Buy Nothing New Month FAQs

You will of course have to buy essentials such as food, medicine and toothpaste. Some people’s version of essential may be different to others. For instance, you may have to buy something new for a child or in an emergency; it’s up to you to decide what this means, and whether it works for Buy Nothing New Month.    

For everything else try buying second-hand, pre-loved, borrow or rent. Instead of buying new things for your children, how about getting them on board by getting them involved with ideas for how your family can take part in Buy Nothing New Month? This might help encourage them to embrace the pre-loved route instead.   

If you feel tempted to buy things like toiletries that aren’t strictly ‘essential’, think about the waste you might be creating and consider whether there’s an alternative. For example, can you make a DIY face or hair mask, or body scrub from items in your kitchen cupboard. This one will definitely save you money as well! 

It’s great that you’re recycling and this is definitely something to keep doing but we can do better. It’s much more beneficial for the environment to reduce your consumption.  

This means reusing and repairing items, borrowing and renting, and if you need to buy something, buy it second-hand. 

Buy Nothing New Month is designed to challenge us to really think whether we need to buy an item new.  Even if it will ultimately help us to repair or restore another item, first think about whether you can borrow or rent the tools that you need from a friend or neighbour, or check out Olio, Freegle, Freecycle, or Library of Things.    

If you’ve fallen off the wagon, hop back on. Don’t beat yourself up, just try and get on track for the rest of the month. This is a learning process and there are plenty more opportunities to avoid buying new and trying new things. 

As well as our weekly newsletters with tips from experts, when you take part in Buy Nothing New Month, you’ll feel the benefit of having improved your wellbeing and living in a less cluttered home. You’ll have saved money after changing your buying habits, and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that each time you reused, bought second-hand, rented or borrowed, you lessened your impact on the environment.