Lately, I have been pondering the waste we generate as we live and the ways to reduce it. As I scale down, I fill trash bags with things I can’t use, which bothers me. The items that can be donated and have a second life are strictly excluded from this definition, though. They’re donated to people who need them.
The items that are disposed of include cardboard boxes, plastic containers, and items that have leaked or reached the end of their useful life but cannot be consumed, donated, or revived. Putting things in a trash bag and throwing them out is the least preferred thing I do; however, in reality, some things need to go through this system. The wrapping film used to protect a product from the environment can’t be reused in practice, for example.
It’s imperative to understand that every item has a purpose and useful life, and is rarely useful outside these. While things can be repurposed, achieving this becomes increasingly difficult as time and technology progress. Our current system views products as disposable items, a problem El-Pais recently wrote about. As a result, the products we buy or use have shorter lifespans, and their repairability is exponentially reduced. The discussion of the whys and hows of this phenomenon is worthy of another blog post for another day.
Humans are creatures of comfort and habit. If something brings us carefree comfort, we tend to cling to it until we need to face the consequences of our actions. This has brought us good things in the past and allowed us to improve our lives progressively; however, we have now passed the point where we need to drastically change our habits. This momentum is evident in our response to climate change. Currently, trying to save our planet is a torturous battle.
It’s worth noting that there are other factors driving consumption, which are rooted in the society we live in. Humans are social creatures, as are creatures of habit. We have a tendency to buy the things our peers use, wear, or have. Some of us prefer to express ourselves with material items. This creates another vector of excessive consumption. Even others who don’t prefer to do this are manipulated by mass media to buy things by playing on the emotions of owning things.
Personally, I have begun to view waste as something I need to minimize, both realistically and consciously. This small change had a domino effect on how I perceive consuming and buying things from a bigger perspective. The most significant change I made was reducing disposable items in my life and using items that can be safely and realistically recycled (i.e., glass, metal, paper). This change lends itself effortlessly to buying for life, which advocates for buying better items once and using them for a lifetime.
Buying for a lifetime is not without its own difficulties, though. The first step is to find something that can endure daily life for a long time, especially when everything else is made to be disposable. In the past, the price of an item was a semi-reliable indicator of its longevity. Now, this line has blurred beyond recognition. Next, assuming that the item exists, its reachability becomes a problem. Many of the higher-quality items are made in small quantities and sold locally, making it harder to obtain them than before. The last point is the price of the item in question. When the first two hurdles are cleared, the cost of the item becomes the final obstacle. The price is higher not only because the item is better made, but the prospective buyer needs to bear more of the fixed costs related to the production of the said item. However, when all hurdles are cleared, what remains is an item that can be used for a long time and passed down to future generations. When used for this long, the item not only pays for itself, but carries and accumulates worth beyond money. If you pardon the term, it becomes enchanted.
While this is not an easy to path to tread, and sometimes there’s no path, I’m happy and content by trying to reduce what I buy and use them for longer, because having long-lasting items and using them every day without thinking about how to deal with them is akin to wearing a familiar sweater at home and being comfortable.
And, I like being comfortable, sipping a tea, and remembering good times. It beats trying to keep up with imaginary beings, damaging the environment, and lining somebody else’s pockets big time.
Until next time,
Be kind.