sick of our throw away society!!!!

Rosie - posted on 10/10/2011

omg jenny, i just watched the story of stuff....i'm sickened. compeltely sickened.

Good Day! - posted on 10/10/2011

Kelly, I'm sorry, but I had to mark that as funny. I wish there was also a 'sad' button.

Johnny - posted on 10/10/2011

Ack, printer cartridges. Yep. I had to get rid of a perfectly functional printer-scanner-fax machine because it wouldn't do anything (even scan to computer or fax outgoing) if all of the cartridges weren't at least 50%. And the colour ones cost $56/each. Ha! Of course, there is no way of knowing that when you buy the bleeping thing. I bought it for my business, and man, it was a money bleeder. I took it to the electronics recycling depot a couple months ago and the guy asked me if it worked. I told him why I was bringing it in and he told me that almost all the printers that they get are still functional, but people give up on them because of the cost of cartridges. What a huge waste! THAT should be criminal.

We've cut down on our throw away rate so much in the last few years. It feels so good. I'm really anal about what we buy now. It drives my husband a bit nuts because I ask him at least 20 questions before he buys anything. But of course, by the time I'm done he realizes that he really doesn't actually need it.

Kelly - posted on 10/10/2011

I know, right! The kids DON'T play with the toys....she just keeps buying them. They like the thrill of getting something new, and she likes the thrill of giving them something, she says it makes her feel like she is "providing". Personally, I think that is sad, *I* thought "she needs therapy" but all the moms in the group immediately identified :P It makes them feel better about themselves!

I asked them why they don't just donate extra stuff, since it is the purchase that makes them feel good and they said, that they didn't want to take the purchase experience away from other moms (OMG!!!! I live around these people!!) and that sometimes they just like to look at all the things they've bought :P Baffling.

Sherri - posted on 10/10/2011

Sadly it is cheaper to replace most things because they are made so cheaply then ever even consider fixing it anymore because it actually costs more to repair it then replace it.



However, that is the society we live in people want to buy things inexpensively rather than go for quality.



When we bought our TV they told us they are only made to last now for 2yrs. 2yrs are you flipping joking???

Good Day! - posted on 10/10/2011

Wow, Kelly. My jaw dropped. How many toys can a kid play with in a single day or even week? And wouldn't it be cheaper to just get rid of and buy new home decor stuff as needed instead of buying a whole new house? I'm preaching to the choir, I know.

Brittany - posted on 10/10/2011

I am not the best at it but, our throw away rate is getting smaller.

We bought some worms (red wigglers) to compost most of our food waste. I cook smaller dinners for smaller left overs. I buy smaller amounts of lunch meats and things we do not eat right away or a lot of. We donate clothes and toys. I, on a two to three times a day basis, clean the ferret litter pans. I use left over dinner boxes for art crafts on the weekends. I do not buy canned veggies.

My list goes on but, about a year ago my husband and I made a trip to sams club and bought two of the big boxes of trash bags and we are not half way through the first box yet.

Kelly - posted on 10/10/2011

Right there with you! Not only the throw away stuff, but all the stuff we can live without!



We live in a tiny house, and a lot of our friends don't know how we manage. My friend just moved her family of 4 into a 6 bedroom house Why? Because she needed a SEPARATE PLAYROOM for each kid--their combined toys no longer fit in the single spare room she had before--and a spare room for home decor that she's not using at the moment, but might use one day. They have 3 EXTRA sofas!!

Ooo - posted on 10/10/2011

I'm beyond sick of it. I'll pay to get our washing machine fixed even if it costs the same as a new one because I'll only end up in the same position later on down the line. We try to mend things as much as possible before we resort to buying new.

Caitlin - posted on 10/10/2011

I ry to reuse and fix stuff as much as possible. When I bought my daughters toddler bed, I ordered it online and the delivery company did a horrible job in shipping and it was bumped and scraped up when it got here with 1 piece (not a structural piece) broken off. I called and complained and they sent me a whole new bed, didn't even take back the damaged one, so I got 2 toddler beds out of the deal. I'm currently going over the "broken" bed right now with sand paper, a little glue and a finishing pencil to hide the scrapes and so far it looks almost perfect.

I'm pretty handy, and so is my husband, so together we don't throw that much out, but it bugs me how often these things break! Last thing I had to replace in the house was a clothes washer, because the repair guy told me it would cost 500$ to fix.. ya right.. I went t the thrift store here (who has a repair guy to fix these broken ones - he volunteers his time) and picked up a used one for 70$. Not bad.

Nikki - posted on 10/10/2011

I feel the same way, most of my stuff if antique, or at least solid wood I am not a fan of modern throw away furniture. Even a lot of my kitchen stuff is really old, given to me by my mum and my mother in law, my electric frypan is about 25 years old and works 10 times better than my brand new one.

Susanne - posted on 10/10/2011

my hubby has jars and jars full of nuts, screws, bolts and other miscellanious metal thingy majigs that im not sure the name of. Hes always got the bit to fix things, when something goes kaput in our house he takes it apart and keep the bits he can reuse its so sad.

Sal - posted on 10/10/2011

jenny yep the jrn zinc insert (and matching bolt) i dont suppose you know an aussie supplier??? at least i know that they are out there

Erin - posted on 10/09/2011

Ugh yes! Washing machines are the worst. My Mum has a front loader and it is a total lemon. It's not even 10yrs old, and every 18mths or so they have had to get someone out to repair it (costing roughly $200 each time). It is on it's last legs again now, and my step-father has finally given in and agreed it's not worth it to fix it. They could have easily bought a new one with the amount they've had to spend on repairs!!

And yes, small kitchen appliances are bad. And mobile phones!! Holy shit! The last one I had before my iPhone 4 didn't even last a year.

Jenny - posted on 10/09/2011

Sal do any of these look familiar? http://www.richelieu.com/produit/index.p...

Good Day! - posted on 10/09/2011

I hear ya on how stuff just isn't made like it used to be. My oven is original to my 1959 house. Pretty impressive, I must say!

Stifler's - posted on 10/09/2011

And my kettles keep breaking if they weren't so dangerous I'd get one of those ones you put on the hot plate. I buy all the kids clothes from the op shop pretty much. It's all near new anyway and has lasted 2 kids.

Stifler's - posted on 10/09/2011

YES. my printer stuffed itself and it's cheaper to buy a whole new one that get one that is 2 years old or less fixed. same with computers sometimes my laptop is not even 3 years old and it's full of crap and they said it'd be cheaper to buy a new one.

Lady Heather - posted on 10/09/2011

omg Jenny, printers are the worst! Yeah, I am beyond sick of it. Thus my hatred for small kitchen appliances. Everything is a piece of fucking crap these days. Our tactic is to hang on to higher quality hand-me-downs for as long as possible while saving money to try and buy as high quality as we can get new when we need it. So we bought an awesome couch that should last a good long time. Next up will be a dining table that is made out of this thing called solid wood. But basically we wait until our old stuff is falling apart and beyond repair. Funny how the stuff we got from our parents is only just starting to fall apart now.

Sal - posted on 10/09/2011

i'd love to you jenny but i'm in aus, they are the little barrel shaped nuts that fit into the predrilled hole to connect bits (if that makes any sence at all), i am holding out hope that my dad (who we all tease about being a hoarder) has some in the shed, if not i am going just screw them perminate, it will be a pain when i move but got to be done...

Jenny - posted on 10/09/2011

It is called planned obsolescence and is done very deliberately. I despise it. My printer won't work right now because one of the cartridges "expired". The one that went is magenta and it won't even let me print black only. A new printer is damn near the same price as a new pack of cartridges. Or coffeemakers, I've been through like 4, I'm going french press with my next one. It's all just no wasteful and harmful to the planet. Check out "The Story of Stuff". It's sickening.

I happen to be in the furniture industry and track down hardware all the time. Give me the details for what you need and I'll see if I can help.