For the record, I didn't invent this idea.

In 2006, a group of 60 people in San Francisco formed a compact and pledged to buy nothing new for a year. They offered each other encouragement and ideas for where to get used or free items, and fought significant backlash in their community (http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/).

So far, more than 8,400 people have joined the group in order to reduce the environmental costs of consumerism, reduce their clutter and simplify their lives. This is just one of many movements designed to encourage people to adopt more environmentally friendly lifestyles.

I admit that I announced one day that we should join in while my husband ranted about all the toys and tchotchkes that litter our house. I argued that we should just take the pledge, not giving ourselves time to rush out and buy all the things we anticipated needing or wanting over the year. And so, on July 15, we stopped buying new stuff.

Sort of.

We spent half of this month on vacation. In Portland, Ore., I was thrilled to find free craft activities for my daughters, and we painted small ceramic tiles for souvenirs. Early in the trip, I picked up some used toys from a Goodwill store and donated them back at the end of our journey. Even my husband got into the fun, searching all over Missoula to find a used hat to protect him from the relentless Montana sunshine. In fact, finding the thrift stores in new towns became our mission.

But then we lost Tootsie Fruitsie.

Toots happens to be a small stuffed turtle that my 1-year-old is particularly attached to, and we lost him somewhere between Oregon and Montana. Ignoring warnings about the health dangers of used stuffed animals, I picked up two cute stuffed skunks at a garage sale. Predictably, she rejected them.

So I called in the grandparents, who aren't entirely thrilled that we've cut off their ability to buy the girls new toys and other treats for a whole year. Humiliated, I explained my predicament to my parents, who were absolutely, over-the-top delighted to track down a new turtle and express-mail it to us. I'm not sure if it was the act of buying something new or my failure to uphold the pledge that gave them greater joy. But, the look on my daughter's face when Twotsie Fruitsie arrived made it all seem OK.

Even though I fell off the buy nothing wagon in this case, I'm proud that we've added no other new clutter to our house this month. Yes, we still have a good deal of stuff to donate or freecycle. We still need to reduce the incredible amount of recyclable waste we produce and find new ways to be energy efficient. But this pledge is a good start toward living a greener lifestyle. So far, the biggest accomplishment has been convincing my husband (who you might remember is not especially excited about this project) that shopping the treasure trove of used and free goods can actually be quite fun.

And guilt-free.