PPUK drop-in centre?

[Moo]

Well - if you will go and emigrate to forn parts. But you know you'll always be welcome. Just give us a bell first, to make sure we're in and the red carpet's been dusted down.

 

[DaveBrigg]

I thought the name of the city had been changed to Aviva.

 

[biffvernon]

Remember that Saturday the 28th of November is Buy Nothing Day. It's also my birthday

 

[Flyfisher]

While I appreciate the idea behind a 'buy nothing' day, it will have absolutely zero impact if people simply do extra buying the next day. Indeed, I would guess that for a large proportion of the population, weekdays are (more or less) 'buy nothing' days, followed by a shopping binge at the weekend.

More productive (in the intended sense) would be a 'burn a banknote' day. That would really reduce spending, and therefore actual consumption, rather than merely change its temporal distribution.

 

[Flyfisher]

Back on topic (there's a novelty) - Moo, that's a lovely offer although I'm also not a great fan of marathon christmas shopping expeditions. However, if you're open to a more impromptu arrangement I'd love to drop in next time I'm in Naarch.

 

[Feltwell]

Joce - she is a woman of considerable talents :wink: , and even more considerable lists;

Yes, but is one of those lists "Jobs which need to be finished on the house"? :shock:

 

[biffvernon]

While I appreciate the idea behind a 'buy nothing' day, it will have absolutely zero impact if people simply do extra buying the next day.

If you read all the stuff on the website you will see that's not the point

 

[Flyfisher]

Well I read all of the first page, including the bit about trying to change long-term consumption habits, and it seems to me to still boil down to spending less. I'm sure that would be a 'good thing' environmentally but what happens to the money that is saved? Unless it remains unspent it will end up fuelling consumption of something or other.

I admit that my 'burn money' suggestion was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, although it would certainly work, but my real point was that it's about as practical a way of getting people to change their long-term behaviour as a 'buy nothing' day.

 

[biffvernon]

Ask yourself these simple questions:
Do I need it?
How many do I already have?
How much will I use it?
How long will it last?
Could I borrow it from a friend or family member?
Am I able to clean and/or maintain it myself?
Will I be able to repair it?
Am I willing to?
Have I researched it to get the best quality for the best price?
How will I dispose of it when I'm done using it?
Are the resources that went into it renewable or nonrenewable?
Is it made from recycled materials, and is it recyclable?

 

[Moo]

Of course, you could use the Drop-in Centre as a way to hone your no-shopping credentials, Biff.
Simply get on your bicycle, enjoy a bracing run to Norwich, spend a little time meeting and greeting, and use the rest of the day to wander round the shops and Not Buy Anything.

xxx

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

I can't stop these questions though.

1) Is it going to make my life more comfortable and easier, or a richer and more wonderful experience?
2) Is it beautiful enough?
3) Will it put a smile on someone's face?
4) Will it help to make sure that this lovely shop keeps going?
5) Is it good for the economy of my local environment?
6) Is this helping to boost national confidence in the econmomy?
7) How many jobs does this little puchase keep afloat?
8) How many mouths does this help to feed?

 

[Flyfisher]

Ask yourself these simple questions: . . . .

All good questions, but I'd still like to know what people are supposed to do with the money they save by not buying stuff, or buying good quality stuff that lasts a lifetime so they don't need to replace it.

My guess is that they'll spend it on something else . . .

 

[Juju]

When buying stuff, I usually bear in mind similar issues to those raised by Biff and Joce. I know it's become trendy to wear 'vintage' and second-hand now but it's something I've tried to do for a while. To a Christmas party last year, I wore my Mum's 1980s velvet trousers, and used her 1970s handbag and wore my grandmother's 1940s velvet jacket and assorted old bits of family jewellery. I've never had so many compliments! And tomorrow for my Children in Need belly dance performance, I'm wearing a dress from Oxfam, various bits of second-hand jewellery and home-made items. When buying stuff for the house (and having asked ourselves whether we really need it!), we usually look on ebay, Freecycle or local junk stores first. But, like millions of other people, we do have IKEA Billy bookcases too but my partner's uncle is due to make us some homemade reclaimed wooden bookshelves very soon for the ever expanding collection of books (all from charity shops of course!)

 

[biffvernon]

Of course, you could use the Drop-in Centre as a way to hone your no-shopping credentials, Biff.
Simply get on your bicycle, enjoy a bracing run to Norwich, spend a little time meeting and greeting, and use the rest of the day to wander round the shops and Not Buying Anything.
xxx

Now we're on to something.

 

[biffvernon]

5) Is it good for the economy of my local environment?
6) Is this helping to boost national confidence in the econmomy?
7) How many jobs does this little puchase keep afloat?
8) How many mouths does this help to feed?

The trouble with these economy reasons is that we're trading off the 'benefit' of short term economic welfare against long term survival of world cicilization or even the human species.

 

[Moo]

Of course, you could use the Drop-in Centre as a way to hone your no-shopping credentials, Biff.
Simply get on your bicycle, enjoy a bracing run to Norwich, spend a little time meeting and greeting, and use the rest of the day to wander round the shops and Not Buy Anything.
xxx

Now we're on to something.

Sorry, Biff - I just had to change Buying to Buy before I got ticked off by Penners.

 

[Flyfisher]

The trouble with these economy reasons is that we're trading off the 'benefit' of short term economic welfare against long term survival of world cicilization or even the human species.

I entirely agree. So isn't it a bit disingenuous to encourage people to feel good by not buying some unnecessary chattel when the truth of the matter is that we're all the beneficiaries of an oil-fueled boom and it's simply not practical to expect people to voluntarily give up such a high standard of living and return to a pre-industrial economy. And I wonder how the green lobby reconciles something like No Buy Day with the Government/Bank of England's continued pushing of 'quantitative easing' to kick-start the economy?

Meanwhile, the science seems to get worse by the week, with a 6 degrees increase being the latest prediction against the generally held view that just 2 degrees will be a disaster: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/11/world-on-track-to-rise-by-6-de.html

 

[Pford75]

Strikes me that the eco-lobby might have more credibility if they first gave up this evil 'stuff' they keep referring to. Whilst I know that Biff takes lots of steps to minimise his own consumption, I dislike being preached to by latte-quaffing, islington types who themselves consume much more than the national average.

 

[Penners]

I know it's become trendy to wear 'vintage' and second-hand now

At last! I've been putting that into practice for several decades.

Finally I've got a retort for Mrs P when she says, "You're surely not going out looking like THAT?"

 

[Flyfisher]

Old clothes always come back into fashion. Flares were quite the thing, I believe, a few years back and I could have been quite fab had I kept all mine.
Unfortunately, I find that my old clothes seem to suffer from shrinkage as they age. I can't understand it. :wink: