Can you Buy Nothing New?

We supported Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Buy Nothing New Month’ during January – which encourages residents and businesses across Bucks (and the whole UK) to live more sustainably and consider their effects of their spending habits on the planet.

The campaign challenges people to reduce the waste they generate by buying nothing new for one month. To make it 31 days without buying anything new they need to make the use of the things they already have, by repairing and upcycling, or if all else fails, buying second-hand is a great way of avoiding more stuff being made.

Buying less ‘new’ stuff is one action we can all take that is good for the environment and also has the added benefit of being good for our finances at a time when money is tight.

The second ever Buy Nothing New Month happened in January, underlying message is relevant all year long. Here in Bucks we:

• Have 14 repair cafe/groups – which gives residents the opportunity to repair broken items, instead of buying new replacements
• Have 2 reuse shops at Aston Clinton and High Wycombe Household recycling centres (alongside traditional high street charity shops) – which offers the chance to buy items second hand, as well as donating items you no longer need (at all 10 sites around the county)
• Encourage residents to use online reuse sites, like Freegle, Gumtree and even Facebook Marketplace. These sites help keep old items in use for longer and you can often get them delivered to your door.

If you are tempted to buy things like toiletries that aren’t strictly ‘essential’, think about the waste you might be creating and consider whether there’s an alternative. There are refill shops across the County where you can buy plastic free and ethically sourced goods. Find you nearest on our Zero Waste Map.

Last year 65% of participants managed to buy nothing new for the whole month of January. And we hope that 2024 was even better, but why stop at a month – lets challenge ourselves to stop and think before we make purchases and see if we can reduce our consumption and waste this year, by repairing more, shopping second hand and thinking before we throw items in the waste bin.

Tips: you can find lots of useful tips on topics like reuse, repair and upcycling on our pages. 

When you are considering buying an item (whether than be clothes, furniture, toys) use this diagram to help remind you of the options available. 


Spread the word: Whether you choose to host a clothes swap, upcycle a piece of furniture or have a go at repairing old clothing, we  would love to hear how you are buying nothing new. 

The Waste Hierarchy is a scale of how waste is managed from most preferred to least preferred, you can find out more about the waste hierarchy here.