4 ms·

you could have easily purchased new sandpaper, rented the movie on netflix or bought new games. The cost is keeping unused stuff around is higher than acquirin

you could have easily purchased new sandpaper, rented the movie on netflix or bought new games. The cost is keeping unused stuff around is higher than acquiring it again were you to need it again. And why do you even have a passport if you don't travel? The deed of your house? Why would you keep a piece of paper you could so easily lose, especially since it's on the land registry anyway?

YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
The cost of keeping small non-perishable items around is zero. The cost of re-buying them is nonzero. The environmental cost of sending perfectly functional items to landfill and consuming energy to recreate them is definitely nonzero. (And the financial cost of disposal is also nonzero; it's just priced into your taxes.) You also seem to have forgotten that there was a pandemic. I expect 99% of passport-owners went a full year without using it because there was nowhere to go. Earlier this year there was a couple of weeks where you couldn't expedite a passport request for any amount of money due to the backlog created by people who'd allowed their passports to lapse during the pandemic all trying to renew at once. Which actually shows another problem with the "just buy it again, bro" plan: In addition to being wasteful, it's risky. There's no guarantee that you can just re-buy things, or do so expediently and for a reasonable price, or that you'll have the liquidity to do so. Shortages, buyouts, mass layoffs, inflation and price spikes are all things we've seen many examples of in the last few years.
- slategruen 4y ago
  > The cost of keeping small non-perishable items around is zero. If you're renting a small apartment, it's not.
  - mgaunard 4y ago
    Even if you're renting a big place, you still need to find a suitable place where you'll find it again. You still need to be organized even if you have space.
  - YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
    Look at the post I was replying to. There was no "if you're renting a small apartment" condition, or any other conditions to limit its applicability.

YurgenJurgensen 4y ago

The cost of keeping small non-perishable items around is zero. The cost of re-buying them is nonzero. The environmental cost of sending perfectly functional items to landfill and consuming energy to recreate them is definitely nonzero. (And the financial cost of disposal is also nonzero; it's just priced into your taxes.) You also seem to have forgotten that there was a pandemic. I expect 99% of passport-owners went a full year without using it because there was nowhere to go. Earlier this year there was a couple of weeks where you couldn't expedite a passport request for any amount of money due to the backlog created by people who'd allowed their passports to lapse during the pandemic all trying to renew at once. Which actually shows another problem with the "just buy it again, bro" plan: In addition to being wasteful, it's risky. There's no guarantee that you can just re-buy things, or do so expediently and for a reasonable price, or that you'll have the liquidity to do so. Shortages, buyouts, mass layoffs, inflation and price spikes are all things we've seen many examples of in the last few years.

slategruen 4y ago
> The cost of keeping small non-perishable items around is zero. If you're renting a small apartment, it's not.
- mgaunard 4y ago
  Even if you're renting a big place, you still need to find a suitable place where you'll find it again. You still need to be organized even if you have space.
- YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
  Look at the post I was replying to. There was no "if you're renting a small apartment" condition, or any other conditions to limit its applicability.