View Full Version : Trashing stuff
In my voluntary simplicity classes I noticed that many people -- especially those over 40 -- were leery and worried about throwing stuff away.
Here are reasons they cited:
-Don't want to send it to the landfill
-Someone else might want to use it
They would go to the ends of the earth to recycle something (like drive an hour and a half for one item), or they would ask everyone and their brother if they knew someone who wanted the item and planned to use it.
Much time and brain power was being used to avoid trashing stuff these folks did not want or use.
Also interesting: Many of these folks were trying to give away the same types of items. One class member pointed out that everyone has all the same stuff so selling or even giving it away is going to be really challenging!
I suggested this: Just trash it and...
1. Make peace with the purchasing mistakes of your past. Forgive yourself and let it go.
2. Stop the future influx of items that will likely not be used or appreciated as your penance for the aforementioned purchasing mistakes (rather than simply storing something indefinitely)
Thoughts? Anyone else dealing with these issues in others or themselves?
my friends in Burlington, VT have an awesome garbage/recycling program. People can leave those "treasures" in a specific place for others to enjoy and if no one does they eventually get trashed/recycled. There is a great magazine exchange, rather than just dumping them first for recycling. Their large hospital system has a stand alone thrift shop on steroids, I cannot believe the things they come home with. That city just does things better.
I also mentioned to these folks that they could keep the items they don't want or use for the rest of their lives, thereby simply turning their homes into a hybrid of home and landfill.
I also asked: "What happens if you keep these items for the rest of your life and then you die? Will you put them in your coffin as to avoid having them go to the landfill? Wouldn't that make the graveyard a landfill?" haha
Burlington, VT
A good friend of mine just moved there! She says it is absolutely amazing. And she has my dream job too -- USPS letter carrier!
that sounds like an attainable dream job, oh, I forgot the student loans
ex-husband and I seriously considered a move there, the cost of living is higher but the quality of life was up our alley. Then my mother saw her first grandbaby and my ex said, "we're never getting out of here." He was right, although he's free to move along any time now, lol.
that sounds like an attainable dream job, oh, I forgot the student loans
ex-husband and I seriously considered a move there, the cost of living is higher but the quality of life was up our alley. Then my mother saw her first grandbaby and my ex said, "we're never getting out of here." He was right, although he's free to move along any time now, lol.
Letter carrier is public service. I could do it. haha
Lots of people mention the high cost of living or the deep freeze. But it is supposed to be a liberal paradise!
Bernie's stomping grounds!
Miss Cellane
3-9-16, 5:07pm
I think this is a common stumbling block for many people who are trying to declutter. They create these barriers to getting rid of the stuff.
If they can't throw it out--donate to Goodwill/Salvation Army/church groups. List on Freecycle. Post a "free" listing on Craigslist. Offer it around to family and friends--with a firm deadline to get back to you or out it goes. Check with local theater groups who might want props or costumes. And if no one wants it after that--well then, it *is* trash. And should be thrown out. Or composted if that's an option. But for heaven's sake, if you don't want it and no one you know wants it, just get rid of it.
The "need" to give everything a good home is what keeps a lot of junk in houses. My dad knew he had to declutter, but he wanted everything to go to someone. He just couldn't throw stuff out. What ended up happening was that every time I'd visit, he'd give me a bag or two of stuff to take home. I'd do a quick check, just to make sure there wasn't something important in the bags, throw out anything that was completely unusable or unsafe (extension cords from the 1950s), and donate the rest. There was a charity that would take just about any household goods or clothing. They'd distribute them for free to people in need. I gave them a ton of stuff, and they were happy to take it. I think by the end Dad knew what I was doing, but since he didn't see it, he was fine with it. And it was something I could do to help him.
I think this is a common stumbling block for many people who are trying to declutter. They create these barriers to getting rid of the stuff.
Yup....sad but true.
If they can't throw it out--donate to Goodwill/Salvation Army/church groups. List on Freecycle. Post a "free" listing on Craigslist. Offer it around to family and friends--with a firm deadline to get back to you or out it goes. Check with local theater groups who might want props or costumes. And if no one wants it after that--well then, it *is* trash. And should be thrown out. Or composted if that's an option. But for heaven's sake, if you don't want it and no one you know wants it, just get rid of it.
It is like some folks want to endlessly play matchmaker with their unwanted stuff/trash. They want to find everything its Prince Charming who will happily use it with love.
The "need" to give everything a good home is what keeps a lot of junk in houses. My dad knew he had to declutter, but he wanted everything to go to someone. He just couldn't throw stuff out. What ended up happening was that every time I'd visit, he'd give me a bag or two of stuff to take home. I'd do a quick check, just to make sure there wasn't something important in the bags, throw out anything that was completely unusable or unsafe (extension cords from the 1950s), and donate the rest. There was a charity that would take just about any household goods or clothing. They'd distribute them for free to people in need. I gave them a ton of stuff, and they were happy to take it. I think by the end Dad knew what I was doing, but since he didn't see it, he was fine with it. And it was something I could do to help him.
Bravo to you for doing that arrangement with your dad. It probably really helped.
what is it with old extension cords? my mom actually said to me about a huge pile of 2 prong ones, "those are from the house I grew up in." Well, that was over 60 years ago, I don't think these are UL listed and I'm not plugging anything into any of them just in case as I choose life. She's sentimental over extension cords. I found her iPad charging in one and got mad because it was hot and she's gonna burn the house down. Hoarding, ugh.
Teacher Terry
3-9-16, 5:37pm
If an item is in good shape I donate it. WE have a ton of thrift stores here that want decent things. If it is in bad shape I have no problem with throwing it away. WE also live on a fairly busy street so I have put things outside with a free sign. Most items usually gone within 2 hours.
I am one of those older people and my theory is that I grew up hearing the messages of my Depression era parents. Everything was kept in case it might be needed or re-used. As I continue our pre-move decluttering, I am dealing with so many emotions as I pour over all this stuff to get rid of. I realize what a ridiculous waste of life energy it is but fretting over it seems to be part of the process. Today, I let go of a little more and felt bad (again) about all the stuff my parents left behind. I keep imagining how freeing it will feel when it is winnowed down to its essence. That is my motivation.
Teacher Terry
3-9-16, 5:44pm
The more you do it the easier it gets. My parents were off the same generation and put everything in their basement. But then my Mom and DAd wanted to downsize to an apartment so it took her and I 2 years to declutter all the stuff. WE had a bunch of garage sales and took the rest to the thrift stores. AFter that she never saved stuff again. I have had to move across the country numerous times with a family of 5 so I learned how to get rid of things. At first it was hard but not now.
ApatheticNoMore
3-9-16, 6:04pm
probably a far more practical plan for some things at least:
3) buy from the thrift shop in the first place, then don't have any guilt when back to the thrift shop it returns, it was merely visiting your place, the cost you paid for it was rent, monogamy with things is such a burden. :)
I think a lot of the problem is people don't fully know what they want in terms of things, or they change their mind over time, and it's only by trying possessing various things out that they really come to their preferences, or at least their preferences for the time. Say they think they want a table and it turns out they really want a desk or the reverse, they think they want glass plates and they really want China or the reverse. So used things cycling in and out of people's possession may make more sense sometimes.
my mother, the hoarder, had Depression Era parents. They built a small home from a kit with the world's tiniest apt for a rental. I loved that tiny apt when there was no tenant. My parents lived there shortly with me and hated it. It had all this cool built in storage, cute as can be. My grandmother worked as a secretary, she hated housekeeping so there was zero clutter in her house, less to dust and take care of. I loved going there as a kid to stay on weekends, it felt better not being surrounded by toppling mounds of paper and clutter. Her huge basement was empty except for the washer/dryer and a toolbox, I could roller-skate around in it. Who the heck keeps so little that their basement is empty? She was not a mushy-gushy sentimental person but she kept cards and photo albums and gifts we made her. But everything had it's place. And she bought only what she needed. I want to be more like her. She didn't have a bazillion extra tops just because they were on sale, she didn't have multiple extra sets of sheets. IDK, I fall somewhere between her and my mom and living with the hoard again is driving me to be more like my grandmother.
Teacher Terry
3-9-16, 6:40pm
I used to have a ton of linens but about a year ago I only kept 2 sets of sheets for each bed. I did keep about 20 big towels and hand towels & wash cloths for when we have company, I keep some old ones to bathe dogs and don't want to wash towels all the time. I have some collectibles that i like but my solution was to put them in a glass curio cabinet which I only have to clean the inside of once/year. I got sick of dusting all the small things. I have some things on end tables but just a few larger items. I can clean way faster now.
I am one of those older people and my theory is that I grew up hearing the messages of my Depression era parents. Everything was kept in case it might be needed or re-used. As I continue our pre-move decluttering, I am dealing with so many emotions as I pour over all this stuff to get rid of. I realize what a ridiculous waste of life energy it is but fretting over it seems to be part of the process. Today, I let go of a little more and felt bad (again) about all the stuff my parents left behind. I keep imagining how freeing it will feel when it is winnowed down to its essence. That is my motivation.
You powering through this is pure bad assery! Keep up the good work!
The more you do it the easier it gets.
Terry is right on target with this point! Absolutely!
I suggested this: Just trash it and...
1. Make peace with the purchasing mistakes of your past. Forgive yourself and let it go.
2. Stop the future influx of items that will likely not be used or appreciated as your penance for the aforementioned purchasing mistakes (rather than simply storing something indefinitely)
It makes me cringe to think that people send useful items to a landfill. Donating most things is virtually effortless, although large furniture items are more of a challenge. There have been two or three incidences in my general area of people responding to a for sale ad in Craigslist and then committing an act of violence. I would not list something there as "free" unless that was a last option. I have some family things that are pretty much just taking up space, and I have trouble dealing with their disposal. Beyond that I don't understand the psychology behind accumulation.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 9:55am
It makes me cringe to think that people send useful items to a landfill.
You're in good company. I think many, many people feel this way. I find it curious that the cringing happens so late in the process. Why not cringe when the idea of buying something that someday, surely ends up trashed enters one's mind for the first time?
Donating most things is virtually effortless, although large furniture items are more of a challenge.
Donating good stuff can be easy. But what about old, worn out, tarnished looking things?
And: Dirty little secret: Places like Goodwill actually trash A LOT of their donations. I knew two people who worked there in college. It was a trashingly chaotic place; stuff was briefly assessed, labeled as garbage, and tossed multiple times on the daily.
I have some family things that are pretty much just taking up space, and I have trouble dealing with their disposal. Beyond that I don't understand the psychology behind accumulation.
Good on you! Sounds like you have a handle on things, so to speak.
Chicken lady
3-10-16, 9:58am
Ultralite, that is my theme song, the hymn of my people - we can't just throw it out! If you could have seen the reams of paper I finally cleaned out of the basement when the paper retriever went up at the CSA!
Everything that leaves this house goes through the checklist. Can it be fed to livestock? Composted? Given away? Upcycled/downcycled/recycled/reused/repurposed? Will it burn in the pottery firing barrel without poisoning me?
it informs my shopping as well. i hate buying dh potato chips because they come in that awful non-recyclable Mylar bag. I have finally reached the point where I can throw away the feed bags without thinking about it, but I would pay more for feed to avoid them. My dream would be to have feed come in pretty cotton sacks the way my great grandmother bought it.
I witnessed a really big waste yesterday while on my neighborhood walk. A 2000 sf+ house made of solid, cut block limestone house smashed to the ground by a bulldozer. Then the piles were dumped into a large waste receptacle - stones and all. We had seen photos of the interior and it had hardwood floors and wooden cabinets throughout. We thought they would recycle the contents and certainly the stone and oak flooring - but nope- it all went to a landfill. Breaks my heart to see that kind of waste and disrespect for stone and wood.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 10:12am
Ultralite, that is my theme song, the hymn of my people - we can't just throw it out! If you could have seen the reams of paper I finally cleaned out of the basement when the paper retriever went up at the CSA!
Everything that leaves this house goes through the checklist. Can it be fed to livestock? Composted? Given away? Upcycled/downcycled/recycled/reused/repurposed? Will it burn in the pottery firing barrel without poisoning me?
it informs my shopping as well. i hate buying dh potato chips because they come in that awful non-recyclable Mylar bag. I have finally reached the point where I can throw away the feed bags without thinking about it, but I would pay more for feed to avoid them. My dream would be to have feed come in pretty cotton sacks the way my great grandmother bought it.
No offense, but that sounds maddening. :(
Miss Cellane
3-10-16, 10:31am
I witnessed a really big waste yesterday while on my neighborhood walk. A 2000 sf+ house made of solid, cut block limestone house smashed to the ground by a bulldozer. Then the piles were dumped into a large waste receptacle - stones and all. We had seen photos of the interior and it had hardwood floors and wooden cabinets throughout. We thought they would recycle the contents and certainly the stone and oak flooring - but nope- it all went to a landfill. Breaks my heart to see that kind of waste and disrespect for stone and wood.
The house next to my father's was identical to his--the same builder built one for him and one for his parents. They were 1880s Victorians, with oak wainscotting in the front hall and dining room, walnut butler's pantry with cabinets and drawers and a special closet for hanging the damask linen tablecloths everyone has lying around, the old cast iron radiators--you get the picture.
Went home to visit Dad once and there's a huge dumpster on the neighbor's yard. New owners, they are remodeling. Tore out the wainscotting, tore out the butler's pantry to "open up" the kitchen. Took out the radiators.
The new owner was upset--people were coming by at night and sneaking things out of the dumpsters--the wood, the radiators, the stained glass windows they removed. Neighbor called the police. He was amazed to learn that these things had a re-sale value.
And of course, they put in a completely new kitchen. When Dad bought the house, there was an elderly couple living there, and the kitchen was from the 1930s, at my best guess. It did need updating, which happened after the couple sold the house. But the house had three new owners in 12 years after that, and every new owner completely tore out the kitchen and put in a new one. The waste--thousands of dollars for granite countertops, which were taken out in 4 years, because the new owners didn't like granite, and then new granite countertops two years later when new people moved it. Plus all the cabinets, appliances and flooring.
It use to be farmers always had a ditch or ravine where they put their trash (that wouldn't burn). When my parents bought the farm they had 8 dump-truck loads of stuff they took to the landfill. Mom sorted through some of it as they cleared the ravine and saved a bunch of cool old bottles, metal bits, and odds and ends.
Sometimes when I take something to a thrift shop or the Homes of Hope building supply I wonder how many times something will be handled before it does in fact end up in the landfill. I make sure what I take is still usable but I know I always see their trash bin full of broken, unfixable, unmendable things people just pushed off on someone else making the decision.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 10:39am
Here is a question:
I heard a statistic recently from a big guy in the decluttering community. He said: "Americans spend approximately one year of their life looking for misplaced items, according to the research."
Now, sure... you can doubt this guy and say: "No, more like 6 months!" Or you can say one year is way too little time and bet it is more like 2 years. Whatever.
But the thrust of his point is that lots of people spend lots of time trying to find things they lost in their clutter.
For the sake of this discussion let's say a year is accurate.
The question that is related to that is how much time of your life would you be willing to give up to play matchmaker with all the stuff/junk/what-have-you that you do not want or use anymore?
1 year? 2 years? Another amount?
Ultralight
3-10-16, 10:40am
...I wonder how many times something will be handled before it does in fact end up in the landfill. I make sure what I take is still usable but I know I always see their trash bin full of broken, unfixable, unmendable things people just pushed off on someone else making the decision.
Exactly!
Chicken lady
3-10-16, 10:51am
No, it's not maddening. What is maddening is when the only answer is "garbage". I used to live near the landfill, so I actually think of it as a giant pile of diesel exhaust fueled trash in my backyard. You can't throw stuff "away". There is no "away".
Also, everything that is passed on or reused is either carried across my yard or put in my car and dropped off on my way to or from somewhere. Trash has to be hauled a tenth of a mile to the road by hand - it's the most work. Avoiding filling the trash can is no more difficult than figuring out where to put the groceries when I get home (fridge? Freezer? Counter? Pantry? Bathroom? Laundryroom?).
I just just started my woodstove with a handful of hardwood off-cuts gifted to me by a friend who is friends with a carpenter. And even those little scraps make me wish I knew someone with a wood lathe who makes pens or doll house furniture. Really, any time I can turn something I don't want into an opportunity for somebody else to not buy something, it makes me happy.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 10:56am
No, it's not maddening. What is maddening is when the only answer is "garbage". I used to live near the landfill, so I actually think of it as a giant pile of diesel exhaust fueled trash in my backyard. You can't throw stuff "away". There is no "away".
If I kept all the trash in my life then my room and the entire house I live in would be a landfill. What is the use of that? My mom and dad's house is pretty much a landfill. There is "away." You used to live near a landfill, then you moved "away."
Don't get me wrong. I am an environmentalist. That is why I am trying to shut the faucet of stuff off in my life, and I have made major strides.
Also, everything that is passed on or reused is either carried across my yard or put in my car and dropped off on my way to or from somewhere. Trash has to be hauled a tenth of a mile to the road by hand - it's the most work. Avoiding filling the trash can is no more difficult than figuring out where to put the groceries when I get home (fridge? Freezer? Counter? Pantry? Bathroom? Laundryroom?).
Decision-fatigue anyone?
iris lily
3-10-16, 11:00am
I witnessed a really big waste yesterday while on my neighborhood walk. A 2000 sf+ house made of solid, cut block limestone house smashed to the ground by a bulldozer. Then the piles were dumped into a large waste receptacle - stones and all. We had seen photos of the interior and it had hardwood floors and wooden cabinets throughout. We thought they would recycle the contents and certainly the stone and oak flooring - but nope- it all went to a landfill. Breaks my heart to see that kind of waste and disrespect for stone and wood.
So sad, so very sad. You just know that the ugly new construction that replaces it will have cheapness throughout yet will still cost $1 million.
Recently we toured a big house in our area, a building that shows off the buliding arts at the turn of the19th century. In the basment war a long oak bar. It was immediately familiar to me: the owner had purchased it from the downtown Library when the Library buildng was renovated. It was wonderful to see where this item had landed.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 11:01am
So sad, so very sad. You just know that the ugly new construction that replaces it will have cheapness throughout yet will still cost $1 million.
Recently we toured a big house in our area, a building that shows off the buliding arts at the turn of the19th century. In the basment war a long oak bar. It was immediately familiar to me: the owner had purchased it from the downtown Library when the Library buildng was renovated. It was wonderful to see where this item had landed.
This is part of the reason I am a BANANA environmentalist.
catherine
3-10-16, 11:36am
A good friend of mine just moved there! She says it is absolutely amazing. And she has my dream job too -- USPS letter carrier!
Yes, it is amazing.. I'm constantly with one foot out the door to join my three kids up there, but DH has no interest due to the winters. But the city is so great in so many ways similar to the ones mentioned by freshstart. For instance, my son lives in a home he got through the Champlain Housing Trust where they share the equity in exchange for the land trust providing the down payment. It's a great way for young people to get their foot in the door with home ownership. That was a Bernie initiative (http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2016/01/bernie_sanders_made_burlington_s_land_trust_possib le_it_s_still_an_innovative.html)when he was mayor, and my son has a picture of Bernie standing in his living room.
Great, great city.
Chicken lady
3-10-16, 11:52am
I'm not advocating keeping trash, I'm just advocating being sure it is trash before you landfill it.
i guess it depends on your personality. I get decision fatigue trying to plan dinner. (Why do they want dinner every night?). But I love planning the garden. Disposing of stuff is literally like unpacking groceries - this is butter, it goes in the fridge. The basket is full, the extra chips go in the pantry. This is paper it goes in the recycling. this chair isn't fixable, it goes in the burn pile....
do you get decision fatigue making the series of choices needed to get a fish on the line? (How is the weather? where should I go? perhaps even which lure, where to cast.....)
i am am trying really hard to live my life intentionally, and that means all of my life, not just the big stuff. It means some things take more energy than they would have to otherwise, but other things take no energy at all (I have discovered that if you have a garage and buy an old used car in good shape you can never wash or wax it and the body will still outlive the engine. Yes, my car looks like manure. No, I don't care.)
i also don't like externalizing my costs. I still see them as my costs. Part of why I don't eat meat.
As a pretty-much reformed almost-full-blown hoarder and shop-a-holic of new things, I now get so much of our stuff from thrift stores that when I want to change or replace something, I just take the item back to the thrift store, donate it, and buy a replacement. They then get to sell the item at least one more time, plus make a new sale from me for the replacement item (usually clothing). It's kind of a hybrid form of recycling, renting stuff, and supporting a good cause. And yes, it does get easier. You can teach yourself new patterns and systems of dealing with the detritus of daily living. You can do it mindfully. And it can be done gradually, over time--you don't have to get it all "right" at first. I certainly haven't. But even a small, faltering, occasional step is better than no step at all. Over the years, and mainly from participating in these boards, I have honestly made major changes in my behavior regarding the whole "stuff" issue. It's only when I think back to how I was fifteen years ago that I see how far I've come.
Ironically, some of the things that are advocated for reducing waste (e.g. buying in bulk) can be incompatible with tiny house living. It's great to save money and packaging by buying in bulk, but if you have to rent a storage unit to store your cases of canned goods from Costco and a deep freezer for your side of meat, what are you saving? I haven't figured that one out yet...I just know I really dislike living in small spaces with another person, so I won't be doing that anytime soon. Chacun au son gout!
Ultralight
3-10-16, 12:53pm
As a pretty-much reformed almost-full-blown hoarder and shop-a-holic of new things...
This is fascinating. If you recovered from compulsive hoarding then you must know what a tiny, tiny fraction of the CHD population you are.
Teacher Terry
3-10-16, 1:59pm
It is so sad abut that house being destroyed. WE have actually restored a few old homes. It feels so good to bring it back to it's glory. I think once you get used to getting rid of things in big quantities it gets easier to not buy in the first place and to realize when things need to go. The thrift stores around here will send a truck to pick up if you have furniture or tons of boxes. Many people donate junk to the thrift stores and it costs them $ to throw it away. You should never donate something that you would not be willing to buy if you needed that item. After I got rid of a ton of stuff and if I think about buying something new I ask myself whether I will be hauling it off to the thrift store in a year. This makes me usually not want to buy. I also like to shop thrift stores because if I get sick of something it was cheap and I can donate it back. I also don't shop anymore unless I need something. I never go to look. I am not willing to waste my time looking for stuff because I have too much junk. My hubby on the other hand wastes tons of time looking for crap in his office, shed and garage. I am sure he has multiple tools because he can never find anything. Those are his 3 areas to be messy. That was our compromise and the rest of the house is uncluttered and neat.
If an item is in good shape I donate it. WE have a ton of thrift stores here that want decent things. If it is in bad shape I have no problem with throwing it away. WE also live on a fairly busy street so I have put things outside with a free sign. Most items usually gone within 2 hours.My policy is very similar. Every six months there is a "large item pickup" day where you can set anything out and the city will come haul it away, and the Pickers are out in full force for about a week beforehand. I have actually picked up a couple of useful things in addition to seeing lots of stuff I didn't want and didn't feel was good enough to donate disappear.
I was watching Flea Market Flip on TV this morning, in which two teams have 3 assignments to purchase a flea market item, repurpose/restore it and then resell it. The team that makes the most profit wins $5000.
I like to call these types of flea markets or garage sales or estate sales graveyards for abandoned desires. To me they represent things that were at one time important or meaningful to one person or another... until they weren't. Then they wind up as odds and ends waiting for another desirous owner.
There's so much stuff! Some stuff used to be cool, some stuff is still cool, some stuff was always just useless trash.
I also feel that what holds me back sometimes is the idea that someone else might save something from winding up in the landfill, but then I have to weigh that against the amount of mental and physical energy it would take me to clean it up, find a taker, catalogue it for tax purposes and otherwise fight the inertia that has kept the stuff where it is to begin with. Then I can just say, toss it! with no emotion. I have some things that I have a compulsion to give away with a note attached, telling the new recipient of its "story." Ridiculous I know, but if I am a hoarder at all, it's for nostalgia--which is interesting because in my every day life I actively work to avoid revisiting the past in my mind.
Ultralight
3-10-16, 2:37pm
Ridiculous I know, but if I am a hoarder at all, it's for nostalgia--which is interesting because in my every day life I actively work to avoid revisiting the past in my mind.
Right there with you!
Teacher Terry
3-10-16, 2:37pm
I would not waste my time cleaning something up. I would put it outside with a free sign and the taker can do that. We got rid of a ton of stuff from our shed that way. The pergo we took out of our home that came with it covering the real hardwood, doors, etc. It was all gone in a few hours.
Donating good stuff can be easy. But what about old, worn out, tarnished looking things?
And: Dirty little secret: Places like Goodwill actually trash A LOT of their donations. I knew two people who worked there in college. It was a trashingly chaotic place; stuff was briefly assessed, labeled as garbage, and tossed multiple times on the daily.
I spoke to some of the people working in the back room of one of our large donation centers a while back. They had unsaleable clothing compressed into big bales that gets sent to fabric recyclers. Looked like tons of it to me. He said some of the bales are contracted in bulk to get sold or donated overseas. I'm sure they don't have time to carefully sort everything out try to sell it, but recycling beats the landfill. At least for clothing.
I also image they get a lot of worn out non-clothing stuff that isn't resaleable in the first place. I imagine they have some big disposal costs. I don't have a good answer for that.
Gardenarian
3-10-16, 8:41pm
I'm one of those people who has trouble throwing things out.
I don't have a problem putting stuff out on the curb for people to take. I have a big FREE sign, and almost everything I put out gets taken within a day or two, and I don't live on a busy street or put it on Craigslist (well, I post it if I have a big pile of stuff.)
It's been raining and I haven't wanted stuff to get mucky, so I am a bit behind. I've got a bunch of really good jars! I can't just throw them out! They're the nice big ones (Costco artichokes etc.) and we have more jars than we can use. And then there is stuff that would probably not make it onto the rack or shelf at goodwill - but for free, someone will take it.
I've actually been looking at a way to turn newspapers into logs...and I don't have a wood burning fireplace. I thought I could give the logs to someone who has. I just hate putting the paper in the recycling bin; I've even asked our neighbors if anyone would like the paper after I'm done with it - no takers. But I do really love getting our local paper.
ApatheticNoMore
3-10-16, 9:46pm
I'm not advocating keeping trash, I'm just advocating being sure it is trash before you landfill it.
i guess it depends on your personality. ...
i am am trying really hard to live my life intentionally, and that means all of my life, not just the big stuff. It means some things take more energy than they would have to otherwise, but other things take no energy at all (I have discovered that if you have a garage and buy an old used car in good shape you can never wash or wax it and the body will still outlive the engine.
i also don't like externalizing my costs. I still see them as my costs.
I try to dispose of most things well as well. I recycle, I take to the thrifts etc.. If something doesn't get thrown out because of decision fatigue oh well. The thing about: "in the future only buy what you need .. or really want ... or will certainly use" is that almost all purchases were made asking that question TO BEGIN WITH (well with maybe a few habits like buying books). Ok, I have some stuff I just took from my 'rents house when I moved out long ago as well.
So at one point I no doubt believed I needed that item, not that it was a question of survival or something, but I believed I would really truly use an appliance or something say. So maybe the problem is in how one asks the question or how one answers, because it isn't that one didn't ask it.
That's why I said we don't KNOW what we want fully, maybe it's an emergent property of living with a thing - to actually know if it's what we want, that the knowing follows AFTER not before the purchase .... so buying from thrifts does lessen the error. It's more realistic than swearing off all purchases or promising never to buy anything they won't use again probably.
If you worry your donations to the thrifts are becoming fabric recycling or being trashed try things like Really Free Markets instead.
By the way I've often thought of being one of those persons who turns junk into useful things for free, frankly at my expense as a type of hobby, though I would imagine it being a fairly cheap hobby.
ToomuchStuff
3-11-16, 11:38am
Here is a question:
I heard a statistic recently from a big guy in the decluttering community. He said: "Americans spend approximately one year of their life looking for misplaced items, according to the research."
Now, sure... you can doubt this guy and say: "No, more like 6 months!" Or you can say one year is way too little time and bet it is more like 2 years. Whatever.
But the thrust of his point is that lots of people spend lots of time trying to find things they lost in their clutter.
For the sake of this discussion let's say a year is accurate.
The question that is related to that is how much time of your life would you be willing to give up to play matchmaker with all the stuff/junk/what-have-you that you do not want or use anymore?
1 year? 2 years? Another amount?
I will bite.
You do realize that is cummulative time, don't you?
Ask him how much time is spent/wasted, nagging or complaining to or about other people in life. I expect it to be more then finding items.
Big data and statistics like that, may come in handy, someday, for societal change. But it isn't really helping many, that I can see, individually, over their life.
Now from the comedian standpoint (remember seeing some take on that years back); is it from the end of my life, when I can't walk, etc? (take it, not worth living if/when in bad health)
Chicken lady
3-11-16, 1:53pm
It's a trade off too - say I have a beaten up bookshelf I'm done with. I can load it in the car and see if a charity will take it, I can ask everybody I know if they want it (generally when I happen to be talking to them anyway) and let someone come get it, I can haul it a tenth of a mile up to the road by hand or in the car to see if someone takes it (or pay a $10 special pick up fee), I can break it up and use it to fire my barrel, or I can break it up put it in the trash can and haul it up to the road. The last one is the most work (I'd have to gather wood for the barrel firing anyway.)
If you worry your donations to the thrifts are becoming fabric recycling or being trashed try things like Really Free Markets instead.
Fabric recycling at the thrift store really is a form of re-use. It is sorted by type (cotton, wool, nylon, etc.) and then sold, at least in part, to companies that transform it into fiber for home insulation, vehicle interiors, clothing accessories, and so on.
I spoke to some of the people working in the back room of one of our large donation centers a while back. They had unsaleable clothing compressed into big bales that gets sent to fabric recyclers. Looked like tons of it to me. He said some of the bales are contracted in bulk to get sold or donated overseas. I'm sure they don't have time to carefully sort everything out try to sell it, but recycling beats the landfill. At least for clothing.
I also image they get a lot of worn out non-clothing stuff that isn't resaleable in the first place. I imagine they have some big disposal costs. I don't have a good answer for that.
Planet money did a fascinating show about donated clothes a while back, around the same time as their series about the shirt they made. The shirts that go overseas either get resold, or if they're too large, as is often the case, they get tailored into new shirts before being sold.
mschrisgo2
3-13-16, 4:11pm
I was actually thrilled when I became aware of the fabric recycling/re-use at the thrift stores!
So much better than going into the landfill, IMHO. Also it gives me the freedom not to worry about the condition of clothing that I donate.
rodeosweetheart
3-13-16, 4:23pm
Great point, mschris, as honestly I tend to completely wear out my clothes, so I never think I have anything worth donating.
I know I have lots of decluttering to do. Cleaned out my closet, dresser and laundry room. Some of those clothes had not been worn for at least 5 years.
There are other things I am too attached with to let go. A collection of Blue Willow, Pink Willow, and other old glassware. I know I don't need it, but it gives me pleasure just seeing it, so I will keep it a while longer.
Teacher Terry
5-28-16, 1:59pm
No need to get rid of stuff you still like.
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