I wasn't planning on doing a diary today, but I came across this column by Amy Hardin Turosak, "Green shopping: Don't say 'eww,' to thrift stores," which says some things that have been floating around my mind lately, but—with the help of Dr. Seuss—says them much better than I ever could.
Sometime within the last 100 years, we lost the power to dialogue with shopkeepers to define our own needs. Now, retailers "inform" us. This exact scenario was foretold by the wise Dr. Seuss in his book "The Lorax." He said, "A Thneed's a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need! ... I'm figgering on biggering and biggering ... turning MORE Truffula Trees in to Thneeds which everyone ... needs!
According to Turosak,
There is an alternative to this wasteful paradigm, and its infrastructure is in place: thrift shopping.