheap or on sale, and some clothes and shoes he didn't wear at all. Just leave it at home to eat ash. And other things he often wear, even if he wears them every day, a year is more than enough to wear them.
At the same time, he also found that in addition to clothes, he also bought a lot of unnecessary, or rarely used gadgets, electronics and home furnishings and so on.
What was bought in the first place, now for him to move, is a burden, is a complete waste.
It was hard to sort out all this extra stuff, and after moving home, David went through the pain and looked back on what had gone wrong with his life habits.
Before he thought life was "the more the better," he fell into endless shopping.
Now, he began to reflect on what value the cheap or impulsive purchases could bring to his life. Eventually, he decided to pay more attention to the experience of life than to material enjoyment.
So what should we do? He began to subtract from his life.
He posted his ideas and plans online so that all his friends and friends could see them, and he would have to carry them out.
The plan was called "Buy Nothing" for a year, during which he had to buy nothing but food and daily necessities.
When something is broken, it will be repaired. Unless the repair is more expensive than the new one. If there is any additional demand, first see if your friends and relatives have idle or second-hand items.
If you need to give a gift, you can't spend money on it. You can choose another way. For example, eating out, going to the botanical garden or visiting relatives and friends, these "experience" gifts allow him to make more connections with relatives and friends and create a lot of good memories.
Then, David's challenge officially began.
The challenge caused a stir in Western Australia.
At first, when David wrote a social networking site's plan not to buy anything for the next year, there was a lot of opposition and criticism, but his friends and family were very supportive and curious.
Everyone thinks that David is going to live the life of a ascetic monk, not to mention a year, maybe not even a week.
But what happened next surprised everyone. In the first month, David, who only bought basic items such as food and household necessities, found the challenge really difficult.
But after a few weeks, he began to experience the life of a new feeling and experience, his shopping style has undergone a radical change.
"now, before every purchase, I think about the real reason behind this purchase," he wrote on the social networking site. It makes me more purposeful, it also gives me less stress, less travel, and less anxiety. After all, when you get rid of all sorts of things in your life, your goals will be much clearer. "
At the same time, David also discarded, sent, sold or donated items that were not used in the home for more than a year. Such as magazines, books, clothes no longer worn, gifts or ornaments received earlier. And people who receive donations will tell David, that there are also a lot of idle items, if needed, to pick up at any time.
In this way, David's life doesn't get worse because it doesn't buy things, it's getting better and better!
What he didn't expect was that, as the challenge went on, not only did he have his own good friends, the challenge of joining the "Buy Nothing", but also more people who had never known each other, wrote messages on his social platform and praised this unprecedented way of life. And said he wanted to try!
Some of these people are housewives, some are single white-collar workers, and there are many people who want to take part in this challenge!
Across Western Australia, people created groups on Facebook, invited their friends and family to take part in the challenge, and even David was surprised by his influence. Since he was alone at first, now he has grown to more than 110 different groups, and more than 50,000 people have participated in the project!
The whole of Western Australia is also caught in a "don't buy" craze!
Soon, the more magical phenomenon also appeared.
Before that, millions of things were discarded each year in Western Australia, and many of them were brand new, or could continue to be used, which was a huge waste to society.
Now, since 50, 000 people each have innumerable idle, or completely useless things, people say in the group, that's a lot of responses, from cars, pianos, small to glass bottles and a plant. Can be given or exchanged.
In just a few weeks, there are already 25000 idle or unused items, under the exchange of people or gifts, re-radiate the second spring!
Shakespeare once said, "simplicity is the soul of wisdom, and complexity is shallow algae."
The world is huge, complicated, life is faced with different challenges every day, perhaps the most difficult is to simplify the, Keep it simple.
However, the 50,000 Australians, with their actions, tell us that as long as we take the first step and "do not buy things", it is not as difficult as we think! And their stories, which were reported by ABC, also prompted a lot of people to think further: before they did the "don't buy" challenge, they used to have the same impulse as ordinary people to buy clothes that they didn't wear. Shoes or things that are rarely used, and the consequences of doing so, are rarely contemplated.
Impulse consumption brings great waste
Impulsive consumption will bring a great waste of social resources, but also will have a devastating impact on our environment.
In this "do not buy" challenge, many girls to curb their shopping desire, choose the way to exchange clothes.
A few girls come together, each bringing their own clothes that they don't wear, we pick each other and donate the rest, but finally we find that, even so, the amount of the remaining clothes is still very amazing!
And most of these clothes are fast fashion brands such as Ham M or Forever21.
Such a scene is repeated in this "do not buy" operation, people are also gradually aware of the seriousness of waste.
Ham, Zara, GAP. These fast fashion brands are fully styled, updated quickly and discounted frequently, so they are loved by foreign and domestic girls, but they also cause extreme waste and pollution.
Some time ago, there was a news story that Ham burned up a lot of his stock of clothes.
When burning clothing, large amounts of toxic gases from dyes and other materials directly pollute the atmosphere. It not only pollutes water, but also causes air pollution.
Producing a pair of jeans requires 3.625 litres of water, 400 megabytes of energy, 3 kilograms of chemicals, and every kilogram of denim produces an average of 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases.
Therefore, the idea that people "cost less than a pity" fits with the pursuit of the brand, the brand has repeatedly accelerated the production speed to meet people's expectations, but caused a huge burden to the environment.
"We don't really need that much clothing at all," the "no-buy" girls said in an interview. "I just thought I needed it."
And they also offer their own advice to future generations:
1. Clothes can be exchanged between relatives and friends;
2. Attend a local dressing party;
3. Visit the second-hand shop more;
4. Write down what you want to buy and put it aside for a while;
5. Say no to the fashion trend of excessive consumption;
6. Do some research to find out what kind of business is supported by the money spent;
7. Don't go to shopping malls.
The source of happiness and happiness is not buying
The no-buy challenge from Australia soon became popular around the world, but it also received a lot of criticism.
Many people think that "do not buy things" is to restrain or prohibit their material desire, what is the meaning of such a life, what is the point of making money?
However, in fact, the challenge of "not buying things" is essentially a "minimalist" (minimalist lifestyle) lifestyle. It is not anti-human asceticism, but liberates us from all kinds of external material oppression. And live a better, more comfortable life.
Nowadays, due to the rapid development of science and technology and productivity, people can easily obtain a large amount of material, but they have a lot of things, but they do not feel that they should be satisfied, because human desires are infinite. Excessive pursuit of material, on the contrary, will lead to deeper and deeper, eventually enslaved by material, spend a lot of time, energy and money, but ultimately unhappy.
It is precisely because of this that David's "no-buy" challenge alone will quickly sweep across Western Australia, and more individuals and families realize that simply buying and owning more things does not bring more happiness to life. On the contrary, it means heavier burden and pressure.
The minimalist "do not buy" lifestyle has enabled them to change their life values, stay away from excess consumerism, and become more intimate with their family and friends, and have even saved up a lot of money since then.
Today they still think twice about shopping for what they really need!
The challenge of "not buying things" for these 50,000 Australians continues, and they are not only satisfied with "material minimalism," they are beginning to pay more attention to "spiritual minimalism," for example, to understand their true desires, not to be influenced by external trends, and not to follow blindly. Don't follow the wind. Focus all your energy on the right, effective desires, such as health, family care, caring for friends, etc.
Learn, choose, and focus on 3 mental activities that you really want to engage in, such as drawing, fishing, dancing, etc. Then fully learn, improve skills, do not blindly waste their time and energy.
Another example is to streamline the source of information input, reduce the use of social networks, instant messaging. Regular away from the Internet, away from mobile phones, avoid information harassment. Don't pay attention to entertainment, social news, etc.
We always feel that the source of happiness and happiness comes from buying, from all kinds of consumption and shopping, that we always focus too much on shopping, and that we rely excessively on "brand names" and "prices" to preach happiness. Fall into the idea of "more is good". But in fact, the essence of life is not possession, sometimes, the more they possess, the less they have.
Giving up the meaningless things, paying more attention to the life itself and paying more attention to the people around us who have special meaning to us, is the source of our pursuit of spiritual freedom and happiness.