Resist buying stuff you don't really need. Can you repurpose an item? Then turn to the recycling industry and maybe it will find a way back.
Resist > Reuse > Recycle
It's incredible how much stuff is produced just to be thrown away. But I guess it keeps the wheels turning? I often wonder wether this is the best system there is. Something tells me it's not.
You're much better off selling something at a price below market value if you want it gone cheap to someone can use it.
A lot of times I'll just list something for 20 bucks just to weed those people out. Then when a buyer shows up just telling them it's free.
Cooking for many people, sharing tools, common areas, etc, saves a lot of money and resources. We are thus able to support a wide range of income levels. With the caveat that we're in a fairly equal country (Northern Europe), the community attracts a wide range of backgrounds, from unskilled workers to teachers and doctors. Everyone gets chores and responsibilities assigned based on personal priorities, skills and the needs at the time.
We have a "rule-book" that defines a democratic voting system for making decisions. We hold meetings every other week. I would lie if I said it was always pleasant or easy, but it does work surprisingly well. I think it helps that the place is around 50 years old, so we've had the chance to learn from mistakes and update the "rule-book" along the way.
I don't think it's for everyone, and I'm not sure how well this scales beyond 50-100 people, but I do think that you can be happier, healthier and wealthier living in suitable small-scale communities, sharing everyday tasks and tools. Instead of everyone owning their own everything.
This has always been true. There's just been a lot of "feel good" marketing around this point to beguile the market out of this rather common sense in the past few decades.
> Then turn to the recycling industry and maybe it will find a way back.
Putting my curmudgeon hat on for a second, I remember a time when we used to make products with high enough quality and durability that they would either last nearly a lifetime or get repaired when they didn't.
A lot of the money in tech seems to be tied to the same marketing, convincing people to consume. The greenwashing is a problem as well, although I wish I weren't so cynical when I see a company trying to do better so often it seems to read as "We're making our X more green and efficient, so buy more of them"
I was swimming in a lake this summer with a friend involved in marketing when he made a comment about what happens when they run out of people's attention seconds. Do we make more, fight harder to retain attention, die?, or is there another solution.
For the last six months or so, I've been aware that I want to buy an iPhone even though I have a smartphone that fulfills all my needs. The cost for the value proposition of the iPhone is inferior to many smartphones, and for me, it has zero marginal value. I don't care about the iPhone's prestige or "lifestyle" angle. There is no justification for buying it. Still, it appeals to me, and I don't know why. This could be a problem if I did not have the rational faculties of an adult. And now and then, I read about a kid saving up for an iPhone and being very disappointed/regretting the purchase.
It's seriously hazardous that we no longer have a way to opt out of this influence of advertising. I wish we did (on reasonable terms, without completely withdrawing from society). For a while in the 2010s, minimalism and anti-consumerism became more popular. But looking back, they seem to have been more of a fad. Now if a kid doesn't have an iPhone in school, it's "cringe".
Prior to driving age, it was other things. But there's always something.
Sounds like it has some marginal value, otherwise, by definition, you would not want it.
I wouldn't blame yourself. Humans are curious and seek out new things. Humans like things of "beauty" and Apple does an unbelievable job of marketing & product design.
It helps.
The other part is to ground your identity in a different set of values. There are many circles in which frivolous purchases are a sin. There are many people who find virtue in economy and restraint.
I don't intend this as a slight, but as an honest question: do you feel like you correctly compensate for survivorship bias when looking back at how products were made?
I ask because, in my experience doing repairs as a hobby, it's just the nicer things that have survived. People don't remember the cheap record players they got as kids, the cheap tools, &c.; they remember the things that are still with them, which are the higher-quality ones.
Edit: In particular, it's pretty hard to repair a lot of consumer goods from the 1930s-1970s: they tend to use plastics that crack very easily and that aren't mendable, or are outright hazardous to repair (like bakelite, which sometimes has asbestos mixed into it).
There are at least two issues at play:
1) If I build something, I can do it again. I won't use ultra-thin metal which is likely to be damaged being welded, injection molding, or similar sorts of processes which require a factory.
2) I'll do a bit of overengineering. Modern consumer goods use the absolute minimum in materials possible. If you take things apart, it's pretty magical.
I'll also take care of it (and know how). If something costs me a week's salary, I'll buy fewer things, and I won't want them to break. If a gizmo costs a few minutes' salary, I'm better off replacing it. Maintenance is a nice hobby for some of us, but far from economically rational.
My favorite in this vein is furniture. Yes, if you use hardwood that is not legal for very valid reasons, it can possibly last longer. Or if you get a worker to use toxic paints and other hazardous repair techniques, it is amazing what you can restore.
Meanwhile, the true irony is that a household going through several modern appliances probably still uses less electricity and other raw materials than the older ones that supposedly lasted longer. All while not poisoning the users.
Don't get me wrong, early adopters still typically get bad products. But one need only look at modern lighting to see an example of how the old way was borderline garbage. Yes, the first led bulbs were bad. Same with early low flow toilets and high efficiency washers. Modern ones, though, are so much better than the older ones that it is hard to believe.
If you want to focus on the infrastructure, the amplifiers needed for old communication were ridiculously expensive and actually somewhat justified long distance fees. The repeaters of modern tech are far superior.
See also, resin code marks which incorporate the recycling symbol, used on plastics which aren't recyclable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code#Tabl...
Then in my city came the startups, the tech bros and sisters without tech background but marketing-fu and now you have to pay a monthly fee to lend and rent screwdrivers.
Back to getting on a first-name basis with my neighbours then.
I'm in the process of itemizing everything,
https://litemize.com/mrtedbear
And my aim is to keep the number below 200 items (excluding books) and 500 items in total, and to minimize purchase and disposal activity.
Passwords like haQ#YuaDC3&j!mm^ are rejected.
BTW: I like the idea behind https://synced.to/, I have entertained the idea of geotagged digital/virtual tag/graffiti for a while without doing anything about it.
There's a few motivations. One was me noticing how I'd somehow just accumulated stuff over time, and I've seen the longer term result of that with my parents. So I wanted to be on top of what I'm getting and why, how long I'm using it for and also how I'm disposing of it.
A second motivation is to use others' lists to make more considered decisions.
And thirdly I'm curious to figure out what might be the minimal set of things one needs to live comfortably.
And cheers, I'm working on an update to Synced which I think will be quite cool! (coming in the next couple of months).
[edit: fixed password issue]
I imagine you could apply the same thinking to shopping. Before checking out, pick one or two items to cancel or leave to the next purchase, or choose a smaller size.
Sometimes it costs a little more per unit, but the upside is you consume less.
Ha! I'm always reminding people that the original order was "Reduce > Reuse > Recycle" but it seems as if many people just never learned that or quickly forgot. They jump right to "recycle" as if it's the obvious environmental choice.
But I like your version better and will start using it. Seriously, don't get sucked in to getting your brain Dopamine hits from buying stuff. You'll save money and the environment.
Uuuh, none? I've gone through 2 years and it was literally either a consumable (dog treats) or some kind of hardware tool that I still have and will last me a lifetime.
I have no idea how many things you buy, the average, or what is the general opinion about it. Everyone buys a lot of stuff, I guess? Everyone saying that everyone buys a lot of stuff?
Nevertheless GGP accusing me (and some similar comments) is annoying, probably it annoys GP too for the same reason.
Is accusing the general reader that useful? Is it even true?
Narcissism much? When the comment doesn’t apply to you, it isn’t directed at you.