These days we can buy pretty much anything we want, at any time of the day. Most supermarkets are open 7 days a week, if not 24 hours a day, department stores boast late night hours, and online shopping is never closed. While it might feel more convenient to be able to shop whenever we like, the ironic twist, is that we are now just spending more of our already busy lives shopping.
I’ve learnt that when I need something, instead of my default being to ‘pop to the shops’ I try to figure out a way to make do with something I already have. It’s all about reigniting my sense of resourcefulness, and I’ve found it saves time, saves money, reduces my impact and feels strangely rewarding!
Whether it’s making the children’s school disco costumes out of things we have in the dress up box and the third drawer down in the kitchen or substituting yoghurt and lemon juice in a recipe when I have run out of sour cream – it’s all about thinking a little bit differently. If I need a face scrub, I’ll make it out of ingredients I have in the kitchen like honey and sugar, if I need an outfit for a special occasion I might borrow it from a friend and I’ll fix things that are broken.
There’s a world of possibility for reigniting our resourcefulness, here are some of my top tips to get you started:
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Pause: If you feel the impulse to ‘pop to the shop’ – just take a micro pause and ask yourself if there is an alternative. Just taking a conscious moment to think about your options can make a world of difference.
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Ask around: Jump on the internet, phone a friend or hit social media and ask for ideas. You can almost guarantee that someone else in the world would have come up with a solution already. I was bombarded with so many great ideas when I did an internet search for ‘how to make a children’s costume using only a cardboard box’.
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Spread the word: Share your resourceful vibes with others. I love telling people how I’ve made or repaired things and I’ll often ask to borrow items or offer to lend things we have to others. I’ve found sharing what I do is a great way to help normalise it for others.
Next time you feel the urge to pop to the shop to buy something you ‘need’, see if there is a way you can make do with something you already have. You’ll save time, money and impact and I reckon you’ll feel pretty damn proud of yourself too.
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