Why replace if it works and works just fine?
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The latest phone in pink titanium. The latest laptop that's 2mm thinner. Peer pressure and ad pressure means that you think that you are incomplete unless you buy those new gadgets as and when the hit the market.
The trouble is that surplus consumption leads to surplus production and CO2 so far better if you can stick with what you got - and be happy. Such surplus consumption also leads to additional waste and more things to go into landfill sites, for, let's face it, not everything does get recycled as it should.
You do not need the latest PC, cell phone, MP3 player, if what you have got works and performs well. PCs don't have to have the latest windows software either and if Windows support is gone use Linux, such as the Ubuntu Linux.
While having said that about computers I have to say that I did “upgrade” to a new laptop about a year ago but that was because my workhorse PC was getting rather wobbly (Windows XP with not enough memory) and because I needed to transfer data immediately without messing around it had to be a new laptop.
I am not happy with Windows Vista though at all. It freezes up much like the old ME used to do and can be a real pain. Unfortunately, the laptop would have cost an additional load of money had I asked for XP to be installed instead of Vista.
I have another old PC workhorse that is running on Ubuntu Linux and a rather old version but needs a wireless card before it is any use online, for instance.
On the other hand I am trying to make use of things that are older though and am, in general, quite happy to do so.
I am still using a 1980's bicycle I got nearly 7 years ago and am currently building – when I have some time – a new single speed job for short rides from an old frame and bits and pieces found abandoned in the parks. And by golly do we find a lot of abandoned bikes; or at least we did until recently.
Some older tools, for instance, and things, are also built to last and hence, if looked after a little, will outlast anything that you can buy new today, with one or two exceptions.
As and where I can I also upcycle waste in order to achieve things that I need and want and do not have to go out and buy this way.
Why go and buy, for instance, glass storage jars for the kitchen when they come free with stuff you buy at the grocery store, such as glass jars for this or that.
It would be a waste of money to buy those storage jars – and they sure are not cheap most of the time – when I can get the same use and basically the same effect by employing empty glass jars that had Dill Pickles or what-have-you in them. Helps both my pocketbook and the environment.
The same is true if you can make do with what you have rather than going out and buying new and then having to find a way of disposing of the old item as well.
© 2009
<>
