
Show HN: See hours worked before you make a purchase online - jsomau
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/anthrolocaust/khdjgifdbcmpgadopnlhiffkbjljonhk
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jsomau
Hey HN,

I've been building a browser extension that shows you how long you worked
before you make a purchase online. My hope is that it'll help you make more
mindful purchases and reduce your environmental impact.

I'll be around for the next hour or so answering questions but open to
feedback!

Firefox is in the works. Limited to US and Australian Chrome store at the
moment - sorry!

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peternicky
What does hours “worked” have to do with making “mindful” purchases and
“reducing environmental impact”?

Reading this headline I thought it was something like a “reward” system where
you can accumulate “points” as you complete your tasks.

~~~
jsomau
That's a fair question. The premise I'm working from is that often people
(myself included) do not associate the dollar value of their purchases with
the actual time and effort required to earn that amount of money. You get a
lump sum in your bank account every 2 weeks and there's no relationship
between effort and reward. The number is abstract. The purchase funnel online
(in apps, or in store, or anywhere really) are all designed and optimized to
push you through the purchase as fast as possible (see: large shopping
destination patenting the one click purchase button). Even the fact you only
see the full price on the final checkout screen with all the tax, tips,
shipping included works to the advantage of businesses. So, if my tool works
the way I hope it does, it will stop and make you think about all the time you
spent working before you complete a purchase. I suspect that once you realise
how much actual time it costs you, you're less likely to make frivolous,
unnecessary purchases. It's the same principle as people putting their credit
card in the freezer and then thawing it to give them sufficient time to think
about a purchase. Would you buy that new sweater if you knew it cost you 4
hours to earn? Lowering the rate at which we consume and ship things across
the globe for our amusement is difficult to quantify in terms of environmental
impact but I also hope there are secondary effects. For instance, I still
recycle even though I've been told by multiple sources that it's not useful.
The act itself has made me consume less because I'm aware that even recycling
won't save us.

I see how the title is confusing. I will consider another title next time I
post this idea somewhere. Thanks!

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oliver-was-here
Big fan of the concept, a bit more mindfulness in this click-and-buy culture
couldn’t hurt! Hope this gets traction

