Out walking beside a beautiful reservoir, I used regularly to chat to a woman who lived locally. Once she mentioned her belief that when one acquires an animal one must recognise at that very moment that eventually one will be responsible for its death. Maybe we could apply that principle to things. In other words, however hard we try, our control over things we acquired in the past is limited, and even our best efforts can sometimes do more harm than good. (eg 2nd hand clothes donated to poorer countries have undermined local crafts.) So maybe the time to give this the most thought is BEFORE acquiring. Not just, do I really need this, but what will happen to it when I no longer do? Is it made of materials that can be re-cycled? Is it so desirable that someone else will want it (eg antiques)?
I wish I had realised earlier that I, and my needs, are transient. What can I do with so many pairs of lightly used running shoes, now I can no longer run? On the other hand, all those beautiful books I will struggle to read can be found good homes locally, being sold to a wonderful 2nd hand bookshop, or given to a great Oxfam bookshop, or the least presentable added to our brilliant free book exchange boxes. So buying books is the perfect guilt-free treat!
Jessica, I am loving reading your posts. Thank-you.
I might be overly sentimental and too attached to “things” but I buy very little (never from Amazon!!!!) and almost everything in my life has meaning. I don’t believe things are just things. So much of what I have was given to me by people I love or inherited from loved ones and is a connection to those people.
I find it incredibly painful to get rid of things but when I do I take photos of them first. Even if I never look at those photos, it’s comforting to know I can. When I sold my house to move to a small apartment the realtor said they would bring a dumpster over. I refused and carefully found new homes for almost everything.
I hope I didn’t burden somebody else with those things!
Doesn’t she in a way also correct for future overconsumption? Yes, waste is created all at once, but if the house then becomes a vessel of sparked joy, then shouldn’t we assume one down-trends their consumption?
I can say with ease that the number of toys my household has has decreased in these years (despite adding a kid to the family), (and when we get good toys that I know won’t float in my family I chuck them in one of our many neighborhood free libraries).
Out walking beside a beautiful reservoir, I used regularly to chat to a woman who lived locally. Once she mentioned her belief that when one acquires an animal one must recognise at that very moment that eventually one will be responsible for its death. Maybe we could apply that principle to things. In other words, however hard we try, our control over things we acquired in the past is limited, and even our best efforts can sometimes do more harm than good. (eg 2nd hand clothes donated to poorer countries have undermined local crafts.) So maybe the time to give this the most thought is BEFORE acquiring. Not just, do I really need this, but what will happen to it when I no longer do? Is it made of materials that can be re-cycled? Is it so desirable that someone else will want it (eg antiques)?
I wish I had realised earlier that I, and my needs, are transient. What can I do with so many pairs of lightly used running shoes, now I can no longer run? On the other hand, all those beautiful books I will struggle to read can be found good homes locally, being sold to a wonderful 2nd hand bookshop, or given to a great Oxfam bookshop, or the least presentable added to our brilliant free book exchange boxes. So buying books is the perfect guilt-free treat!
Jessica, I am loving reading your posts. Thank-you.
I might be overly sentimental and too attached to “things” but I buy very little (never from Amazon!!!!) and almost everything in my life has meaning. I don’t believe things are just things. So much of what I have was given to me by people I love or inherited from loved ones and is a connection to those people.
I find it incredibly painful to get rid of things but when I do I take photos of them first. Even if I never look at those photos, it’s comforting to know I can. When I sold my house to move to a small apartment the realtor said they would bring a dumpster over. I refused and carefully found new homes for almost everything.
I hope I didn’t burden somebody else with those things!
You might like this writer’s quest to downsize responsibly (I certainly did!): https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/how-we-downsized-and-sold-our-house-without-creating-waste.html
Doesn’t she in a way also correct for future overconsumption? Yes, waste is created all at once, but if the house then becomes a vessel of sparked joy, then shouldn’t we assume one down-trends their consumption?
I can say with ease that the number of toys my household has has decreased in these years (despite adding a kid to the family), (and when we get good toys that I know won’t float in my family I chuck them in one of our many neighborhood free libraries).