Gear

With Gear I refer to pretty much all the longer lasting items we need, or just use, in life. It may be clothing, sports equipment, cars, bicycles, tools or in some case even software services. But not food or houses, or dogs. Is this a clear categorization? With gear we also get into brands, companies and consuming. When you really think about it, we are all surrounded by more or less important stuff, and every item carries a brand.

I will get into more details about specific gear later on, as I am already looking forward to writing about my experiences with different items. This may be helpful for someone because I really am a picky buyer. I do my research carefully before committing to a brand or product, and in general I try to buy as little as possible. The teenagers in the family will consequently consider my style as not very stylish, but let’s just say that I will stay on the classical side in many aspects. Don’t get me wrong, I love well designed, high quality products and appreciate the insight and craftmanship that have gone into the end product.

When it comes to clothes or shoes, one of the best ways to reduce the environmental impact is to consider the purchase critically before buying anything. Questions to answer are: do I actually need this, has it been manufactured in a sustainable way, will it last compared to products in the same category? You really should go through this process when considering a purchase. The easiest example of choices to make is the so called Fast Fashion, a topic that has been trending for quite some time now (excellent description here: https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion). Please keep in mind the old piece of advice: repair, reuse and recycle.

I have to admit that even if we as a family try to consume less and make conscious choices, our lifestyle really isn’t too environmentally friendly. I travel for work quite a bit, and we like to take a holiday trip somewhere warm every summer. With a big family, just the amount of food required is huge. We try to buy directly from local producers, and preferably eco-friendly products. We have also cut down on the red meat consumption significantly over the past few years, and nowadays a vegetarian dinner is almost the norm in the house. But all of us have hobbies we want to get to, which leads to having two cars in the family and doing quite a bit of driving. We will all ride our bikes, weather and schedules permitting, and the kids frequently take the bus to and from school. Combining car rides is also a daily routine, which means that sometimes one of us needs to adapt and maybe wait for a little while, but I think it is still better than having the parents drive back and forth like maniacs. Although that does happen sometimes too.

This was not meant to turn into an environmental rant, but just to give you an idea of what I think about consumption and things, stuff, gear. Stay tuned for reviews.