1 post from April 2009

How could you better “green” your life? What’s holding you back?
Sponsored by One Million Acts of Green brought to you by Cisco.

I think my colleague Anil is onto something huge with lastyearsmodel.com. 

How To Play

Participating in Last Year's Model is easy:

1. Choose to hang on to a gadget or technology product that you own, instead of just buying a new one.
2. Join our Facebook Cause, or tell people on Twitter, your blog or Flickr why you're participating.
3. Optionally put the Last Year's Model badge on your site or tag your story with #lastyears.

I absolutely hate the idea of buying NEW stuff just because it's new. The packaging alone both frustrates me and the cost annoys me. I've been rocking the flea market/thrift store shopping for a loooong time now, thanks to a deal I struck with my parents as a kid. Each semester of school, I got $200 to spend on clothes. I very quickly figured out that a thrift store would stretch that dollar a lot further, and thank god late 90's fashion fit the bill nicely. Here in SF, so many people get rid of REALLY cool stuff at thrift stores like Wasteland it's almost a shame not to get stuff there.

When I got old enough to start sorting out my own house, getting thrifty goods became the same way - fun, and necessary on a tight budget. Thing is, so many cool and sturdy kitchen gear things are still around because they were made to last and endure heavy, repeated use. (And thank goddess the mid-century modern look fits 2009 just fine too.)

My gadgetry...well, I still rock the same little digital camera I got in 2004, and my iPhone is cracked but still works fine.

I don't know whether all this says I'm cheap or with the lastyearsmodel.com game, but I'd like to think it's some of both.