Excess stuff in our society

[mschrisgo2]

Can we stand one more thread about clearing out a house? I've spent the last two weekends helping a good friend clear out and clean a rental house. The last renters hadn't paid rent for 4 months, then just pretty much left everything. All of the beds and bedding were there, living room furniture, the largest TV I've ever seen, nice little wood table and four chairs in the dining area, at least 35 big trash bags of clothes in the garage, a huge set of weights and bench...and if that wasn't enough, it looks like they did not have garbage service for the 8 months they were there, as there were many trash bags full of fast food trash, and 9 large bags of beer cans... which I guess accounts for why there were relatively few dishes, not much in the fridge, and the stove and microwave were pretty clean. On top of all of that, the garage also had 27 five-gallon barrels, all opened, of cleaning solvent! So the whole thing was a toxic waste dump.

We had 2 haulers come with 30 ft box trucks that were filled for the dump. Stupidly, I pulled out a few pieces of wood furniture to take to the thrift shop-- only NO ONE would accept them- "It's good furniture, but we're Full!!" So I put them on Freecycle- NO responses! I put things out on the curb with a huge FREE sign- got rid of 1 small shelf, and a suitcase. There's still furniture on the curb.

I refuse to trash the baby crib- I know somewhere there has to be a new mom who will be delighted to have it- so it's in my van and I'll take it over to the next town on Friday when I go.

We have a huge excess of stuff in our society. We can't even give it away- there is no "away" anymore.

Many more people need to think as my (grown) daughter mentioned recently: "Every time I buy something, I think: how will I get rid of it when we don't need it any more?"

(Fortunately, once we got the house cleared, it was easy to clean, and touch up the paint. There was no major damage, and it looks very nice now. The new tenant gets to move in Tuesday.)

[Rosemary]

I agree - too much stuff, everywhere. It is yet another sad consequence of off-shoring manufacturing to the lowest bidder. Things cost less, so they are valued less and also given more freely as gifts.

[catherine]

I felt the same way when I listed books on Amazon for sale. There is a HUGE glut of books out there that people don't want. You can buy books for .01+ shipping. My MIL used to just throw away cheap paperback novels when she was done reading them. As a bibliophile, I was horrified! Couldn't imagine throwing away a book.

However, I've got a whole carton of books that I might just put out for recycling if my library doesn't want them. The movement away from borrowing books and towards buying from the big box booksellers over the past few years has created a flood of used books no one wants and which have no value at this point.

[SteveinMN]

The movement away from borrowing books and towards buying from the big box booksellers over the past few years has created a flood of used books no one wants and which have no value at this point.
While electronic book-reading devices still are a small portion of the book business, they will only get more popular, which will further diminish the potential audience for used printed books.

I think decades of consumption-driven culture have resulted in the current (and literal) flood of "stuff" that no one now wants. Products differentiated from each other not by real improvements in function or economy, but by superficial changes in style or usability -- or by purposefully obsoleting the previous version. Earnest but illusory claims of "collectibility" bringing people to part with hard-earned money on items which were minimally useful to begin with and are now so ubiquitous that they have no value except maybe the sentimental.

The question is if we can at all gracefully return to an economic model that emphasizes the true value of goods rather than the mindless consumption of them.

[Mrs-M]

This thread reflects the dedication I stand behind Re: purchasing and consuming.

P.S. So happy you're hanging onto the baby crib. Yes, there is a mom (somewhere out there) who could use it and would be delighted to have it.

[pinkytoe]

Perhaps a lot of folks have reached a saturation point. I know I look around our house sometimes and think of things that might be replaced to update or because they are slightly worn but then I realize they are still useful as they are. There are just too many choices. It overwhelms me to think about having to replace anything because there is just too much out there.

[awakenedsoul]

Congratulations on getting that house cleaned up and rented. I know what you mean. I was at a Sit and Stitch session at our local yarn shop yesterday. I am amazed at how many knitters don't finish their projects. They buy more yarn and start something new. One really nice woman told me that she had lost her project from the last class and her pattern! (I know it was really expensive, too.) The yarn they sell is high end. She didn't do any knitting because she couldn't find her stuff.
I really make an effort to take care of my things. That was a weak area for me when I was younger. It feels good to have less. My problem is people with two much stuff try to unload their extras on me. I end up donating it. My mom has way too much of everything. She shop compulsively and gives her duplicates to me. Oh well...I'm going to have to start declining.

[ToomuchStuff]

I agree - too much stuff, ...


You rang? LOL
I actually have a tool, that I haven't been able to sell at the last couple garage sales. On Ebay, it has gone anywhere (recently) from $10 to $180. When times are good, people fill up with stuff, especially when bargains, when they are bad, they try to resell and recoup. It is only in the bad times, people realize how much this stuff has actually cost them. I have done OK, on buying some tools stuff and taking what I want and selling the rest, but I have also sat on stuff too long.

I tried to find a couple of used book stores, I knew about, and they were both out of business. Most of my books are bought either used (Amazon, rather then new, reference material), or mom/sis buy and give them to me from garage sales. (some similar reading tastes). I think most of the ones they give me, they have never given more then a quarter for. (so no issues with kindling)

[JaneV2.0]

I donate books to Friends of the Library when I'm through with them.

[bUU]

While electronic book-reading devices still are a small portion of the book business,$282.3 million is not really "small" especially since it is almost 30% of the market. And that was more that six months ago. It's probably even further along now.

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/ebooks-top-hardcover-revenues-in-q1_b53090


The question is if we can at all gracefully return to an economic model that emphasizes the true value of goods rather than the mindless consumption of them.Most experts acknowledge that an abandonment of consumerism is among the greatest dangers the US economy faces. Nothing will drive the nation to the brink of disaster quite so reliably.

We have been forwarding our few remaining old paperbacks into the annual church fair. The coordinator of the book store there noted how donations were markedly lower than in past years, presumably because e-book readers have taken hold and people buying fewer paperbacks have fewer to donate.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I basically suscribe to the view that stuff has become near worthless. It's virtually free. Post-scarcity of stuff in the western world (of course how that excess is made possible is another matter ...). None of it is worth much and the delusion that you can get much for selling your stuff if you ever need to is just that.

This doesn't of course mean the cost of living has gone down any, all the things we really need that aren't stuff are more expensive than ever (housing, healthcare etc.). But stuff approaches worthlessness.

[awakenedsoul]

I sold all of my books on Amazon several years ago, (1999 I think...) I was surprised that they were all bought, and that I got a pretty good price for them. I think I charged $5.00-$8.00 a piece. That was way before the crash, though.

[MamaM]

I grew up really poor. Not exaggerating. I remember going to a friends house and her Mom brought home a bag of clothes from the mall for her. She literally snatched it out of her hands and ran to her bedroom. She flung off the tank top she had on, to the floor, and put on a new top. She didn't like that one so she flung the new shirt to the floor, bunched up and tried on another. As someone who had 3 outfits to her name, it made me realize how we are such a throw away society...and this was 20 years ago.

[Gardenarian]

My neighbor has had two lovely tricycles in her driveway for weeks, trying to give them away - posted on Craigslist, etc. No takers - and I'm sure there are people out there buying tricycles!
Crazy!
I give my books to Goodwill or Salvation Army. The library sells them for .10 a book, which just seems to low to me, but they get so many donations that they just want to get rid of them. And I'm a librarian.

[Mrs-M]

MamaM. Outfits (clothing choice) in our home was not plentiful either.

Gardenarian. It is crazy, isn't it. In our old neighbourhood I remember families setting out their used and old things on the boulevard/curbside, and within the same day whatever had been set-out for free-pickup, was gone! A good sign that back then (late 80's/early 90's) people didn't have the quantity of stuff that they do today.

Stuff I remember... cribs, strollers, change tables, bicycles, ride-em toys, etc.

[Mrs-M]

To add, whenever people set-out used things for free-pickup, I like to think those doing the picking-up are needy, and not just opportunists looking to turn an easy buck.

[HomemadeChange]

I put things out on the curb with a huge FREE sign- got rid of 1 small shelf, and a suitcase. There's still furniture on the curb.

This is so surprising to me! I put an unfinished wooden table (that I picked up from a yard sale this summer and had high hopes to finish and use, but never got around to it) down by the curb on Thursday at around 4 and it had been picked up by 6!

I often will contact friends or family to see if they can use the item or swap it for something they are tired of. This helps with those "freshen the look" bugs without spending any money.

I have also had a lot of luck consigning things at a local shop. It makes me feel good that the items are not going to waste, DH and I get a little change in our pockets and someone else gets a great deal on a (hopefully) needed item. This shop also donates items after 90 days to a refugee organization.

[shawntheweaver]

I also had the same experience when my girlfriend and I helped our then neighbor clean up their house when the tenant left. Though the tenant paid until the last month, he and his girlfriend left so many items – pieces of furniture that do not really fit when put together, old clothes, dirty dishes, and expired food items inside the fridge. Some of the pieces of furniture look very Amish-like, which were not very befitting the young couple. I could not imagine them buying stuff from such stores. I mean, I don’t have anything against such types of furniture, since I like looking at items sold on one Amish furniture site, Brandenberry, but the ones I have do not really look very old-fashioned. Our neighbor had to spend some money to have some ‘usable’ items delivered to charitable groups, and some disposed. What is good is that, he still kept the deposit and gave back to the tenant the remaining money after our neighbor’s spending on cleaning up the house.

[lhamo]

Bedbugs are a big concern for a lot of people now. They can set up shop in wood furniture, as well as the upholstered stuff where you would be more likely to suspect them. I am kind of freaked out by the whole bedbug thing, to tell you the truth, even though we have never personally had an issue with them. I got scared last year when we came back from trip and all had very itchy skin. It turned out to be a change in the formulation of the local detergent we were using, and went away when we switched to an imported, "free and clear" type brand, but for a couple of weeks I was afraid we might have brought bedbugs into the house.

So that might be one additional reason people are not picking up your stuff, in addition to the oversaturation others have mentioned.

lhamo

[zeaxmays]

C 9 large bags of beer cans...

hopefully you sold these, aluminum is at 50 cents a pound right now.

[redfox]

To add, whenever people set-out used things for free-pickup, I like to think those doing the picking-up are needy, and not just opportunists looking to turn an easy buck.

I like to think of those opportunists as good, old fashioned capitalists being smart about making a buck!

[Zoebird]

honestly, if I am happy having something away -- such that I'm willing to put it out for free -- what someone else does with it is *their* business.

[rgwhitaker]

I really like your daughter's observation: "Every time I buy something, I think: how will I get rid of it when we don't need it any more?"

Very intuitive, she is!

We are a "stuff-oriented" society. TV stations have even taken notice and created reality shows like Hoarders!

I took note of that as well, and it's why I started my own website/blog, specifically targeting the boomers, who have accumulated TONS of stuff throughout their lives!

[kitten]

SO AGREE with this!

I work for a company that partners with an organization that solicits car donations. One guy who donated his car emailed us complaining about what happened to his vehicle. He had some older cherry-condition BMW or something, and was simply outraged that when he called the other company to follow up, they had dismantled it for parts! He wailed on about the fact that he knew how much the car's Blue Book value was, and bah blah blah. And I'm thinking: wow, if you knew all of that and cared so much about getting a certain amount for your car, WHY DIDN'T YOU SELL IT YOURSELF? omg


honestly, if I am happy having something away -- such that I'm willing to put it out for free -- what someone else does with it is *their* business.

[Zoe Girl]

I think decades of consumption-driven culture have resulted in the current (and literal) flood of "stuff" that no one now wants. Products differentiated from each other not by real improvements in function or economy, but by superficial changes in style or usability -- or by purposefully obsoleting the previous version.

I agree, I live in a very small house. It is difficult at times, however my dad and my brother have been just like me, if you bring something in then you have to get rid of something. My poor SIL however struggles because my brother is not very nice about it. I gave soooo much stuff to goodwill and the dump, had a storage unit for awhile and then got rid of that stuff. So many people thought I could sell things but even 3 years ago no one wanted anything I had, and I didn't have the time. Everytime my mom wants to buy things so we have a small inconvenience solved at the cost of owning more crap I try my best to block it. The most recent was wanting to buy me those wicker paper plate holders while my sink was broken and couldn't do dishes, I just bought sturdy paper plates.

[Selah]

My DH and I are in the unusual position of living in a fully-furnished rental apartment. It was a great setup to begin with: we arrived from America with nothing but suitcases, so it saved us a lot of time and money in setting up basic furnishing. On the other hand, we are now paying extra rent to use the stuff, and are also financially liable for it, which gets tricky because our cats have damaged some of their upholstered furniture.

Still, we benefit from our landlords' good taste and quality purchases--they chose things that we would have never allowed ourselves to splurge on, but we sure love being able to use and look at these pieces! When people come into our apartment and say, "wow, it looks like a magazine," I reply "thanks, our landlord has great taste!" An odd situation all around. We'd love to buy our own, larger and more comfortable bed, but then, where would the landlord put the bed that is already there? Whose problem is that to solve? Puzzling.

[pinkytoe]

I like to peruse craigslist and have noticed over the past few years...an abundance of entertainment armoires for sale. Some of these solid wood TV shrines probably cost hundreds originally and now people can't give them away. We have one too but I am storing until I can figure out another use for it. I wonder if people today even value wood furniture or antiques or if anyone ever will again.

[SteveinMN]

I wonder if people today even value wood furniture or antiques or if anyone ever will again.
I think people still value wood furniture.

The issue with armoires in particular is that HD televisions don't fit very well. Size for size, HDTVs are significantly wider than tube TVs. TVs are getting larger than ever before, too -- very few people used to buy 40+ inch tube TVs, but 42-inch TVs are considered "small" these days. So the armoire that used to hold a 32" tube TV will not hold even the 42" TV that replaces it. And as more people move to HDTVs, armoires will further glut the market and be even harder to get rid of.

[Zoe Girl]

OMG I can't figure out on my new computer (changed to a mac) how to put in the link for how to make an entertainment center into a play kitchen for kids. There are totally adorable ones out there! maybe someone else can post that.

[SteveinMN]

OMG I can't figure out on my new computer (changed to a mac) how to put in the link for how to make an entertainment center into a play kitchen for kids.
I don't know which link you want to put in, but linking in a post is the same on my Mac as it was on my old Windows computer. Copy the URL from your browser address line and then, in your post, click on the icon that looks like a globe with a pop-tab. That one lets you paste in the URL. The icon just like it but with a red X undoes the link -- highlight anywhere on the colored link in your post and click that icon and the link will go away.

Is that it, ZG?