How much less can you do with?

We know we live in a consumer-driven world. We know we live in a consumer-driven recession. We know we live in a consumer-directed business world. We are constantly encouraged with sales, discounts, coupons, commercials, directed marketing, etc. And while there are ideas such as permission marketing, it's virtually impossible for many of us to go a day without purchasing something (coffee, newspaper, online article, sushi, clothing, book, wine), and it doesn't help that we constantly feel that we really need more. Do we want more? Sure we do. But can we channel the tangible wants and focus on our own growth and development? Seth Godin's Alternative-MBA is a perfect example of that challenge.

A more radical example I stumbled upon today: Freegan. My first thought was "wow, what a great new-age way of saying hippies". But I read more. Here's what got me:

"Despite our society’s sterotypes about garbage, the goods recovered by freegans are safe, useable, clean, and in perfect or near-perfect condition, a symptom of a throwaway culture that encourages us to constantly replace our older goods with newer ones, and where retailers plan high-volume product disposal as part of their economic model."

There's so much talk about just having too much. Too many cars produced standing in empty parking lots, too many goods in stores that go over their expiry dates, too many services that are closing because noone walks through the door anymore. Today's cover of Globe and Mail Report on Business:

The New Consumer of 2009 is a tighter-fisted and "emotionally fragile" shopper who will determine the health of Canada's economy and the fate of many companies after the meltdown of 2008.

Take what you can out of it. How can you personally decrease your "credit footprint"? Can you do with less to have more for yourself? Maybe not as extreme as freegan, but there is a lesson to be learned. You CAN live on less. And you will probably be better of for doing so. How can you apply this to your business? How will this affect your business? Will you change your value proposition to still be attractive to consumers?

Check out Margaret Atwood's latest book for an interesting perspective on the current economic situation, part of the CBC Massey Lectures.