A new study of mental health from Britain suggests that rather than making us more stressed and anxious as has previously been thought, spending time online makes us happier. Researchers found a link between Internet access and well-being. And some people benefit more than others from being connected to the information superhighway, including women. The […]
Annie Leonard: hero or communist sympathizer?
Annie Leonard’s video “The Story of Stuff,” was the single strongest influence on me during my first year on The Compact (I’m almost halfway through my second already). So I was happy to see her on The Colbert Report and learn that she’d written a book of the same name. The idea that we should […]
Why are you frugal, or semi-frugal, or resourceful?
The following is a reprint of a previously published post. After I wrote yesterday’s post “What do you splurge on?” it occurred to me that maybe I should have started with the question “Why are you frugal?” Because there’s no point in being frugal for the sake of being frugal. There needs to be a […]
Is it more expensive to be green?
There are a lot of misperceptions about being green and living sustainably, and one of the biggest is that it’s expensive. Supposedly only the wealthy can afford to think about the environment. But like a lot of conventional wisdom, it’s just not true. In fact, a lot of “green” choices are frugal as well. Here […]
Is there anything I’m dying to buy new in January?
Yesterday I explained that I would continue with the Compact and blogging about it into 2010, with some caveats. Today I’ll answer this question from a reader: “Is there anything you plan on purchasing new in January? Something you’ve realized that you can’t find used, or just really have been wanting to splurge on?”Much to […]
How do you judge success?
When I embarked on my experiment with nonconsumerism this year by joining The Compact, I assumed I would be successful. That is, I thought I would be successful at eschewing material comforts and making do with what I already had, with maybe a few slip-ups. What I didn’t realize was how much the whole endeavor […]