Compact Update

I’m probably overdue in giving an update on how the Compact is going.  We are still going strong, over halfway there now. With few exceptions, it has become an ingrained habit to buy used, go without, or wait. We did buy a brand-spanking-new rain barrel the other day. It was through a county program that saved us over half off the retail cost, and since re-directing our rainwater is a worthy thing to be doing for the environment and a rain barrel lasts a good long time, we thought that made sense. We bought a wireless router for $50 – the exact one we needed was unavailable, and we can’t get internet access without it. We spent a bit of money in the Netherlands. . It was technically a gift, as a family member gave us some Euros. We bought a few mementos, some authentic “Made in Holland" clogs for the boys to match the ones J and I received before our wedding, and a used bell to be hung by our back door. Other than that, we’ve stuck to the plan. It’s nice to know that this is possible for so long – that we can live with adding so little stuff to our house and using so few resources compared to before. J and I haven’t made any decisions yet about whether we’ll continue after January, but I have a possible plan forming in my mind. I’m thinking that maybe we could spend the whole “compact year” making a careful list of what we might eventually need to buy new, and then take advantage of the sales in January to purchase those items, like new shoes, or a computer part we can’t find used. Then we could do the compact for the rest of the year. I’ll have to see what J thinks about that.

We’ve gotten through some gift-giving situations pretty well so far, I think. It helps to be able to just tell people what we’re doing. For Caro’s daughter’s 3^rd birthday, we grew her a basil plant from seed and put it in a nice pot we had, and made her a nice batch of homemade play dough (which, by the way, is vastly superior to the “real” stuff, and easy to make, even if it does require a dust mask for gluten-intolerant me). We put it in a yellow Tupperware container and decorated that, and made her a homemade card. It all seemed to go over fine. I’m already thinking about Christmas. We’ll probably be at my parents’ house in New York,but even if we’re not, we’ll need to bring gifts for whoever we are with. I’m not the craftiest person. I might see if I can dry some of the mint and chamomile in my garden and find some pretty way to make gifts of tea. Maybe I can sew some nice bags for it out of extra fabric I’ve had sitting in my closet for years. Thankfully, we can buy “consumables” as well as charitable gift certificates and services. Some combination of those will probably work – maybe some nice soaps in a basket we already have, shaving cream, a donation to the Heifer Project, a massage gift certificate, etc. Just nothing that ultimately increases the “stuff” most of us are getting buried under.

I’ve been actively working to increase the amount of trading, borrowing, lending, and bartering I do with people, and the biggest challenge seems to be making “equal” trades. I am making progress in swapping childcare and "date nights". A friend from church and I are now doing this on a regular schedule, and we live  close by, so  we can either drive a short distance or walk. A few people have been amazingly generous when it comes to lending or even giving us needed items when they’ve heard about what we’re doing. I have also been able to pass a lot of stuff onto other people, as well as lend items so that people don’t have to buy them. I don’t expect anything in return when I give something away – I figure I’m “paying it forward” – but I do struggle with not giving anything in return to the folks who’ve given us stuff. I have to take it on faith that they feel just as I do when I pass on stuff – happy to get it out of the house and to someone who can use it. I don’t know why that’s so hard, but it is. It’s pride, really, but I do think we’re better givers (or Servants, in the Christian vernacular) when we are humble enough to be receivers too. Allowing the give and take of giving and receiving, trusting that if we are humble receivers and generous givers it will all work out in the end, is part of creating a community. That’s much easier to believe in principal than in practice though. The cultural forces that tell us that we’re all on our own, that we should never receive anything that we didn’t earn ourselves, are powerful. 

Comments

[cloudscome]

I used to make play dough all the time but haven't tried it since going GF. People keep giving my boys store-bought play dough as party favors. What I hate about that is cleaning it up. I get a rash from the stuff.

I am glad to hear how you are doing with the Compact. I think it's a habit forming thing and after a year you will have changed so much you will naturally find a way to go to the next phase for your life.

I get a great rush out of giving things away and I am deeply grateful to all those who've given us things.

[JB]

Last Christmas, I made candy for all my friends -- toffees, caramels, that sort of thing. Much easier than I thought and very enthusiastically received. I wrapped it in waxed paper and then in pretty tissue paper and ribbon, and everyone loved it, for the price of sugar and almonds.

Could you share the recipe for playdough, please?

[caro]

And those were awesome birthday gifts! Did you see how happy and well-watered the basil plant is? And we have had many happy hours of playdough. Yay!