Lent, Desire and materialism

I'm reading a new book, that I think is one of the best critiques of consumerism, and the most thoughtful and practical christian response to it
(I can't tell you the title yet, for reasons that should become apparent).

Part of his argument centres around the disordering of our desires by the constant 'creation of dissatisfaction' by advertising. Another part accuses consumerism of not being materialist enough! By detatching ourselves from the very material production of our goods, we don't learn to fully appreciate the material things we have.

Now, I know I'm quite late for lent, but hey, better late than never.

So firstly I'm going to attempt, until Easter, to not see or listen to any advertising. In our culture of free speech (but not free silence), it's going to be quite hard.

And secondly, each week I'm going to find one item that I already have, and spend the week enjoying that item as much as I can.

If you aren't doing anything for lent, why not give these a go. Let me know how you go