Just found a very unusual article on USnews. Unusual for that particular type of site, that is. Written by Lynn Truong (an important person in the anti-consumerism movement), it lists 21 things that you should avoid buying new. So what’s on the hotlist? Cars, furniture, decor items, tools. Sounds like a great list – I agree with all the aforementioned items.

Did you know that it takes 15,000kg of CO2 to produce a brand new car? Buy a used car and you account for a 0 CO2 grey energy. But then there are some item in Truong’s list that I just cannot agree with. Can you spot some bad eggs there?

She suggests buying only used CDs and books. So, do you think if we all bought used CDs and books what would happen to the writers and musicians? They would certainly all go out of business and the world without music and literature… umh, I just cannot imagine how sad it would be. Why not instead sort the good publishers from bad publishers and don’t buy from the bad ones. How to do that?

Look in the book’s title page. If it says “Printed in X-country” and the X-country is not the publisher’s local country, don’t buy from that publisher because he’s cutting corners and wanting to earn extra dosh by using non-certified paper. If a book is printed in Europe or North America, it is almost a 100% guarantee that it’s been printed on an FSC or PEFC certified paper, which means no harm done to the Nature.

And as far as the funniest tips go, how about: “buy used pets”? No, I ain’t joking. Check the full list of items you shouldn’t buy new here and then please come back and tell me what you think!

The pic of an amazingly cute cat by Marek Novotny

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