On Tuesday this week I read in my daily newspaper that 'every New Zealander is hoarding about $1200 worth of unused stuff, according to a Trade Me survey.' Really?"Really?" I thought. Then I looked around my own house. My wife and I don't like clutter and we don't intend to hoard, but ... Well looking at the picture above we certainly have a basket ball, a badminton racquet, a hat or two, a spare noticeboard stuck away in the outside shed, an old tape recorder, a pair of shoes and... The photo is good isn't it? I clicked it out of American newspaper because it's a fun picture and because it shows that useful but unused gear is not just a New Zealand problem. Indeed, scattered over the internet I found scores of images and articles from many different countries about accumulated unused stuff. Accurate?Trade Me 'surveyed more than 4000 people and found everyone had about 15 used and unwanted things.' It went on to estimate that 'there are some 73 million secondhand items left in people's garages, spare rooms and cupboards around the country that are no longer used but are still usable.' That seems huge for a small country like New Zealand. Four thousand is a small survey, so to extrapolate to 'everyone' having $1200 worth of unused stuff or estimating that we New Zealanders are sitting on 73 million unused items may be stretching the elastic of accuracy just a bit. Donate old stuffHowever, I don't think the statistical accuracy or inaccuracy of that survey worries those who are concerned about waste and disuse. That same $1200 paper story then reports that Marty Hoffart, a spokesman for Zero Waste Network, thinks that donating old stuff to charity stores creates local jobs and stops valuable items going straight to the landfill. And he further said, "If people are donating that stuff to a second hand shop, the money doesn't go to an international corporation, it goes to the local community." Zero Waste NetworkWhat is Zero Waste Network? I didn't know so I went looking. Their website says: 'We represent community enterprises across Aotearoa New Zealand who are working towards zero waste. Our mission is connect, educate, enable and inspire them to reach their goal and to be a unifying voice at local, regional and central government levels.' Moral factorSo a moral factor is implicit here, Having unused stuff wasting away at home is bad. Reduce it. Share it. Give it the chance to do what it was made for. Get away from a 'linear economy' where things are bought, used (or not used) then thrown away. Work towards a so-called 'circular economy' as represented by the circular line in this Zero Waste Network graphic. Even in the USA I began this post with an American picture – a couchful of unused wasted stuff. And I suppose the couch itself was unused. I think of America as one of the most prolific consumer product places on earth. Does anybody there worry about unused stuff? Well, on the United States Environmental Protection Agency website I found this: The most effective way to reduce waste is not to create it in the first place. Then I found this: Benefits of Reducing and Reusing
All of usI like this advice. And I like that it is on a United States federal government agency website. That gives me hope. But greater hope will come when more ordinary folk, like me and all those who read this post, take serious notice of the advice and transform it into action. □ Click to enlarge ########## John McInnes Friday 25 October 2019 References: ---------- Another Ngaio blog Please click on this line to reach another Ngaio blog, The Beret Project, by Daan Koltoff. Be surprised! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 Comments
|
Welcome
|