Want to save money by buying less? Here are tips for a ‘no-buy’ year

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This week:

• Want to save money by buying less? Here are tips for a ‘no-buy’ year
• The Big Picture: PFAS exposure
• New report decries fossil fuel industry influence in climate education

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Want to save money by buying less? Here are tips for a ‘no-buy’ year

Inflation and tariff threats have many people rethinking their spending habits. But some have gone a step further by making 2025 a ‘no-buy’ year – something proponents say can tackle debt and help you save for what you really want (a vacation? A house?) while reducing clutter, waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

But what does a no-buy year even mean?

The basic theory is: Make a list of what you deem essential each month. And buy only that. 

While it sounds simple, it’s hard enough that the first time Rebecca Sowden tried it, she didn’t make it past a couple of months.

Sowden calls herself a “self-proclaimed recovering super spender.”

“I wanted to buy all the clothes, I wanted to go out, I wanted to do all these different activities,” she said.

But she wanted more than her budget would allow, and her apartment was getting uncomfortably cluttered with stuff she bought. She realized she needed to make a change.

“Saving is self-care,” she said. “And I think more people are realizing that.”

Sowden, who is from Southern California, decided to try a no-buy year again. She has been documenting her journey on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. She’s part of a growing online no-buy community supporting each other and offering tips for success. Here are a few.

Start off slow with a few simple rules

Sowden recommends starting slow.

“Make it what suits your issue,” Sowden said. 

She started with no new clothing, shoes, skin care products and makeup (other than replacing what wears out or is used up). 

“They are the things that this past year I found myself overconsuming the most.”

She also has a jar with “bonus” rules such as “No new books — read only what you’ve got on your shelf” for when she gets bored with her starting rules.

Aja Barber, author of Consumed: The Need for Collective Change, suggests setting a realistic goal, such as not buying any brand new jeans, or thrifting any kitchenware you need. 

“What you will find is you are going to save so much money,” she said.

Unfollow brands

Another tip is to limit temptation.

“Unsubscribe from all of your e-mail inbox sales temptations,” suggested Kate Axelson, who started doing a no-buy year after realizing she missed out on saving for a vacation because she spent too much money shopping online. 

Barber recommends changing your relationship with social media: “Stop following people whose only purpose is to sell you things. They’re not your friend.”

Axelson suggests instead following creators who talk about climate change and climate-friendly activities instead. 

“Surround yourself in a social media bubble that is supportive of the habits you’re trying to build … that is what’s keeping me accountable.”

Plan your purchases 

Toronto-based Christina Mychaskiw looks for things like upcoming birthday parties and annual fee payments in her calendar.

“It’s been really, really helpful to predict any unexpected expenses,” said Mychaskiw.

Sowden finds a default “allowance” or spending limit on top of food is also helpful. 

Remember your goals and notice the rewards

Mychaskiw first did a no-buy year in 2019 to tackle $120,000 in student debt.

She recommends that people think about what they’ll do with the money they save, such as taking a trip or working less. 

“It has to be something that’s really visceral and that really connects with you because when it does get hard … that’s what is really going to keep you grounded.”

Axelson says she finds it motivating to think she’s reducing that amount of waste going to landfill and the carbon emissions that go into manufacturing and shipping goods.

“If everybody did that,” she added, “we would be in a different position and hopefully a better one.”

— Emily Chung and Jennifer Wilson

Old issues of What on Earth? are here. The CBC News climate page is here. 

Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: The climate solution that’s heating up across Canada has become an important part of food security and sovereignty. But many greenhouses are powered by fossil fuels. The City of Fredericton has created a zero-emission greenhouse to grow saplings, and researchers at the University of Windsor are finding more sustainable ways to power them.

What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Have a compelling personal story about climate change you want to share with CBC News? Pitch a First Person column here.

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Reader feedback

Carolyn Herbert of Nepean, Ont., wrote “The tragedy about using fossil-based electric energy creation is that it still creates emissions. The first geothermal energy industry in southeast Saskatchewan, called DEEP (Deep Earth Energy Production Corporation) was announced in February 2023. Hopefully this would provide clean reliable energy for not only greenhouses but other electrical energy requirements. Perhaps those drillers in the oil and gas sector would find rewarding work using their skills. A write-up about deep (not household) geothermal would be informative. Certainly if it would be used in B.C. which has close-to-the surface earth heat, then they would be able to stop expanding fracked fossil methane extraction (LNG) and reduce risk of earthquakes.”

You can read more about some geothermal pilot projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan, including DEEP, here. For sure, we will be following these developments! CBC’s Molly Segal also had a detailed look into the possibility of geothermal power generation in B.C.. And yes, drilling for geothermal power generation is indeed one of the areas that could make use of drilling expertise from the oil and gas industry, along with drilling for geothermal heating. 

Write us at whatonearth@cbc.ca. (And feel free to send photos, too!) 

The Big Picture: PFAS exposure

In order to reduce exposure to cold, wet weather, many of us have purchased rain jackets and other waterproof gear made with PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances. They’re often called “forever chemicals” because they’re hard to break down and can accumulate in people’s bodies and the environment. As shown in the diagram, based on information from the European Environment Agency, the few PFAS that have been studied have been linked to many negative health impacts in humans and animals. Those most at risk are those with high exposures and vulnerable populations such as children, but a 2018 study found a “considerable proportion of the European population” is expected to exceed a “safe” intake of PFAS from food and drinking water.

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That’s why more and more new laws restrict PFAS in consumer products such as makeup, food packaging, furniture and clothing. The states of California and New York banned PFAS in clothing at the start of this year. That’s already reduced the amount of PFAS in clothing sold in Canada, say those in the apparel industry and groups lobbying to get PFAS out of consumer products. But not all U.S. laws discourage PFAS in clothing. Some encourage it. For example, imported water-resistant clothing containing PFAS is subject to lower tariffs – seven per cent –  compared to PFAS-free alternatives, which must pay a tariff of 27 per cent. Earlier this month, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress to try and change this. The good news is that wearing PFAS-containing clothing, especially outerwear such as Gore-Tex rain jackets, is not considered a high risk of exposure — although manufacturing the clothing can expose workers and nearby residents to high PFAS levels. In the meantime, read this story if you want to know more about PFAS in products sold in Canada.

— Emily Chung

Hot and bothered: Provocative ideas from around the web

New report decries fossil fuel industry influence in climate education

The teacher’s guide for a trip to Alberta’s oil sands talks about what they’re made of, how they were formed and how many jobs they provide. There is a brief mention of finding ways to “balance” energy needs with “environment needs of our planet.”

But the guide, made by Inside Education, a long-running education charity in Alberta that creates resources for schools, mentions nothing about greenhouse gasses, emissions or climate change.

That’s a problem, said Anne Keary, co-author of the report released last week by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and the climate advocacy group For Our Kids.

Retired Alberta science teacher Tylene Appel remembers her early days as an educator, scrambling to create engaging lessons in the 1990s. She recalls being thrilled to find locally relevant, curriculum-aligned, Alberta-branded material to help her teach high schoolers about energy sources and usage.

“I felt these materials were amazing. They were so ready and easy to use,” recalled Appel. 

Over time, however, Appel — who has a background in biology, taught for more than 30 years and, after retirement, worked as a substitute teacher until spring 2024 — noticed a bias to these resources: a reliance on fossil fuels and individual action on environmental concerns rather than exploration of collective or systemic change.

When she probed further, she found ties to funding from fossil fuel companies.

Having seen funding cuts, Appel said Alberta teachers are trying to do more with less, so when they encounter educational resources that are “easy-to-use, bright and shiny” — and avoid complicated or tough discussions — these can be very appealing.

After looking deeper, Appel noticed many assignments of a certain type: suggesting students track things like personal energy usage or recycling, for instance, and encouragement on how they could improve on it. 

Missing were projects exploring the bigger picture, she said, like “‘What are the health impacts of air pollution on your health?’ … ‘If wind and solar were used, how would that compare [to fossil fuels] in costs or in job creation?'” 

Despite the clear evidence humans are causing climate change, primarily by burning fossil fuels, and students calling for better education about it, the subject is unevenly taught in Canadian classrooms, with only about a third of teachers confident in tackling it.

It’s against this backdrop that fossil fuel companies step in to influence what students learn — and not only in those provinces heavily tied to the industry, according to Keary 

Resources offered for classrooms may reference that burning coal, oil and gas drives climate change or mention greenhouse gas emissions, she said, but downplay or distance the role of the fossil fuel industry.

Deeper discussion of renewable energy sources or transitioning away from fossil fuels is not present, Keary noted.

The report coincides with research by Emily Eaton, a University of Regina’s Geography and Environmental Studies professor who investigates the influence and impact of the fossil fuel industry on society and institutions. She was not involved with the report, but it points to some of her work.

Corporations have shifted from denial of human-caused climate change toward “climate delay,” a strategy she describes as downplaying the scale and scope of the crisis and the degree of action needed to address it. 

Given a climate emergency where the fossil fuel industry is responsible for more than three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, “they have a conflict of interest in terms of presenting those ideas,” Eaton said.

“We need actually to study what the oil and gas industry is doing, in our classrooms, but we need that to happen in a way that’s independent.”

While it’s important for students to understand the science of climate change, there are other subject areas — discussions about politics and influence, for instance — that “we’re not teaching our students about,” she noted. 

“How to analyze that [different] stakeholders have perspectives and interests, and how do we take those into account?”

CBC News reached out to companies named in the report — including Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, ConocoPhllips, MEG Energy, Enbridge Inc., TC Energy and Fortis BC — and they either declined or did not respond to requests for comment.

The report identified Inside Education, a long-running Albertan non-profit that creates environmental and natural resource material for schools, as a recipient of fossil fuel funding. ItsIt’s executive director denies being influenced by sponsors.

Inside Education provides “engaging and fact-based learning experiences that equip students with the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to understand topics from multiple viewpoints,” Kathryn Wagner said in a statement, which added that its sponsors also include all levels of government.

Programs are created by staff, “most of whom have degrees in education, science or both, with the advice and input of educators and content experts from a wide variety of backgrounds,” she said. They “are in no way led, approved or dictated by any of our funders or board members.”

— Jessica Wong

Thanks for reading. If you have questions, criticisms or story tips, please send them to whatonearth@cbc.ca.

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Editors: Emily Chung and Hannah Hoag | Logo design: Sködt McNalty