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Ep#19 Tamara DiMattina says SAVE MONEY. SAVE THE PLANET. BUY NOTHING NEW

Our fast fashion throwaway culture is fuelling climate change.

We’re taking too many natural resources, burning too many fossil fuels to make, transport, store and get rid of our “stuff.”

But… there’s a beautiful alternative that’s good for us, our pockets, our people and planet.

For nearly two decades, Tamara has bought nothing new.

She wants you to do the same.

Like FebFast or Dry July for booze, Buy Nothing New Month is a detox from unnecessary shopping.

It gets us to think about our stuff.

Do we need it? Who made it? What were their working conditions?

When we throw it ‘away’, ‘where is away?’

Tamara wants us to reimagine our relationship with stuff, buy nothing new, share, swap, borrow, fix, extend the life of the goods we’ve got and choose secondhand first.

For secondhand everything (Tamara buys everything secondhand, from clothes, furniture, gifts and homewares) try gumtree, facebook marketplace, ebay, depop, the realreal, threadup and charity shops.

Get into swapping, renting, borrowing and sharing.

Support the secondhand + circular economy.

Buy experiences instead of stuff.

Saving money on the stuff we don’t need, we’ve got the money for the stuff we do.

Buy Nothing New + build our better future.

buynothingnew.com.au

circularonline.co.uk/news/report-throwaway-global-economy-is-fuelling-climate-change



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BUY NOTHING NEW MONTH 2021 ONE WEEK TO GO!

How are you doin?

Peeps reach out every year and ask “are you still doing Buy Nothing New Month?”

The answer:

We do Buy Nothing New LIFE.

This really is possible.

It’s even easy.

It saves us loads of cash, reduces our impact on our beautiful planet and keeps stuff from landfill and circulating.

From laptops, to mobiles, to bathers, kitchenware, beautiful gifts, shoes, (yes – bras and undies if they have the tags on…) for more than a decade, we have bought nothing new.

Check out our blog for so much we’ve said over the years here:

buynothingnew.com.au/blog/

For a deeper dive, watch this ABC Foreign Correspondence piece for the awful reality of where our cheap fast fashion ends up and why in Ghana they call it “obroni wawu” – dead white man’s clothes.

Watch Now

Help us spread the message of a beautiful world without waste.

  1. Talk about Buy Nothing New movement with your mates.
  2. When lockdowns lift, have a swap party! (Remember it’s Buy Nothing New Month, not DryJuly…)
  3. Commit to an “experiences only” or “secondhand first” pressie policy this Christmas.
  4. Take Buy Nothing New Month beyond the month. Choose second-hand first.

As we near Glasgow COP 2021 (the climate change conference), governments around the world wrangle with how we protect our people and planet by reducing our harmful impact on our climate.

Getting on board the circular economy of the beautiful future is one of the biggest, most positive and impactful things you can do everyday.

If you’ve just got on board, WELCOME!

If you’ve been with us for years, we love having you.

Keep on buying nothing new.

Oroo.

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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A wrap. (Without the wrapper)

That’s Buy Nothing New Month for 2020.

But is it?

We live this.

Have for 20 years.

You can too.

Just buy nothing new tomorrow.

And the next day.

And the next.

Get your mates on too.

Hit us up with any questions and suggestions.

We’re all ears.

P.S. It’s Buy Nothing New Month.

We never said which month.

Anyone can do this anytime.

So when your lame mate says ‘oh I was gonna do that, but it had already started’ let ’em know they can do it anytime.

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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Buy Nothing New Month in the media

We’re ever grateful for the ongoing media support for Buy Nothing New Month.

Thanks Money Mag for helping us spread the word about the ‘why’ and ‘how to’ of Buy Nothing New Month in a Covid world.

Check out how to get ‘stuff’, save money, stimulate the economy and repair our earth without the waste.

moneymag.com.au/buy-nothing-new-pandemic

And thanks to ABC News Breakie for giving us a reason to wash our hair for the first time in about 6 months:

youtube.com/watch?v=FAdKBG8AJRw&t=7s

Thanks Melissa Singer, Fashion Editor of Sydney Morning Herald for spreading the word on how we can update our spring wardrobes without buying anything new.

smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/how-to-update-your-spring-wardrobe-without-buying-anything-new-20201002-p561gs.html

As we near the end of Buy Nothing New Month we’d love to hear from you if you have any feedback.

We’d love to hear your experience, what you found easy, what you found tricky.

What you’d like to hear more about from us.

And remember. It’s Buy Nothing New Month. We never said which month!

Peeps can do this anytime.

Many choose to do it in December and have a wrapper free/stress free Buy Nothing New Christmas.

This can be a bigger challenge to help people move beyond ‘presents’ to ‘presence’ at Christmas. But a waste-free world is a gift worth aiming for.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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The Circular and Doughnut Economy

A circular economy designs out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use (circular) and regenerating natural systems.

In the circular economy we are working towards, reuse and regeneration are key.

In our current system of turning natural wealth into cash, where 91% of plastic waste produced never gets recycled, waste is almost unavoidable…

We’re excited about the circular economy and Doughnut Economics (Kate Raworth of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute) and the better future they’re mapping out.

Our current economies need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive.

Doughnut economics shows how countries, cities, people and out planet can thrive without the endless need for growth.

Amsterdam is engaging Doughnut Economics to carve their path out of the Covid pandemic. bit.ly/2S0smf3

Every time we refuse stuff we don’t need, be it clothes, stuff we can buy second hand, packaging etc we are part of re-building a better world.

Thanks for laying good tracks.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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Wash less. (Covid showed us how) Wash better. Air Dry.

To make the clothes we love last longer, wash them less.

Levi’s CEO famously instructed us all back in 2014 not to wash our jean AT ALL.

Choose better quality fabrics.

Wool readily absorbs moisture (up to 35% its own weight) this keeps us out of the sweaty-betty range and discourages bacterial growth.

Wool fibre captures odours within the fibre, where bacteria (which causes the smell) cant thrive.

Keeping our stuff fresher, longer, means less washing thus lasting longer.

We air dry our clothes with one of those hangy from the ceiling things in winter and on a outside line in summer. This slashes our energy bill and is waaay more gentle on our clothes.

There are also washing machines that are more gentle on your clothes.

Treat it better, it lasts longer.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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Whilst you’re ordering online…

Ordering second hand stuff online from the couch can save you time and money, promote the circular economy and help repair our planet. But it can come wrapped in plastic.

We put a loving request to all online vendors “please avoid or use as little wrapping as possible.”

This reduces our part in the plastic problem.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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FBMP compulsion bordering on addiction

If you haven’t gotten into FBMP (Facebook Market Place) WHOOOAH.

Get ready for a new, reasonably healthy addiction.

To escape Covid dark times, we would disappear into FBMP looking for free plants, cheap plants anything within 5kms. (For those outside of Melb or Victoria, for what seems like 40 years, we’ve been confined to moving within 5kms of home.)

But FBMP is like the best department store of plants, garden furniture, clothes, household stuff.

With the charity stores being closed to Covid, FBMP has fed our need for a fix.

The massive online market for second hand stuff gives every reason to put second hand first.

eBay is our favourite for top quality clothing. But there’s Depop, vestiairecollective The Real Real.

Here’s a pretty good run down.

brittslist.com.au/article/online-stores-for-second-hand-clothing

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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Sew cool (with a body positivity hit)

A great way to buy nothing new and make loved clothes last, is with a sewing machine.

Borrowed or bought second hand, a sewing machine breathes new life into old clothes.

Cut a dress in half to make a top and a skirt.

Patch your jeans so they go further.

Good quality clothes at the op shop can be easily taken in or out.

Little imperfections can be patched over into eye catching features.

Another benefit, is you can make or mend your clothes to fit you not the standard from the rack.

This can completely change the way we feel about our bodies. When our clothes fit us. Not some number on a tag.

It also means after weight gain or weight loss you can modify your wardrobe rather than need to get more clothes to fit the bigger or smaller you.

Knowing your way around a sewing machine will save you so much time and money in recreating lit new looks from your existing wardrobe.

No interest in sewing? Get friendly with your local tailor or seamstress. It’s an awesome way to support your local community.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew



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A Covid word from Georgio Armani

Dear Tribe, can we blame Covid for us sending the wrong email just now?

Oh how nice to go back to 2016…like a time machine…what would we do differently?

For the Victorians, WELL DONE! We’re at 2 new Covid cases.

Happy Friday.

And now for the right email…

With Italy’s Covid shutdown providing time to rethink and reset, fashion icon Giorgio Armani Says Fashion Needs To “Do Less And Do It Better” and stop “churning out far too much ill-conceived product that nobody needs.”

“No more winter overcoats being offered in July, or linen dresses in January. Let’s get back in step with nature.”

We really love the bit about “…let’s get back in step with nature…”

Nice one Giorgio.

BNNM

The Buy Nothing New Month Crew