Feature: Argentine pair quit shopping for a year, blog about it

Two Argentinian friends challenged each other to stop shopping for a year, to draw attention to the ever-increasing pace of consumerism.

Evangelina Himitian and Soledad Vallejos, both reporters for the Argentine daily La Nacion, decided to quit recreational shopping cold turkey on April 1.

What they have experienced and learned in the past five months is going into their blog deseoconsumido.com ("consumed desire") and has been turned into an art exhibit, with the help of artist Fernanda Diaz.

"In very few years, Argentinians have gone from living in a consumer society to living in a hyper-consumer society," they write on their web page.

In the span of two decades, the average Argentinian went from buying nine articles of clothing a year to buying more than 20, they said.

Stepped up consumerism does not just encroach on your time and savings, it has also lead to an "explosion in clandestine sweatshops," where employees are underpaid and overworked, they warned.

What's more, "we only use 20 percent of the clothing in our closet," the two discovered while researching consumer trends.

When did they decide enough is enough?

"It was during the end-of-year festivities," Himitian told Xinhua at the Hiedra Gallery in Buenos Aires, which is hosting the exhibit.

"I felt I had to get home, cross the city and it was chaotic, because we were all out shopping for gifts and buying food. It was a breaking point, realizing 'we are not having a good time with this celebration and this hyper-consumerism'", said Himitian.

"While chatting ... the idea came up of not buying anything for a year, no clothes, no wallets, no nail polish," she said.

"We didn't feel like going shopping ... there's a drive to consuming, it takes energy, desire, force, and when you (stop shopping), you can use them for something else," she added.

Vallejos said the challenge has been tough, especially since the decision to forgo shopping affects not just them, but their families, particularly their young children.

"In my urban, middle-class family ... my children, who are small, have a major need for 'buy me this, buy me this'."

Still, the experiment has led to a "great change in attitude" among friends and relatives, said Vallejos.

"When I got rid of more than half my closet, we naturally began to talk about other things at my house. My husband and my children no longer think the same as they did five months ago," she said, adding that at the end of the year-long experiment, hopefully "our pattern of consumption will have changed."

As part of the exhibit, entitled "I'm Out of the Closet" and on show until Sept. 15, an underground sweatshop recreates the "hostile conditions" garment workers are often subjected to. Endit