A group of friends decided to buy nothing new for a year. Now the idea is spreading into a worldwide network - provoking a backlash, writes Denis Stauntonin San Francisco
Marketing executive John Perry has been staying away from the winter sales at San Francisco's big department stores and he doesn't expect to set foot in a shopping mall any time this year. In fact, Perry, his partner Rob and their two children have vowed to buy nothing new in 2007, apart from food, medicine and toiletries.
They are founding members of the Compact, a group of friends in San Francisco that has ballooned into a worldwide network committed to escaping from what Perry describes as the "mad, merry-go-round" of consumerism. Perry, who admits that he used to be an enthusiastic, recreational shopper, had become concerned about the environmental impact of the consumer culture and the limits of recycling.
"A group of us who are long-term friends were having dinner together a couple of years ago, four of us . . . We sat there and we said, we are middle-class Americans. We all have more stuff than we probably ever need, more stuff than 99 per cent of the world's population, and we could probably go a long time without anything new," he says.
After a few trial runs, the group agreed to buy nothing new in 2006, making exceptions only for those items necessary for health and safety. Food and medicine, along with cleaning agents, disinfectants and toilet paper are allowed, but luxury goods such as cosmetics are not.
For everything else, "Compacters" search through second-hand shops, small ads on websites such as Craigslist or in San Francisco's Really Really Free Market, a monthly potluck picnic where you bring what you don't need and take what you do.
"The urge to shop wears off pretty quickly. It's almost like a withdrawal period. You go through that for a couple of weeks and then the reflex impulse to go into stores and buy things goes away. The biggest revelation was not that there were unexpected difficulties but that it is really so easy to do. It's far easier than you would expect," Perry says.
The Compact's online discussion group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ thecompact) which has almost 5,000 registered members, is full of tips and questions about what it is acceptable to buy.
Most agree that existing newspaper subscriptions can be extended but rule out subscribing to new publications and nearly everyone thinks that buying second-hand underwear is a sacrifice too far.
The most common problems are over small things such as shoe polish and candles, which people tend to use up rather than get rid of; or specific types of bolts and screws for repairs.
Perry and Rob have a five-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter who wear second-hand clothes and get used toys for Christmas. Perry says his son understands why they don't go shopping and he doesn't mind.
"I usually tell people that we are laying the groundwork for him to become a Republican raging materialist when he's 15 and that may well be the case. But all we can do right now is to live the life we want to as a family and share our values with him," he explains.
Perry's son will reap the benefits of the Compact when he grows up because staying away from the shops has done wonders for the family bank balance.
"We came into this process with some consumer debt and we now have none. I now overpay my mortgage every month, I now put more money into my son's and daughter's college accounts and my tax accountant is probably going to have her jaw drop when we sit down in April because we've really increased the amount of money we give away," Perry said.
Other Compacters say they can now afford to drink better wine or to spend more on theatre and cinema tickets, all of which are allowed.
As news of the Compact has spread across the US, with chapters opening in cities throughout the country and overseas, a backlash has started, led by conservative radio talk show hosts. These critics argue that giving up shopping is unpatriotic because consumer spending is the engine of America's economic growth.
Others characterise the Compacters as self-regarding, San Francisco "limousine liberals", pointing to Perry's marketing job as evidence of hypocrisy. "People have said that I'm like a pimp preaching abstinence," he says.
For Compacters like Perry, the project has always been primarily a personal challenge rather than a mass movement or an anti-consumerist cult. As if to underscore their lack of dogmatism, the Compact is planning a "jubilee day" early this year when members will be allowed to buy items they feel they need or have been waiting for.
"We don't think we've done anything new or anything particularly original," says Perry. "I think we've just come along at a time when we've struck a chord. We're not perfect and we have our insecurities like everyone else but we've definitely been freed of some of the negative self-esteem that's fostered by the consumer merry-go-round. You're supposed to feel bad about yourself on a regular basis to spur you on to buy stuff."