Where is the Line?

How do you draw the line between keeping up with the latest fashions and trends and being hard on your wallet and/or the environment? “Stuff” isn’t only expensive and clutter inducing but at some point in the future it will likely end up in a landfill (even if you donate or sell it that person may eventually end up throwing it away).

1) My best friend and I were at the mall the other day and she bought a cute tank top at Abercrombie & Fitch. A week later she tells me that she had gone back to get all the other colors that she liked and that now she was kicking herself for not just getting them all. I know she has all the colors of at least two other styles of tank tops (and we’re talking 6-12 colors of each style). How many tank tops does one person need? She’s probably got 50 and is still buying more (in colors she doesn’t even really like just so she can have them all). I’ve got about 15 in varying shades and have had some of them since high school (5+ years).

2) Same friend is going to be my future roommate. We were discussing what each of us would get for the common areas of our apartment. She wants to get a plasma TV but knows that they’re energy guzzlers (so at least she’s conscious of the problem). (Aside from the fact that they’re expensive and we both have non-flat screen TVs already) So I plan to help her research options for energy efficient high definition televisions.

3) I’ve switched to buying all the new (and old for that matter) music I want via iTunes. Not only do I not have to store the physical CDs, but the materials and energy to manufacture those CDs and packaging isn’t used and is thus easier on the environment. iTunes music is also usually cheaper than buying the actual CD.

4) I re-engineered another piece of old jewelry (this time it was a necklace that belonged to my mom). It had a great round pendant with a sun and mountains made of mother-of-pearl inlays. But it was on a 15 inch chain with tarnished and damaged beads. It was choker length on me which isn’t a good length for a big pendant in my opinion. So I got a new chain for it and put it on that. It looks like it’s right off the Circular Pendants page in the March 2007 issue of InStyle. And it only cost me a couple bucks for a new chain.

I’d love to read comments of your ideas on this topic.

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