Imagine this in a landfill
On Saturday, we visited an upscale kitchen store. Wow! Facing the entrance was a wall of the latest cooking appliances. A pizza oven costing upwards of $1,000. Automated coffee implements with every imaginable control and automated multi-cookers to reduce the suffering associated with cooking. There were other incomprehensibly expensive, nuanced items. And 80% or more of our fancy purchases (furniture, batteries, carpet, large appliances, clothing, tires, etc) end up in a landfill. They are rarely recycled, even if they can be.
Still, we continue to accumulate this trash-in-waiting at quickly growing rates. Our desire for status, convenience, and ease knows no bounds. Of course, we’re programmed by our On Demand culture to continue accumulating without judgment or thought. Our magical thinking tells us that this device will really be used (more than it will be), is more resilient, will be with us for the future, and we don’t need to ask what happens after it dies. We don’t even ask that last question about ourselves, so why would we be surprised that we don’t ask it about the crap we buy? Everything is needed now, will be used all the time, can be stored in our interminable storage units, and will magically (and without damage to the environment) disappear after we stop using them. Let’s buy some chicks for the kids for Easter <- incredibly poor human judgment.
I’m not railing against Dutch Ovens or other sturdy, resilient implements. In fact, the most expensive Dutch Ovens (Le Crueset, Staub, my preference), for instance, can last two generations; they really are cooking investments if there ever were such a thing. They are as timeless as such a thing can be. Their value (and cost) far exceeds those of their peers. Those who own them often feel a sense of responsibility and pride towards them. So, this isn’t to say we don’t need things or devices. We do.
This writing is a plea for you to reconsider buying what will not be routinely used, is not well-made and long-lived, cannot be recycled, and is purchased solely for status or convenience.
How soon will that thing you must have end up in the landfill? What will it look like, and where will it live in three years? Does its use justify the burden on the environment of its creation, use, and disposal?