Minimalism has played a role in my life for around 5 years now. It started out as a way to try to make my life easier, and has slowly evolved into a tool I use to live a more sustainable life. One of the best things we can do as individuals to fight climate change is to consume less. Being more intentional about what you buy, choosing secondhand over new, and focusing on your needs rather than your wants can all play a role in this.
However, there are still categories that I tend to buy new, even some things that aren’t absolute necessities. I definitely try to look secondhand first where and when I can, but sometimes it just isn’t possible or there are reasons why I prefer to buy them new. Of course that doesn’t mean I never buy these categories secondhand, just that the majority of them were bought new. So here are 7 things I still tend to buy new as an eco-minimalist.
1. Furniture and homeware
I always planned on buying a large part of my furniture and homeware secondhand. But when I moved in with my partner, we were in the middle of the pandemic and we don’t own a car. So we ended up getting most of the furniture and homeware we needed at Ikea, because we relied (and still rely) on ordering online and home delivery.
We do still own some secondhand furniture and homeware though, mostly old things from family members. Of course, we also brought a lot of items we already owned with us. Additionally, we took it slow and did not buy all our furniture at once – we took some longer to really think about what we truly needed to own. But the majority of the things in our home was bought new, and that is okay with me.
2. Personal electronics
We actually do own a lot of secondhand electronics – most of them we got from family members and friends who no longer used them. The environmental impact of electronics is quite big, so it is a good thing to look into getting them secondhand when you can.
But when it comes to personal electronics like phones or laptops, I prefer to buy them new. What I do instead is look into quality and repairability. I try to use these electronics for as long as I can, and when they do break, I want to be able to get them repaired easily instead of replacing them. Both my phone and my laptop are currently around 4 years old and they still rarely have any issues, so at this point it seems I can still use both for a long time!
3. Books
Honestly, I have always gotten most of my books from the library. As a kid I got the maximum number of books every three weeks, these days I borrow e-books online. But the library doesn’t always have the books I want to read, especially when it comes to non-fiction. Although I do occasionally buy books secondhand, a lot of the time it is either not available or I want to support the author.
So although I do try to limit the number of books I buy to what I can actually read, we do own a lot of books and buy them or receive them as a gift somewhat regularly. I also just love having bookcases full of books in my home. So books are definitely a category I will always keep buying new, at least occasionally.
4. Boardgames and puzzles
Another hobby we buy new things for a lot is boardgames and puzzles. Although we don’t allow ourselves to buy new boardgames right now as we play them far too little to justify that, we have bought every single one of them new (or received as a gift). The types of boardgames we play are generally not ones that can be found secondhand easily, and we often want to support a certain publisher or our local game store.
Jigsaw puzzles are a relatively new hobby, but we do them a lot so we accumulated quite a few of them over a short amount of time. Puzzles are of course quite easy to find in thrift stores, but since we rely on ordering online we end up buying them new (or asking for them as birthday gifts). We do often lend out our puzzles to family members and borrow from them as well, and we make them more often than once – so I think they are definitely worth it.
5. Basic clothing items and underwear
To be fair, I think this is a pretty self-explanatory category, but I thought I’d include it anyway. I’d think underwear, pajamas and socks are things even the biggest thrifter generally buys new, but personally I also prefer to buy basic solid color t-shirts and tank tops new. I also don’t usually buy items in this category from sustainable brands, as I often can’t really afford their prices or they don’t make the colors I am looking for – although there are a few exceptions.
However, I do tend to wear items like this until they have multiple holes in them or until they don’t fit anymore. So although I might not seem super sustainable in this category, I try to just stick to the “use it and make it last” part of eco-minimalism.
6. Shoes
Another clothing item I will pretty much always buy new is shoes. I have difficult feet: I have fallen arches (flat feet), they seem to be quite high and a little bit wide, and I get blisters easily (especially in sandals). So I do need to buy good, high quality shoes with good soles and insoles. I also need to be able to try on shoes and return them if they don’t work for my feet, which isn’t possible with a lot of online thrift stores like Vinted. So I tend to just not take the risk and buy shoes new – although to be fair, I really rarely buy shoes at all. When I do, I buy high quality that will last me for years.
7. Plants
And last but definitely not least: plants! We currently own 26 plants total, and we got most of them in the last year. A small number of those are cuttings from a friend that we’re trying to propagate, but the majority of them were bought new (or, this is a theme throughout this post: gifts).
However, we did buy a large part of them (11 to be exact) from a website that offers “imperfect plants” boxes, with plants that either have small imperfections or just have been on the shelves for too long. We loved this idea of essentially saving plants from being thrown out, and most of them are thriving in our house! I really have to credit my partner here though, as he’s the one who takes care of our plants. I just like to look at them!
So those are 7 things I still generally buy new as an eco-minimalist. But when I do buy something, especially when it’s new, I always try to make sure I only buy things that I’ll actually use and enjoy!
Len's Cup of Tea 