Posted on 12/27/2006 7:56:23 AM PST by SmithL
John Perry's worst temptation was a plumber's snake for his clogged drain.
Sarah Pelmas and Matt Eddy succumbed to the siren song of new white paint.
But aside from the occasional hardware crises, the Compact -- an ever-growing group who have vowed not to buy anything new except food, medicine and underwear -- is going strong on its first anniversary.
The Compact originated in December 2005 at a San Francisco dinner party, where guests decided to take recycling one step further and go for a year without new purchases. Consumerism, they said, is destroying the world and most of us already own far more than we need.
They called themselves the Compact as a semi-joking reference to the solemn commitment of the Mayflower pilgrims, but the concept is being taken quite seriously and has quickly spread.
They've been featured in newspapers across the United States and Europe and on the "Today" show, "Good Morning America," "CBS Evening News," TV news in China and Poland, and countless shock-jock radio programs. They were offered book contracts and at least two TV reality shows, all of which they turned down because it seemed contrary to the Compact principles.
Almost 3,000 people from six continents have joined the Compact group on Yahoo, and chapters have sprung up around the globe from Alabama to New Zealand.
"It's been staggering," said Compact co-founder John Perry, who works in communications at a Silicon Valley technology company. "We never set out to start a movement or be holier-than-thou models of righteous behavior, but it's been very gratifying to see the impact."
There's also been a mild backlash.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
CA - The Trail Mix State, a land of fruits, flakes, and nuts.
If California ever wants to break away from the Republic, I'm not fighting in any civil war to keep it.
"They've been featured in newspapers across the United States and Europe and on the "Today" show, "Good Morning America," "CBS Evening News," TV news in China and Poland, and countless shock-jock radio programs."
Hmm. Not sure whose the nuttiest. The guests or the hosts.
San Francisco: Where the people are vegetables during the day and turn into fruits at night.
"I'm not fighting in any civil war to keep it."
I will turn up a few beers, though. ;)
This group clearly illustrates that it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to become a total idiot. It hope this does "catch on." It will drive down the prices for the normal people who continue to buy these things.
I wonder how many jobs they are eliminating.
I don't have a problem with this. They are not asking for a govt handout, they are probably saving money a greater rate than normal, they aren't asking other people to pay their bills.....
Do they not teach economics in school any more?
Presumably not a maker of food, medicine, and underwear: so they’re also torturing poor Mother Gaia.
"I don't have a problem with this."
Neither do I. The more you have, the more you have to clean. :)
I went a couple of years without buying anything new except food, medicine and underwear (OK maybe a few things but not much), I called it being poor. Silly me, I should have thought of the fake political statement thing and gone to the press, maybe I could have stopped being poor sooner, and done so without having to learn any marketable skills.
"If California ever wants to break away from the Republic, I'm not fighting in any civil war to keep it."
How about we make Mexico take it back? Get rid of Hollywood, Pelosi, Feinstein, and let the Mexicans run it into the ground in 3 years!
Pffft....I can go a lot longer than one year without buying underwear.
So, how many of them work for companies that sell products?
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