Well, it has finally happened - I've decided I have to many books. After moving two entire households in two entire days - two adults, with a full load of the detritus of an adult life - into one apartment, we are crammed to the rafters, and probably half of that is books. Yes, we both work for a bookstore. Yes, we have unlimited access to piles of free books. And yes, we had to carry everything down three flights of stairs, and then up one flight. Ugh. So, it turns out we not only have a great many books, but pretty much two of everything a modern American household acquires.
Two couches, two can openers, two sets of dishes, two coffee tables, two sets of pots and pans, two TVs, two toolboxes (well, actually four, because Blaine has his, his Dad's big one, and his Mom's little one). The list goes on...
How do we do this? Acquire, pretty much without noticing, huge quantities of stuff? My old place was tiny - less than 250 square feet! - and yet my stuff alone seemed to fill half of our new place, which is nearly 900 square feet. What the heck did I have all this stuff for? And what the heck do I do with it, now? It is no wonder we have environmental issues on this planet! Even I, the self-described green nut, has tons of unneeded, unused stuff. I reuse baggies, for Gaia's sake, and yet I have boxes of things I have no earthly need for.
Blaine has a bunch of gardening tools, and no garden in sight. I have way more wall maps than I could ever fit on walls, and a box of road maps to cities I will probably never visit. Three toolboxes? Two cat boxes, and one cat. About 400 glasses, cups, mugs, etc., and two people. On, and on, and on.
I blame it on our society. We somehow have developed into a society that doesn't feel successful unless we are shopping. If we can't afford it, or we don't want to buy it, we have somehow failed as an American. Heck, didn't Shrub tell us to shop, to help the economy, to 'support America' or some such crap, after 9/11? No, thank you. From this point on, if I can't find it at Goodwill, or Freecycle, or Craigslist, I don't need it.
Two tents. At least four coolers, in various shapes and sizes. An overflowing shelf full of tupperware-like containers. At least eight bookcases, also in various shapes and sizes. More cleaning supplies than we could possibly use in a reasonable period of time.
My biggest pet peeve, of course, is when people simply throw things out. They don't bring it to Goodwill, or FreeGeek, or have a garage sale. They don't even recycle it. Nope. They put perfectly - or even slightly flawed - stuff in the garbage can, and think that is fine. There is no 'away', folks. There is no such thing as 'throwing it away'. When you put it in the garbage can, it becomes someone else's problem, but it is not 'gone' by any stretch of the word. It still exists, and will continue to exist, for probably thousands of years yet. And, if we keep this up for much longer, everyone will have an 'away', in the form of a garbage dump, in their neighborhood. You want that? I sure don't.
Three brooms. Two VCRs. Three sets of stereo speakers, and three sets of computer speakers. Three sets of mixing bowls, and a bunch of unmatched mixing bowls. A whole bookcase's worth of Mark Martin geegaws.
What is the answer? Well, I believe some of our problems will be solved, one way or the other, when we are out of oil. Hello, peak oil! Come on down! No more disposable plastic bags, toys, gadgets, containers, toothbrushes, bottles, shoes, shower curtains, phones, furniture, and on, and on, and on. I like that idea. If you buy something, it is now a permanent item - it is not disposable, is is recyclable -actually recyclable, not like plastic with the '7' is (un)recyclable - and it is fixable if it breaks. Hey, that could be the next big startup business! There will be a booming business again in repair shops - places that can actually fix our small appliances like mixers and VCRs when they break.
Three media shelves, and more media -CDs, DVDs, even VHS tapes - than fits on them. About a dozen film cameras, digital cameras, video cameras, old cameras, reel to reel projectors, etc.
I have decided to revamp how I shop. I will try to get it used first, or repair what we already have. If that is not possible, we will look for something that is sturdy, repairable, and most importantly, recyclable. No extra packaging, nothing 'disposable', nothing that is 'trendy' that I will tire of quickly. Nothing made of cheap plastic! We will purge, purge, purge, but we will pass these things on to others to use - we will not put unwanted things in the garbage cans!
Of course, first things first. I need to make a little room on those bookcases... Anyone want a nice, used copy of Middlemarch? How about an old, but perfectly fine copy of the old, early 70's era, Whole Earth Catalog? (I'm keepin' my Millennium WEC, that one is signed by Stewart Brand...)
1 comment:
It is a special case..
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