Do not buy anything new in 2019, an association challenges the French
Repair, buy and sell used, manufacture, transform, give up the superfluous ... alternatives to purchases of new products are not lacking. To encourage consumers to take up the challenge, the NGO Zero waste creates a platform to measure the consequences of "non-purchases".
The NGO Zero Waste had challenged the French to buy nothing new in 2018. The challenge was raised by more than 15.000 French throughout the year. For 2019, the association renews its call and aims, this time, 100 .000 participants. "We are more engaged than ever!" Says Flore Berlingen, head of the association. To achieve this ambitious goal, the hunt specialist in France will also educate businesses and local communities, "to unite their communities."
To listen in the Spirit of initiative on France Inter: https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/l- ... nvier-2019
And to encourage a maximum number of participants to engage in this challenge, the association has created a platform to measure the consequences of "non-purchases". "Any time the challenge defers a purchase of new product will be converted into tons of unused raw materials. Being able to measure one's efforts is a real source of motivation and facilitates the pursuit of the challenge, "says the head of the NGO that tries to raise awareness of the amount of materials used to make our everyday objects.
Concretely, once registered on the site, participants indicate whether they have finally opted for a second-hand or outright abandoned a purchase. Then they can choose the category of "not purchased" (clothing, large appliances, toys, ...) and the property in question. The platform then calculates the quantity of material thus saved. The participants will repeat the operation each time the challenge has allowed them not to buy new products. At the end of the year, they will be able to calculate the quantity of raw materials thus preserved.
Everyday objects actually weigh 2,5 tons of material
For example, giving up the purchase of a washing machine saves 2,1 tons of raw materials. A washing machine is composed of, among others, 37 kg of steel, 18 kg of concrete, 13 kg of plastic, 2,7 kg of aluminum and 1,4 kg of copper. To collect this modest quantity of copper, it was necessary to move 11,2 tons of rocks to extract it! Obtaining steel also requires the displacement of large quantities of rock. Similarly, a simple microwave oven 13 kg "actually" weighs more than 2 tons of raw materials, and the production of cloth shoes requires 38 times more resources than their final weight. Another example, the purchase of used jeans saves 49 kilos of material ... knowing these data and thinking before buying is already a small victory for the NGO and the planet.
To carry out these calculations, Zéro Waste relies on the work of Ademe. "All equipment, furniture and appliances, present in the house, weighs on average 2,5 tons. To manufacture these 2,5 tons of equipment, it was necessary to mobilize 45 tons of raw materials and CO² emitted during the entire manufacturing cycle is 6 tons, "says Ademe in his study" The hidden side of objects ". In all, a quarter of French CO² emissions are derived from the consumption of commonly used products.
Zero waste and Ademe inform the French about these realities to encourage them to reduce their purchases of new items and privilege the existing by taking care of their objects to make them last, repair them if necessary, resell them if they do not use them more. Today, only 44% of electrical and electronic devices that fail are repaired and 88% of French people change phones while theirs still works. Zero Waste fights these reflexes and accompanies the participants by proposing alternatives to purchases of new products. It offers lists of places to repair, buy and sell used, manufacture, transform, give up the superfluous ... With these tips, tips, encouragement and discussion groups on social networks, a large majority of participating 15.000 (80%) states that the challenge was easy to meet in 2018 and therefore intends to maintain this resolution in 2019. The challenge this year will be to convince new participants to roll up their sleeves to reach the 100.000 target of the challenge.
Source: http://www.lefigaro.fr/conso/2019/01/03 ... u-defi.php
ps: on the other hand for food I do not know how to do!
I know it's not easy, we were formatted for that ... 
