Compacting

I was invited to an evening last week to join a compacting group for the month of February. The women I met were lovely and the night really enjoyable - especially the ham and mustard sandwiches which I wolfed down. So compacting is all about reducing your environmental footprint, not buying new stuff, recycling, borrowing, bartering, only buying locally made, in season stuff and basically being really committed to reducing the impact you have on the environment.

The women I met were focused, committed and into it. Me, I was probably at the lower end of this scale. I can imagine doing without for a month - the bank account will love it, although maybe not in March. So I'm not buying anything new, I'm trying to give away stuff to others especially my old baby gear, but the reality for me is that apart from not shopping, not buying the occasional trashy mag, and buying my fruit in season, it's not much different from what I'd normally do.

Although Smith's birthday this month is proving problematic - I had some leftover pressies from the gift cupboard for him, I've brought him a pre-loved book on e-bay, and am about to buy him a babydoll on e-bay - it's new but was a surplus gift so it's not making more waste. I'm feeling quite good about this, and when I saw our bank account still isn't much healthier, I know it's not just cause of me, as it normally is.

So Sally, just wondering if your man is getting his coffees in his own mug rather than a takeout cup each day? I suggested it to The Husband. And actually The Husband is a better compacter than me, in fact his suggestion for Smith's birthday was "look at all this other crap we have, he doesn't need anything" - I haven't told him about the babydoll yet. And that's not because of compacting.

So although we're keen on the idea, when the rubber hits the road, we're at the less committed end of the spectrum, The Husband still gets his takeout coffee each day and I'm still looking for that perfect shirt dress, although if I find one, I may ask them to put it aside....until March.