Matt Pritchard

Compactors Eschew New Things

// December 19th, 2006 // Article

Nothing New Here — And That’s the Point

Authors: William Booth

Journal: Washington Post

Publish Date: December 18, 2006

My friend Laura Gillaspy just sent me a wonderful article from the Washington Post. I’ve heard of folks doing this before.

For those who don’t want to read the article, I’ll give you the gist. There’s a green-minded group of people in San Francisco who, last year, made a vow not to buy any new things for a year (save for a few essentials).

I think it would be fun and hard. How do you move away from legalism too? I think it’s hilarious how people are militantly opposed to what these folks are doing, which honestly makes me want to do it even more.

I’m not a green by any stretch, though it’s something I should probably think about more. However, I am a strong proponent of using God’s resources well–most specifically money and time, so giving up new items for a time period is something I’d be very interested in doing. It’s not something that I think should be imposed on people, but certainly a good option for Christians. Similarly, I like the timeframe aspect–it’s sort of akin to a nazerite or lentin vow. Also, many of you know I have a book problem and as of late new books have been cheaper than used, I think that means no books.

Still a lot of details to figure out, but anyone in with me?