Behavioural change is necessary in order to reach a sustainable society. Sometimes this will translate into doing less and it is likely that we need to stop some things entirely. We lay out the multiple challenges of making the act of abstaining count. The issue is partly philosophical - we ask ourselves how to intellectually and semantically frame abstaining; partly practical – how can we count abstaining? It concerns a broader understanding of modernity and interrogates the ideas of progress and growth, technological change, and innovation. Abstaining will also be a moving target as expectations and demands shift over time.