No Amazon, No Problem: My 9-Month (and counting) Experiment
Nine months ago, I stopped shopping at Amazon. Not because it was inconvenient or because I found a better deal somewhere else, but because I couldn’t ignore how harmful the company is for both people and the planet.
Amazon is the undisputed king of capitalism – It’s won the capitalism game. It has built its empire by squeezing workers, suppliers, and the environment, all while making shopping as frictionless as possible. It’s stupidly easy to click “Buy Now” and get something on your doorstep tomorrow—but that efficiency comes at a cost. Low prices and fast shipping aren’t free. Someone, somewhere, is paying the true cost, and it’s usually workers, small businesses, or the environment. You can find plenty of that out there on the internet, so I won’t go into too many details here.
That said, I used Amazon for many years without a second thought. It was generally just the cheapest place to buy stuff, and if you buy enough, the shipping is free, so I used it often. Until last year, I had cut down my Amazon purchases a lot, but I expected giving up Amazon completely to be difficult. It feels like it’s the only way to shop online. But here’s the part that surprised me: it hasn’t been that hard at all.
Most of the things I thought I “needed” from Amazon, I could find from other websites—sometimes directly from the maker, where more of my money supports their business instead of a middleman. And, what really surprised me is that in many cases, I realized I didn’t need to buy the thing at all. That’s been the most eye-opening part: how much of our shopping is just habit, not necessity.
It turns out life without Amazon looks a lot like life with Amazon—just with less impulse buying, less cardboard, and less guilt.
Do I feel like I’m depriving myself? Of course not. Just quitting Amazon doesn’t mean you become some kind of pinnacle of eco-friendly living. I still occasionally find myself having to take advantage of the capitalistic system we live in. There are still plenty of other online outlets and stores like Target or Wal-Mart if I REALLY want something (though I almost never allow myself to shop at those places either, they’re not much better than Amazon…)
Do I still get everything I want instantly? No. And that’s kind of the point. Waiting a few extra days, or sometimes choosing not to buy at all, has made me more thoughtful about what material things I bring into my life. It turns out, having to ask myself “Wow, do I want to pay that much more than Amazon charges PLUS shipping?” is a great stand-in for “Do I really actually need this thing?”
Do I miss it? As much as I thought I would, I don’t! It turns out, just like with art, adding constraints to a task ends up making you more creative and forces you to come up with DIY solutions that you end up being more proud of anyway. And you SAVE MONEY! I’ve ended up buying a lot more second-hand things, or coming up with a DIY solution to something that 10 years ago I would’ve just bought whatever gadget they sell on Amazon to solve a problem.
So if you’ve ever wondered whether you could go without Amazon, the answer is: yes. I promise. It’s easier than you think. And you might just find that you don’t miss it.
Try it for yourself. Start with one week, or even a month, without Amazon. Notice how it changes what you buy—and what you don’t.
Have you tried cutting back on Amazon or quitting it altogether? Share your experiences in the comments below—I’d love to hear what you’ve discovered or learned!
