Curbing Consumerism
Welcome to our very first sustainability theme – curbing consumerism, just in time for the holidays. Join Imago on a journey to reduce your own consumerism. We want to educate ourselves and any of you wonderful people who want to join us about the environmental consequences of consumerism and how we can all take steps to become more responsible consumers.
This page is the hub for all our blogs, resources, events, and links to articles we’ve found helpful. Basically, anything we’ve created or found that we think will be useful to anyone coming on this reducing consumerism journey with us will live here.
Being green is hard, don’t go it alone, join Imago and the community of people who are excited to make green choices. It’s easier, less lonely, and more fun. Let’s do this together!
Make sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date on all the #curbingconsumerism info
Resources
9 Intentional Ways to Challenge Consumerism in Your Life | This provides some things to think about that might help guide you on your journey to become a more responsible consumerism.
iFixit | A free online repair manual. This site has tons of repair manuals and Q&A forums.
#OptOutside with REI | REI is taking their Black Friday boycott a step further this year by encouraging folks to not only Opt Outside, but to also to Opt to Act. They are providing 52 weeks worth of simple challenges to reduce your impact, get active, and leave the world better than you found it.
Repair Clinic | Online source for applinace parts, lawn equiptment, heating and cooling parts, and tons more so you can fix the things you already have.
True Cost | An eye-opening documentary about the many consequences of clothing production. If you have a few hours and want to learn more about the problems behind the clothes we buy, check out this great documentary.
4 Gifts for Christmas: How to Make Your Family Happy With Less | One family’s approach to holiday giving. Instead of a bunch of gifts, they’ve opted to buy each other just 4: something the person wants, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.
100+ Non-Toy Gifts for Toddlers to Teens | A great resource if you’re looking for creative, useful gifts for your kids.
2019 Outdoor Advent(ures) Calendar | A fun take on a traditional advent calendar, this one will challenge you to get outside and do a different adventure every day until Christmas.
Buy Nothing Project | “The rules are simple: Post anything you’d like to give away, lend, or share amongst neighbors. Ask for anything you’d like to receive for free or borrow. Keep it legal. Keep it civil. No buying or selling, no trades or bartering, we’re strictly a gift economy.”
Buy Nothing Group Mount Airy/Northside/College Hill
Buy Nothing Group Mt. Washington
Buy Nothing Group Pleasant Ridge/Kennedy Heights/Amberly
Events
Articles
‘The Best Thing You Can Do Is Not Buy More Stuff,’ Says ‘Secondhand’ Expert
The Afterlife Of American Clothes
Fast Fashion Is Creating an Environmental Crisis
Destroying Unsold Clothes Is Fashion’s Dirty Secret. And We’re Complicit.
5 Ways to Disrupt Holiday Consumerism
Black Friday shopping hurts the environment—but you can help
Stories
Curbing Consumerism Wrap-Up and Repair Fair Roundup
Our Curbing Consumerism theme is coming to a close. In November, we kicked off our first sustainability theme with the 5th Annual Plaid Friday Hike. Over 50 people showed up to take a 5 mile hike in Downtown Cincinnati instead of going out to shop on Black Friday....
Sharing about Sharing (Economies)
Sharing is something we are always encouraged to do as children, but it isn’t emphasized as much as we grow up and become more independent. Sharing builds trust and creates new relationships. It can bring us together even if we don’t agree on everything. And, right...
The Hidden Costs of Clothes
So, we’ve survived the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. A new year is beginning, resolutions are being made, changes are happening all around, but here at Imago, we’re still focusing on reducing consumerism. We worked on ways to be better consumerisms during...
Imagoans Share Their Ideas for Curbing Consumerism this Holiday Season
This goes without saying, but, dang, the holidays are stressful. You want to be a responsible consumer but you still want to participate in holiday fun, so what do you do?? Companies do a really good job of making us think that we absolutely HAVE to buy gifts for...
The Environmental Effects of Holiday Shopping (and what you can do to shrink your own holiday footprint)
The holiday season is upon us, which means people are buying stuff and companies want you to be buying stuff too! At Imago, we are trying to figure out ways to curb consumerism this holiday season which is pretty tough considering we’re being inundated with...