American Thrift needs a strong, hefty lift!

About four months ago, in a thrift-obsessed mania, I launched a Facebook petition calling for a commemorative month of American Thrift. It didn’t take long to realize this was a monumental project, naively approached with the build-it-and-they-will-come mentality. Like most super-sized deals it’s easy to order, hard to swallow and sticks to the gut for a long, long time.

Overwhelmed by its scale, I put it on the side bar. Some encouraged me to try at the state level first and then work up. No! This needs to be national! Now! So, I’m back at it, spittin’ and a swingin’.

Retailers have done a bang-up job leading Americans away from thrift and making us think “If it’s not new its EWWW!” All kinds of bizarre myths are in play. The strangest I’ve heard is that one needs a voucher, like food stamps, to thrift. Consumers are lost and it’s time to call them home.

American Thrift deserves at least one month in the annual spotlight to educate and recruit people to the cause. Remember folks this is poetic shopping. Buy a repurposed item and the profits go to repurposing a life!

Retailers have been receiving commemorative months for years by self-promotion. Who would sign a petition for Return the Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Noodle Month, Frozen Foods Month, Hamburger Month, or Umbrella Month?* How these months became a reality is a real head-scratcher. I provided links to these promotions because I'm betting you don't believe me. The link to Return the Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month provides instruction on how to observe that month. Phew! I was a bit uncertain as to how to honor that month, its title is so vague. For a list of our national commemorative months click here.

If you’re a Facebook member, click here or on the button to the right and join and then invite your friends to join too. If you’re not on Facebook, we'll be developing an alternate option. As I wrote, this project was kicked off in a thrift-loving manic state. But, I believe it can be successfully orchestrated.

A few days back I put out a call to other blogs and heard back from Black and into Green, Songbirdtiff, Frugal Babe, Green Girls Global, Atomic Tea Party, Dime Store Thrift, No Pattern Required, Repurposeful, My Daily Round and the Goodwill Blog of Northern New England, Karla's Bonanza, and Green & Crunchy before I even blinked. They have all written posts and are encouraging their readers to join. There are links to these blogs on the petition page. The Queen of Fifty Cents is in the mix too. I do not stand alone on this cause.

If you're on Facebook, I urge to to link to this post and run like mad with it! Send it to your friends and tell them that they must join or you'll, you'll... well you'll do something and it won't be pleasant.

Oh, and this is no shameless promotion of Facebook. I just happened to be on it during my psychotic thrifting break of genius and naivete. This "I can change the world attitude" makes me feel like I'm in college again! Why, I'm as light as a feather!

We can do this! Please join and then comment as to what month you think it should be. And, if you have experience in this field and want to help, email me right away at Shopping [dot] Golightly [at] gmail [dot] com. *Sources: epromos.com & Wikipedia