Timberlina

Moaning and Shopping

Hello Darlings, I’ve been giving some thought to these missives. You see, nobody likes a moaner. I think it’s very easy to moan and who wants to be happy anyway? More to the point, if you’re happy, what is there to moan about? And if there’s nothing to moan about then why be happy? But imagine you have everything you possibly desired. Just think about it… just the thought of it gives you a little kick, doesn’t it? That might be dopamine doing its thing.

I recently learnt that dopamine is released into the body not when you purchase something, but at the point when you decide to buy it. It’s the excitement, quite literally the ‘thrill of the hunt’; in this case, bargain hunting. I imagine it’s not that far removed from the point at which the hunter-gatherers found their prey or the bush with the fruit on it. There would have been an impulse to partake in the ritual feasting. You only have to look at that dreadful footage of Black Friday – like a pack of starving wolves leaping on their prey!

But now we don’t really hunt or forage, unless you count the middle aisles at Aldi in Ore – and who doesn’t love a rummage in the middle aisles at Aldi in Ore? These days, for the most part, it’s said aisles at Aldi, the hidden treasures of TK Maxx or the sales at Priory Meadow that give us our kicks. For the younger folk, it’s hunting online and getting bargains sent straight to the house – you don’t even need to set foot outside.

Conversely, if you’re like me, you get your kicks out of finding inexpensive second-hand gems from the charity shops. While there are some brilliant ones hidden on Hastings back streets that you might have missed (the location of which I cannot possibly divulge), alternatively there’s Norman Road, London Road and Warrior Square at St Leonards, all of which have some ‘choice chazzers’ for starters. Then there’s those gorgeous little boutiques in the Old Town, but that’s another story.

Most exciting for me however is getting stuff for free. Trash Nothing Digest is a local email list you subscribe to that sends you a daily list of stuff going free that people no longer want. Last week there was a grand piano going! You have to pick it up, but hey, that’s part of the hunt and it’s a great resource for furniture and housewares.

Alternatively, in Transition Towns like Hastings and Rye there are Swap Shops, which are basically jumble sales – you take your jumble, it’s weighed, but then everything is free. What’s left is then taken to refuse or recycled.

I can also tell you that the surrounding natural beauty spots are a haven for foraging. The country park for one is easily accessible and brimming with blackberries and more, come late summer and further along has hidden dells abundant with wild garlic in spring – now just around the corner.

I know that in the surrounding lanes and fields men (and probably women too) go hunting with guns. There are certainly kids who know how to skin rabbits, and we all know there’s an abundance of fisher folk. If that’s not your bag but you’d still like to get more in touch with getting your kicks for free out of nature, look up some like-minded friendly folk, such as your local Green Drinks meeting. You could even start your own.

Make life more than shopping and there’s no time to moan!

Some useful local links
Green Drinks. 

Subscribe to trash nothing at digest@trashnothing.com

Transition Town Hastings. 

Also in: Timberlina's Eco Tips