We are living in a society that demands immediate gratification. This has been the case for many years now but it seems to have accelerated with the coming of our ability to order almost anything online and have it arrive the very same day. I personally love living in this day and age. I love the convenience, but I also feel a great responsibility to manage our privileges well. As uncle Ben says, with great power comes great responsibility. I think that applies here.
We currently have so much waste as a result of our ability to order whatever we want on a whim. We can order as much as we want and send it all back without any cost or negative effect on ourselves. However, many of us, myself included, often forget the amount of, packing material, fuel consumption, and general waste that goes into needlessly shipping products back and forth. Even with the efforts that companies like ourselves are making to reduce waste with sustainable shipping practices like recycling and reusing, there is still the waste of a company's manpower and time that we have to take into consideration.
When our kids were little we had a rule: 5 dollars? - 5 days. Anytime they would come to us and ask if they could spend their money on a toy, video game, or anything that was over $5, we would simply say: 5 days. This rule meant they needed to wait five days before actually purchasing whatever it was they were wanting. Giving themselves time to really think helped them decide whether this was something they needed or just a product of the consumerism mindset that was instilled in them at a young age. Now, this rule was never their favorite thing, often times some would say they didn’t even like the rule which is crazy because kids always love the rules that their parents set for them. However, as adults, I now hear my kids tell me how much they appreciated this rule and the way it made them mindful of their purchasing habits into their later years.
What if we all just took five minutes to consider our purchases and ask ourselves 3 simple questions? Do I really need this? Can I actually afford this? Is this going to add something to my life? Even when buying from an awesome brand like Tactical Sports Gear ;)