Post Aqj2m9yPyDOpWY2jxo by storybookcat@cupoftea.social
(DIR) More posts by storybookcat@cupoftea.social
(DIR) Post #Aqi68O1AXWAY9nezOC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T14:08:00Z
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Whenever I buy something I try to take a moment to imagine where it's useful life will end. Will I still have it in 5 years? in 10 years? Can it be repaired? If I grow bored with it and don't want it anymore would anyone else want it?I imagine it in the landfill, or the thrift shop, as bits and parts reused in a project, or still loved and repaired and being used.I wonder if there are ways to make kind of thinking more natural?There is so much junk and it will make you depressed some day.
(DIR) Post #Aqi6EVMu7hkagxkCO0 by housepanther@goblackcat.social
2025-02-02T14:08:54Z
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@futurebird Interesting idea. I've never thought about this prior to buying things. I might adopt this idea!
(DIR) Post #Aqi6OV5e0sKyiyRAYq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T14:10:44Z
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@housepanther The landfill comes up a lot... which is why more people don't do it. But, the least I could do is be honest with myself that I'm making garbage because I think some plastic thing will make me happy for a few months. And over time the happiness is a bit hollow so maybe I can save and wait and buy or make better things that don't end up being trash as often.
(DIR) Post #Aqi6ksLCFPuPCrNfrk by photovotary@beige.party
2025-02-02T14:14:41Z
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@futurebird Yes! My mother passed away at the end of December and as I've been gradually going through her things I have realized how so much of what we buy and keep becomes trash. Sure much of it will be donated but I will never know if anyone will use it again. It's led me to a limited theory of brass candlesticks/candle holders. The world should stop being manufacturing them because there are probably millions of them sitting in elderly people's cabinets waiting to be used once by someone else one day. There are enough of them to go around already in existence. No need to make more of them. :blobcatgiggle:
(DIR) Post #Aqi72Ir6v59cMacPYG by nirak@carhenge.club
2025-02-02T14:18:03Z
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@futurebird I do this too, and it's part of the reason I hate christmas more and more each year. I have a few relatives that get me random "craps" (my word for them) that are sold in stores as stocking stuffers, etc. They serve no purpose, just fill up space and give me something to open on christmas. I have a box full of them and it makes me sad. (I ask for donations to orgs, and I get them, but I "need something to open")
(DIR) Post #Aqi7Yb0CzBz7uYGwgC by vlindervriendje@mstdn.social
2025-02-02T14:23:52Z
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@futurebird 💚
(DIR) Post #Aqi7cA2fAMGLSA7Wgi by SKleefeld@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T14:24:21Z
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@futurebird When I was growing up, my family was frugal enough that everything was considered in the context of long-term value. It was REALLY heavily ingrained in me as a kid, and I almost always continue to think in those terms today. I understand the environmental costs, certainly, but I almost always frame it in financial terms. It's (usually) cheaper to get high quality now that lasts and not have to repurchase multiple cheaper versions. It's cheaper to repair than replace. Etc.
(DIR) Post #Aqi7gfbjkP5yVjfyam by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T14:25:23Z
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@SKleefeld It's cheaper in the long run, but often really being poor means not being able to afford to do the very things that can save lots of money. Being poor is very expensive.
(DIR) Post #Aqi87xN1oWgdQ5o7Zg by dancast@wandering.shop
2025-02-02T14:30:09Z
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@futurebird My wife likes to joke that I have a coffee machine problem. I buy a new one every couple years, hoping that THIS WILL BE THE ONE. I appreciate your framing of the problem. (I’ve only once been able to give one away – to my in-laws – who used it for a decade before it gave up the ghost. I secretly wanted it back 🤦)
(DIR) Post #Aqi8Tvt20lYxBlFuYC by Pineywoozle@masto.ai
2025-02-02T14:34:10Z
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@futurebird I just saw a kind of genius repurposing for at least one of the 9 zillion cassette cases floating around the universe. LoL https://mstdn.social/@stux/113934713169329423
(DIR) Post #Aqi8hYbtLiw93IjeeO by xan@xantronix.social
2025-02-02T14:36:41Z
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@futurebird This is why I love old game consoles so much. I know that, no matter what, there will always be some new joy to be discovered in them, from making them persist well beyond their forecast life to extending them beyond their creators' wildest imaginations. Every gamepad holds an intimate history with its users. The handhelds are all transformed through love by their owners to bear their marks of adoration.I fucking love old game consoles so much because of this.
(DIR) Post #Aqi90dTdTkFbeGyGWW by Pineywoozle@masto.ai
2025-02-02T14:40:07Z
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@futurebird The one thing I won’t recycle into something artsy or functional is toilet paper rolls, cause seriously Ewwww 😜
(DIR) Post #Aqi96UOCBCaTCWDXwO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T14:41:14Z
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@Pineywoozle I bet the average cell phone has more gross things on it. But grossness isn't always an objective thing.
(DIR) Post #Aqi9B7rXMRaWmd9X1M by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T14:42:05Z
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@Pineywoozle We wash our hands, but never wash our phones really. Phones are SO GROSS. I try not to think about it too much.
(DIR) Post #Aqi9JIs6JUI1FCJdmy by crcollins@writing.exchange
2025-02-02T14:43:31Z
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@futurebird My husband and I downsized a few years back and it felt so freeing. 😊 Now I don't have the space to buy everything that catches my eye, which is a good thing. I buy things I need or know I'll use for a good while.
(DIR) Post #Aqi9bPp5Cu8u12XaUq by susangoebel@mstdn.plus
2025-02-02T14:46:46Z
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@futurebird love this! 98% of the furniture in my house is second-hand.
(DIR) Post #Aqi9e7kGsM7Gola7Jw by courtcan@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T14:47:17Z
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@futurebird Yikes. I am suddenly thinking of the billions (trillions?) of plastic overhead projector sheets. They're still being sold, because people do still use overhead projectors.... But I think of all the schools world-wide that have stopped using them, and all of those thin sheets of non-biodegradable plastic that have gone to the landfill....
(DIR) Post #AqiAr3kFA0fM85IhIu by kikebenlloch@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T15:00:51Z
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@futurebird The first shoes we ever wore will most likely survive us all.
(DIR) Post #AqiBgImuzRWVYNzC3E by SKleefeld@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T15:10:07Z
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@futurebird Absolutely, and often in ways many people don't even consider. Like, it's cheaper per unit to buy in bulk... but that assumes you have someplace to store your reserves even if you can afford the bulk purchase to begin with. I have NEVER seen an "it's more expensive to be poor" video or article mention that extra storage like this costs money too.
(DIR) Post #AqiC2hQG51iWKL4D4a by Writch@pagan.plus
2025-02-02T15:14:08Z
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@futurebird I think it's a habit one has to actively build. It's not quite the same thing, but if I find myself wanting something, I'll put it on a list of wants with the date I wrote it down to leave it sit for a month. Most of the time, when I come back to it, I haven't even thought of it again, so I write it off as a passing whim and remove it from the list. If I look at it again and I'm still really wanting it, then I start doing research on the very best option I can get for my money, and save up for better quality if I can.
(DIR) Post #AqiCElNHDFmS3hQOH2 by starlily@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T15:16:17Z
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@futurebird @housepanther The vast majority my trash is food packaging. If some brand decides to forgo plastic in their packages I'll buy all their things.
(DIR) Post #AqiCxAAiNUW5hxijPE by belehaa@wandering.shop
2025-02-02T15:24:15Z
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@futurebird Same. A book I enjoyed on trash and discarding is Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash by Susan Strasser
(DIR) Post #AqiDX8paq8F5yVzriy by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T15:30:54Z
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@futurebird I've learned that if I try to think through these things it will literally take me 5 years to buy the damn thing. That's why I'm still using headphones with only one working speaker after nearly 2 years.
(DIR) Post #AqiH0bPFybrMrNPxrs by fishhead_125@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T16:09:48Z
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@futurebird You're sooo right!🧡 I'm trying to do the same. E.g. I am buying nearly all my clothes at Second Hand Shops. They still look great and cost a Third of the normal price.I have my television for more than 10 years now and as long as it works, I am surely not buying a new one.😄
(DIR) Post #AqiLZEE8Y3pCvFz0q0 by Pineywoozle@masto.ai
2025-02-02T17:00:53Z
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@futurebird I use wet naps on mine. LoL cause yeah germ palooza. 😜
(DIR) Post #AqiLzzpOByN85DAgjI by Blanco@c.im
2025-02-02T17:05:43Z
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@futurebird Wow, that is a lot of thinking, LOL.
(DIR) Post #AqiPkpnPbkPQRVGwro by otfrom@functional.cafe
2025-02-02T17:47:40Z
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@futurebird Vimes' boots @SKleefeld
(DIR) Post #AqiVHOco9KljV4esYC by jupiterboy@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T18:48:52Z
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@futurebird There is a world of freely available how-to-fix knowledge out there. Increasing the idea to use it is difficult. There are also right-to-repair discussions, engineering, legislation. Maybe with scarcity comes need.
(DIR) Post #AqiVXmsXk52rM5pn8K by literally@mstdn.party
2025-02-02T18:52:40Z
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@futurebird i work in a thrift store and yes. yes to all of this !
(DIR) Post #AqiYwJNgqnEIyKmxkm by Myphatself@mstdn.social
2025-02-02T19:30:42Z
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@futurebird i take a trip to the dump myself here and there and watch as all the once loved items get crushed by the big tractor. It makes me think about all of my purchases.
(DIR) Post #AqifzQImH7Ewz5vD9s by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-02T20:49:43Z
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@me Can't be perfect. We don't live in a world that makes it reasonable to never send anything to the landfill. But people who think about this too much for their own good are rare, but I guess it can happen.
(DIR) Post #AqijJEuuc5VrKRtq88 by munin@infosec.exchange
2025-02-02T21:26:57Z
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@futurebird @ShaulaEvans The way that I encourage that kind of thinking in myself is by incorporating "what are the maintenance requirements" into my decisions.Comes from my professional-side risk assessment skills, lol, but adding "maintenance" as a cost-side line item in purchases is pretty eye-opening, especially for things that come encumbered with subscription fees.
(DIR) Post #Aqimh8SAb1DG5wXe7s by skatercat@mastodon.au
2025-02-02T22:04:49Z
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@futurebird I’ve started to think like this as well. I also think about what I’m replacing and where will the item being replaced end up.
(DIR) Post #Aqit6yD7trHja9CvB2 by dancingtreefrog@mastodon.social
2025-02-02T23:16:42Z
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@futurebirdKind of one of the strengths (or weaknesses) of being a packrat... 😉
(DIR) Post #AqiwaYNumhl42B3Geu by mhstoixeiwmenopip@kafeneio.social
2025-02-02T23:55:41Z
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@futurebird felt that. People around me though get so shocked or weirded out when I express my very intentional selectiveness for every single thing I buy as if I'm crazy.Ok I may be crazy, but it's not because I take my time with making purchasing decisions...
(DIR) Post #Aqixfd0J8b4zlKzdmC by dx@social.ridetrans.it
2025-02-03T00:07:48Z
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@futurebird Photos of landfills on consumer goods like those pictures of diseased lungs on cigarette packaging
(DIR) Post #Aqj0nv1YK5b7pWDj7Y by storybookcat@cupoftea.social
2025-02-03T00:40:25Z
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@oisin @rhelune @futurebird I need to know what shoes these are. I tried buying $106 nice ones on sale and they lasted two years. . . I wore them everywhere, but still.
(DIR) Post #Aqj0nwIbaApfmhCrL6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-03T00:42:53Z
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@storybookcat @oisin @rhelune I get my shoes from https://adelanteshoes.com/they make the shoes to order and do every width and size. (even different sizes for each foot)The shoes are old school and can be taken to any cobbler for new heels or souls. They are not shoes for lots of walking though. They are for work teaching or doing a desk job and looking neat as a pin.
(DIR) Post #Aqj2m9yPyDOpWY2jxo by storybookcat@cupoftea.social
2025-02-03T01:04:58Z
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@futurebird @oisin @rhelune Haha teaching. I did that one year and was on my feet constantly, otherwise they would hurt each other, throw things and get loud.These look cool, thank you! I will have to look into it, I've been looking for something that will last. I'm on my feet a lot. Cowboots are comfy, so maybe these would be similar?
(DIR) Post #Aqllcc23g6tlu7UHWy by letterror@typo.social
2025-02-04T08:36:56Z
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@futurebird Might be related: Victor Papanek’s Design for the real world, 1971. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Papanek