Over the weekend, I went furniture shopping with my Mom. She's had her sofa for 15 years. It's about 5 years past its prime. But the fabric is still good and it's not totally falling apart. 15 years ago, she bought herself a new bedroom set, to replace the one she's had since I was just a tiny girl. The old bedroom set is now in the guest room. Anyway, she bought a new sofa AND a new dinning room set. The dinning room set she has now is a hand me down and she's had it for 33 years. Again, there isn't anything wrong with it. It's a quality piece of furniture. I think she struggled a little with getting something new. I told her it was okay to be tired of the same table and chairs after 33 years! And truthfully, she worked hard and scrimped and saved and made a lot of sacrifices just so she could be financially comfortable in her "golden years".
She also still has some cookware that she's had since the 60's. She might even still have an avocado green electric skillet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun, just using her as an example of an old attitude,
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." Do people do that anymore? Well, now they do, a little bit, because of the recession and being 'green'. The new attitude is, "reduce, reuse, recycle." But as a whole, we live in a disposable world. 50 years ago, if your tablecloth was old and thread bare, you turned it into an apron or dust cloths. Today, you feel like it's okay to toss it out or give it to Goodwill if you're just tired of it and you buy Swifers to dust with.
I've been guilty of that myself. I wanted new dishes just because I was tired of looking at the old ones after 8 years. There wasn't anything wrong with them though. A couple weeks ago we bought a new crock pot. The one we were using was a wedding gift, 22 years ago. It's not broken but I wanted one with some newer features. Since I've been married, I've purchased 5 different comforters for our bed. Again, not because we wore them out or used them up...I just got tired of them. In my head, they were disposable.
On the flip side however, it's not only the way you think. It's how things are made. Why does your PC crash after a couple years? Why do you need to replace your cell phone every couple years? Why do you buy a new car before the one you have is even paid for? Why do your kids have so many toys that will end up in the trash can before the year is out? Doesn't it seem like everything is disposable these days. Clothes, food that goes bad sitting in your fridge, Christmas tree lights, homes, new furniture that only lasts a few years, even your friends in some cases. How come the first vacuum cleaner I bought lasted decades but since it died I've had to replace it 3 times? How come there are still cars, built in the 50's on the road but the thought of a new Mustang still still being on the road 50 years from now is very silly?
I think I can do better. Can you?
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