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I enjoy walking in alleys and see a lot of perfectly good items thrown away, of course. As I am nearly a sentimental hoarder, citing to myself practical, enviro

I enjoy walking in alleys and see a lot of perfectly good items thrown away, of course. As I am nearly a sentimental hoarder, citing to myself practical, environmental and thrift reasons, it boggles my mind what some people toss out. In residential trash I’ve seen near-mint suitcases, umbrellas, notebooks, school books, art supplies, boots, shirts, jackets, large toys, entire potted plants, hats, work uniforms, and much more. Commercial trash can be even more impressively wasteful with things like 60 pounds of ground beef behind a certain bar every other week. As far as food, I have known people who regularly go to drive-they’d, get 6 tacos, eat one or two and throw the other 4 away. I’ve accompanied some friends to dinner who routinely order large meals, eat a fraction and leave it at the table. This casual waste at the consumer level is even worse when you consider the proportion of food that didn’t even make it to a plate. What I perceive is a common lack of appreciation of the total cost, in every sense, of creating any food item or consumer product. Any sort of production involves suffering for someone, whether it’s the lowest paid workers, local people and animals suffering the effects of pollution, or even the problem of roads and air congested by trucks carrying products that will eventually be 2/3s wasted. It boggles my mind that with more organization and efficiency in distribution and usage, we could grow less food, but feed more people and eat more, yet most people don’t see any need to even try to change the system.

noobly 5y ago
I've thrown away so much stuff that has value. Pyrex erlenmyers this week, for example. I don't regret it and it's hard to do (for me), but I've learned every item you own has a cost associated with it, e.g maintenance or even just taking up space (which can compromise aesethetics/atmosphere if nothing else). And trying to sell old junk can be too time consuming and draining compared to just tossing it wholesale. I have a nice clean shop space now and it's worth cutting the losses imo. Luckily, most of the stuff I have is used/cheap or was obtained for free, though. I try to just accumulate less now, even if free.
- meowster 5y ago
  My dad is a horder, and I like to minimalize the amount of stuff I have, and you're right about costs being associated. What I've noticed with my dad is that most of the stuff he hoards, practically no one would want. Some of the stuff he hoards is valuable, but after a short term of hoarding, it gets damaged from neglect to a condition where no one would want it. He knows that none of his children want the stuff, and he knows that I will be renting a trailer-sized dumpster to empty his house after he dies, he even knows he can't use the things himself, but he can't stop accumulating new things or get rid of any the things he already has. I believe his stuff is what will kill him. I've witnessed him trip on piles of stuff (think of his house like an ant farm, where there is only one narrow path to walk through). The air quality conditions are extremely terrible. He didn't even notice an ongoing water leak that was damaging valuable things. I'm all for reduce/reuse/recycle, but in some instances it's a net gain just to throw things that might be perfectly good, away.
distances 5y ago
The food waste is cultural. In my country teachers would observe that everyone finishes their school lunch; you weren't allowed to throw out food. Yes, everyone has some traumatic memories about finishing a plate. On the other hand, I don't know any adult wasting food now.

noobly 5y ago

I've thrown away so much stuff that has value. Pyrex erlenmyers this week, for example. I don't regret it and it's hard to do (for me), but I've learned every item you own has a cost associated with it, e.g maintenance or even just taking up space (which can compromise aesethetics/atmosphere if nothing else). And trying to sell old junk can be too time consuming and draining compared to just tossing it wholesale. I have a nice clean shop space now and it's worth cutting the losses imo. Luckily, most of the stuff I have is used/cheap or was obtained for free, though. I try to just accumulate less now, even if free.

meowster 5y ago
My dad is a horder, and I like to minimalize the amount of stuff I have, and you're right about costs being associated. What I've noticed with my dad is that most of the stuff he hoards, practically no one would want. Some of the stuff he hoards is valuable, but after a short term of hoarding, it gets damaged from neglect to a condition where no one would want it. He knows that none of his children want the stuff, and he knows that I will be renting a trailer-sized dumpster to empty his house after he dies, he even knows he can't use the things himself, but he can't stop accumulating new things or get rid of any the things he already has. I believe his stuff is what will kill him. I've witnessed him trip on piles of stuff (think of his house like an ant farm, where there is only one narrow path to walk through). The air quality conditions are extremely terrible. He didn't even notice an ongoing water leak that was damaging valuable things. I'm all for reduce/reuse/recycle, but in some instances it's a net gain just to throw things that might be perfectly good, away.

distances 5y ago

The food waste is cultural. In my country teachers would observe that everyone finishes their school lunch; you weren't allowed to throw out food. Yes, everyone has some traumatic memories about finishing a plate. On the other hand, I don't know any adult wasting food now.