Lee Simpson has long been associated with shopping for the sake of it. She used to be the publisher of the most successful women's magazine in Canada, Chatelaine. She heavily promoted beauty products and latest gadgets through the magazine. Ms Simpson, nevertheless, wants to compensate the promotion of over-consumption, which she has been doing for years. She plans to buy nothing for one year.

Ms Simpson told CTV News that she planned to leave a small footprint on the ecological field. She has been blogging on the challenge she took. She mentioned in her blog that she had been an "enthusiastic participant" in pushing readers to buy things, most of which were "fattening, silly, fragile."

The reasons why she took up such a challenge are "more complicated" than the challenge itself, she wrote. She wrote about taking a walk down the Christmas toy aisle and finding out the shocking fact that there were so many things to be sold. Everything is branded and sponsored, manufactured in foreign countries and gender-manipulative; she wrote. She realised how engrossed people had become in overspending.

Her days of selling various products to her readers are gone as she is now a United Church minister. She has also become a staffer at The Observer. She decided to compensate her indulgence in motivating people for buying stuff by not buying anything for one year. Whenever she does not purposefully buy, she will dedicate the moment to God; she wrote. The things she plans not to buy for a year include shoes, clothing, books, furniture, gifts, cosmetics, cards and toiletries.

She mentioned in her blog that she does not own a car, although her husband does. If she decided not to buy gas, it would be a costless sacrifice for her being a non-driver. She, therefore, plans travelling through public transport. She also plans not to travel by taxis. She will accept gifts in the form of services like pedicures, hair-cuts as well as craft supplies.