Complete the "Consumer Audit" sheet posted on Blackboard by listing the rationale and details for anything you buy or throw away this Saturday and Sunday. Then give a short response to the following questions here on the Blog! If you want, you can add an image or something too.
Were there any patterns that you noticed in your purchasing and waste habits? Did intentionally monitoring yourself make a difference in your habits? Did anything you threw away actually hold meaning at one time?
Consuming: Well my Saturday has commenced, the consumer side of it at least. Patterns?????? Well the only pattern I found was that things needed fueling throughout the day: my car, and my body. I left the house around noon, heading Southwest to Lewisburg for a little vintage item searching. The Street of Shops seemed a likely candidate for an antique dresser for my daughter--it seems that this is the only thing that will suffice for my fiance. She wants the full mirror that spins and at least 4 drawers. The works!!!! Anyway, it was soon after leaving that the gas light came on in both the car and my stomach. After filling both of them up I found myself in Lewisburg with a hyperactive 3 year old and a 3-months pregnant female. The only thing purchased was two Reese's peanut butter cups for me. I'm a sucker for them. While walking through the place they turned the lights off on us and began locking up (it's a big place), we couldn't see a thing!!! We screamed, though no one responded. Slowly we made our way through the pitch dark to a lit up door way. Through that door way we found an old lady who was shocked to see us. She apologized and we left.. Good riddance Street of 'we turn the lights out on our customers when we fell like it' without giving any warnings!!
ReplyDeleteWell this weekend wasn't a real good experiment weekend for me because I had National Guard drill and that changes how I go about a typical weekend and drastically alters my habits. So I am just going to post an article that I read about a month ago that truly is the epitome of waste!
ReplyDeleteSay It Isn’t So! H&M Throws Away Unsold Clothing BY: Lolita Carrico | First Published: Jan 08 AT 12.06 pm | 2 comments
Related : Fashion, Shopping
Ever wonder what happens to clothes that don’t sell once their season is over? One would think they would go to clothing outlets or maybe even to charity, but nope — H&M throws unsold clothing away…and slashes the items with blades to make sure no one gets them out of the trash.
Despite the fact that the items are found regularly in New York City based on the New York Times article, after being pressured by consumers on Facebook, H&M said:
H&M is committed to taking responsibility for how our operations affect both people and the environment. Our policy is to donate any damaged usable garments to charity. We’re currently investigating an incident in a NY store that is not representative of our policy.
The Frisky also reports that Wal-Mart uses the same methods to get rid of unsold items. Wal-Mart’s discards have holes poked in them by a machine — they spend money on a piece of technology to ruin clothing instead of donate them to charity? Are we the only ones flabbergasted by this practice?
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ReplyDeleteConsuming: Sunday, I found myself supplying pizza for a small birthday party for my little sister. My consumption was once again simply based around food, this time around though I was providing for everyone. Besides that I consumed nothing!!!
ReplyDeleteH&M can go to hell!!!!! I'm gonna learn how to make my own clothes soon ( yeah right).
Well, my weekend was pretty uneventful. I did realize that I eat alot! Almost all of my purchases were food. We did eat at my parent's house this weekend because we are helping them with a remodel, so my mom cooked alot.
ReplyDeleteAs far as throwing things away, well we are pretty good at recycling. I still ended up with a small bag of garbage.
Overall, I would say that I wasn't worried about what I was spending money on. We are a resouceful household.
My weekend was alright this weekend. I did not really do much besides go snowboarding, eat and drink. I went snowboarding on saturday and really only spent money on the gas to get me there since i have a season pass already.
ReplyDeleteThe rest was just ordering some food and beer to watch all of the football games which were amazing. I did recycle all of the cans and after monitering myself i did not really care about how much money i was spending.
When I was filling out the audit I noticed that I mostly waste my money on food that I do not need. Since, I worked all weekend I noticed that the company I work for throws a lot of items out, instead of giving them away at the end of the night. Also, the company does very little recycling.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe food thing is huge--one because a lot of time the food itself has its own problems: where it comes from, how healthy it is, whether or not its really necessary. On top of that we create more waste with each purchase: cups, lids, straws, napkins, containers. And OF COURSE there's not recycling bin in a fast food restaurant...hmmm. Questionable.
ReplyDeleteDon't buy a drink when ordering a meal. This saves one from being part of the production of straws and lids, as well as cups. Buy a reusable cup that can travel with you where ever you may roam. You can clean it, fill it with whatever you want, put stickers on it; I'm sure you get the drift. Anyway, by doing such, not only will an individual no longer be contributing to the necessity for such illogical means, but they will also save somewhere around 1-2 thousand dollars a year which can be used for social inebriation. Sounds nice doesn't it???
ReplyDeletePS: the plastics used in straws and lids for your typical fast food soft drinks are not recyclable.
ReplyDeleteWeston, I'm amzed at the thought that you put into things that I take for granted. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI really didn't spend much this weekend, but the idea of the project made me think of times I spend money on things I WANT. I am from Philly and i find when I'm there and bored I want to go shopping. I always claim broke, but because I can find bargains I find myself buying things that im convincing myself I NEED. People tell me that I have a gift for finding good bargains, but I think it can also be a curse.
ReplyDeleteWhile monitoring my spending this weekend, I noticed that I spent most of my money on my basic needs. I spend the most on food this weekend, mainly buying groceries for next week and I went out to dinner Saturday night with a friend. However, I also spent a lot on entertainment; I bought concert tickets and went out with my friends. Since I was not wasteful, I didn't really pay attention to how monitoring myself affected my spending. I noticed that the only thing that I threw away that held the most personal value at some point was my eyeliner :)
ReplyDeleteI found that most of my consumption centered around food purchases. This was a relatively slow weekend for me, so maybe that affected my audit... but as I think about it, I truly do not spend on things I do not NEED at this moment. I am getting ready to graduate in May, so I need all the money I can get.
ReplyDeleteweston: if i go into mcdonalds/burger king/my current arch-nemesis taco bell with a refillable cup, they would FREAK. they wouldn't know what to do. they might refuse to serve me because i'm trying to be eco-friendly, when in fact they should be donning me with a red cape sporting the mickey d's arches in true eco-hero style.
ReplyDeletehi-ya.