Making better buying decisions to benefit today’s people, the planet and posterity

Before You Buy Thought-Action Stimulus Questions By Charles Bernard Maclean, PhD

“You can never have enough of what you don’t need to make you happy.” - Eric Hoffer

Framing Question: How will I put this factor to work NOW in my life? (Use these thought-action stimulus questions to decide what to buy/not buy.)

Questions About Increasing Happiness for Self and Loved Ones

1. Is this purchase mandatory for safety or health?

2. Is it a need or a want?

3. How specifically will this purchase contribute to your bliss relative to other options and is this bliss sustainable?

4. To what extent will this purchase deepen your heart connection with those you care about most?

5. What will you be giving up, deferring, trading off to buy this item?

6. What message do you want to give to your children/friends with this purchase decision?

7. To what degree will this decision increase the length or quality of your life?

8. How many hours will you need to work to purchase this item that could otherwise be devoted to leisure and human connection?

9. What do you want your tombstone to say about the kind of earth steward-consumer-conserver you became?

10. Other factors influencing you buying decision:

Joy is not in things, it is in us - Jess Lair

Questions About Increasing the Sense of Community Where You Live & It’s Sustainability

1. How many people will this purchase benefit and in what way?

2. How will this item increase connectedness or reduce conflict?

3. How will this expenditure effect those with more or less wealth?

4. How will this expenditure enhance aesthetics, beauty, sharing and harmony?

5. How did pressure from others effect your decision to make or not make this purchase?

6. How much of this buying decision is about looking good or “Keeping up with the Joneses?”

7. Other factors influencing your buying decision?

To tackle climate change you don’t have to reduce your quality of life, but you do have to change the way you live - Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London (foreword to the Mayor's Climate Change Action Plan, 2007)

Questions About Reducing Ones Contribution To Global Warming

1. What is the carbon footprint left by discarding the old item and by buying the new item?

2. Is your current item serviceable or can you repair or refurbish the current item cost-effectively?

3. Can both the old and new item be recycled and is it made of materials that biodegrade or are renewable?

4. What is the usable lifespan of the item and how subject is it to obsolescence?

5. What are the energy, maintenance and “add on feature” costs of using this item?

6. Do I have to buy it or could I rent it, borrow it or get it from a thrift shop used?

7. From your spiritual or ethical tradition, how does this purchase decision relate to responsible stewardship?

8. Is the producer/supplier of the item or service socially responsible? (Do they also produce tobacco, alcohol, munitions or toxins?)

9. Can I purchase this item or service from a producer/grower within 100 miles and support local business and reduce transportation costs?

10. Was the item produced by child or slave wage labor?

11. Are you willing to pay more for some goods and services now and help reduce global warming?

12. Other factors influencing your buying decision?

“There is only a slight tendency for people who make lots of money to be more satisfied with what they make. Satisfaction isn't so much getting what you want as wanting what you have.”

- David Myers, The Pursuit of Happiness

Charles is founder, donor advocate and committed listener for www.philanthropynow.com “He is one of the core members of www.trilliumhollow.org cohousing in Portland, Oregon. He is author of “Is Cohousing Right For You?” and “Will You Survive & Thrive In Cohousing