Disposable Nation

Twice this last week I have heard younger people say something very interesting. Each mentioned, in different contexts, the idea that buying something new was a bad thing. One said this in the course of talking about managing of their finances and how they are cutting back. The other person said it in the context of the "greening" of the world. He went as far as to say that in the neighborhood he lives in that it's just not "cool" to buy or drive a new car anymore. I have sat with this for a few days and wondered what it means to our economy if we were to broadly adopt this philosophy. We the country where durable goods (like cars) get traded in for new ones well before they expire. It is, to use Senator Obama's words, "well above my pay grade" to understand this, but in my naivete, I would say that if we were to move away from our current disposable attitude (about just about everything) it might be good for mother earth, but our economy would certainly stall. This whole thing has me thinking and even starting my own little revolution. I found myself wanting to walk out of Peets yesterday with my large cup and put it in my car to bring back in the next time. I looked in my closet and said, I can wear those clothes another year, even though the style has changed slightly. I talked to my buddy and said, "why buy a new car, get a used one, you will save a few bucks and won't chew up some more of that carbon footprint stuff". Hmmm, those kids might be onto something, again. I don't know what it means in the long run, but I can tell you that it's not that hard to start thinking this way and I can certainly see why many will. I hope the economists have this in one of their models.