Cheaper is not better in a recession

The papers are chock full of ways to save money in the recession and the reduction in consumption has been notcied at the petrol pumps and power stations. As I've said before, while this is giving some ecological breathing space, it is not the thriving low carbon living that most of us want to see. And we appear to be seeing a tendency to buy similar amounts of cheaper stuff - which is usually a false economy as cheap things often wear out quicker.

I believe we should be buying less stuff, but better quality stuff when we do. I'm currently dressed head to toe in YSL, which few people would think of as 'green', but this suit has lasted twice as long already as the cheap one I bought from H&M about 6 years ago. Quality beats quantity every time.