The Compact: Buy Nothing for One Year

A small group of Bay Area residents who made an informal vow to not buy anything new in 2006 have found themselves in the middle of an international fury over consumerism, ecology and middle-class hypocrisy that has spread around the world in just days.

The Compact, named after the Mayflower pilgrims' revolutionary credo, started at a dinner party two years ago as a way to fight what members consider a rampant consumer culture wreaking global ecological havoc.

After a few trial runs, about 50 extended friends decided to go an entire year without buying anything new besides food, health and safety items and underwear.

Sarah Pelmas, a dean at University High School in San Francisco and one of the original Compacters, said she's amazed at the extreme responses the Compact has provoked.
"People seem very threatened by it," she said.

Overcoming Consumerism