All posts tagged stuff

Going to extremes… or not

I keep coming across articles on the internet about people who have pared their life down to the bare essentials… like Rob Greenfield who only has 111 possessions (you can check them out here). Now I’m all for cutting down on waste and not buying unnecessary ‘stuff’, but I simply wouldn’t be happy with so little. What about creativity? What about owning equipment to make things or repair things? What about tools for cultivating the land? Living a nomadic life with no roots (metaphorically and literally … I love my plants), no money and no ‘safe’ place is just not something that I would want to contemplate seriously. I suspect it isn’t something that would work for many people and, indeed, the earth could support a much smaller population if we all foraged for all our food. I’m not saying that any of those things are ‘bad’, but just unrealistic given our starting point.

So, where do we find a balance? How much stuff should we have? Should we all follow the advice of Marie Kondo and only have possessions that ‘spark joy in our life’? I have to confess that I worry about decluttering simply for the sake of it… particularly where in a fit of enthusiasm for a tidy house, all the unwanted items end up in landfill. My desire for fewer possessions is balanced by my desire to be kind to the planet. An item may not spark joy in me, but if I know that it will be useful in the future, then I’m not going to throw it out.

So, my approach to reducing clutter in out home is currently based around the following:

Not adding to what we already have. This means being a member of the library rather than buying paperback books; not buying more craft supplies when I have plenty to keep me amused; making use of existing electronics (mobile phone, e-reader, pc etc) rather than being seduced into buying the latest model.

dscf0945

it looked like this in 2012…it’s still working but more repaired!

Repairing. Making use of the materials/equipment that we have to repair things that wear out or break. Mr Snail’s collection of electronic components comes in very handy for repairing… this doesn’t reduce what we have much, but it justifies keeping some ‘stuff’ around. I refer you to the much repaired radio.

 

Being generous. When a friend mentions that they need something that I own but don’t really have a use for or a particular reason to keep, I give it to them. I’ve even started giving away things simply because a friend likes them.

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refreshed and ready to be sold

Finding new homes. This is slightly different to the last one because the driving force is that I no longer want an item rather than someone else expressing a desire for it. I feel guilty about sending anything to landfill, but selling something on, donating something to charity or offering an item for free (e.g. via Freecycle) feels like a positive action.

 

Composting. I have discovered the joys of converting unwanted paper into compost. This means that piles of old lecture notes, financial statements, old magazines and official letters are now part of the foundation for our vegetable crops! Composting also extends to natural fabrics that have reached the end of the useful/repairable life, along with worn out wooden items (bamboo toothbrushes, wood and bristle scrubbing brushes, broken wooden skewers etc), although sometimes we burn wooden items (for fuel, not simply to dispose of them).

and as a last resort…

Recycling. But it’s much better to find ways to repair/reuse/repurpose/rehome before you get to this stage.

And more than anything else, not to be seduced into thinking that buying new ‘stuff’ will make me happy.

So I’m slowly clearing and sorting and selling and sharing… I’m never going to be down to 111 possessions, but I am going to have found new homes or new uses for lots of the ‘stuff’ in my house, and I’m going to love making and repairing and creating with what I do have.

24 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on November 19, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in ethical living, reducing consumption
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on November 19, 2017

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2017/11/19/going-to-extremes-or-not/

Not everything has to go

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The lace is getting a good blow-dry

The reason that our house is so full of STUFF is that I am loath to throw anything out that might come in useful in the future. This does make having a clear out particularly difficult because I can still see potential value (to me) in so many items. Having said this, I have been very successful this week with my decluttering: I have sold three boxes of books, recycled a big pile of magazines, donated a bag of clothes to charity and made a start on clearing out of one of the kitchen cupboards. So, despite purchasing a pack of British wool, there has definitely been more STUFF out than in during the past seven days and, in fact, I think I’m in profit! In addition, I’ve listed a few things on ebay and progressed with laundering the collection of lace… although I haven’t found time yet to list it on etsy. So that feels like a very successful week.

However, in addition, I am keen to make use of some of the things I have been accumulating… or actually get round to doing with them what I had intended. And so, I have taken two pictures to be framed – sitting around in tubes they are clutter, but hanging on the wall they are art! And I have revitalised a couple of seat cushions that have been awaiting rescue for ages. Years ago Sam decided one of our cushions would make an ideal toy and gave it a jolly good playing with. The resulting rips could not be simply stitched together, so I put it in a drawer until I had time to sort it out… where it sat for about 7 years! The (formerly) matching cushion was used and has been in the limery on one of the wooden chairs, where it had faded from bright red to a dull pink. But today I took action – I mended the ripped cushion with mending tape, I dug out some old fabric (that I knew would come in useful eventually), and a made a cover for each cushion. So, no net gain or reduction in STUFF, but a very clear conversion from clutter to usefulness… yay!

One very faded and one newly mended
With a little help from the voodoo strawberry
New covers
In situ in the limery

 

 

10 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on April 10, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in craft, reducing consumption
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on April 10, 2016

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2016/04/10/not-everything-has-to-go/

Finding pleasure

What makes you happy? New shoes? Going to the cinema? Champagne? A walk in the park? Diamonds?

It’s different for everyone, and it changes as we get older. These days I get much more pleasure out of ‘doing’ rather than ‘possessing’. Experiences with my friends and family give me much longer-lasting pleasure than I ever get from ‘stuff’. And being creative -making, growing or cooking – makes me incredibly happy. Of course, there are things that I own that I love and wouldn’t want to be without: my knitting needles and crochet hooks; my laptop (old by current standards); my work light; my new varifocal glasses; my mp3 player (ancient by current standards!) for playing audiobooks… But I don’t want to replace them. Newer versions would not make me happier.

Judging by what we see presented in the media I am the exception. You only need to think of the queues that form when a new i-phone is about to hit the shops to realise that this sort of thing really means something to lots of people. I do wonder, however, how long the joy lasts. Is there a constant desire to have the latest/newest/shiniest/most fashionable ‘thing’? So that as soon as they own the new thing, they are thinking about its future replacement. And there is plenty evidence (here for example) that materialism does not make you happy.

So, this weekend, when I had two days to do as I pleased,with no one else to think about (Mr Snail was away helping my sister dismantle a shed) I didn’t rush off to the shops, I painted the hallway, I planted potatoes (in pots in the limery) and me and the pups did lots of this:

Snoozy Sam
Max awake (just)
Knitting, pups and a dvd
It all got too much for Max
Knitting and an audio book

The only thing missing from the pictures is the tea and biscuits!

I do need to do some shopping soon, but that’s for seeds… which you only own for a short time before they magically transform into something else!!

 

11 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on November 23, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in community and society, health and wellbeing
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on November 23, 2015

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2015/11/23/finding-pleasure/

Reduce your use

Tomorrow marks the beginning of National Recycle Week, with the aim this year being:

to get us all thinking about all the items we can recycle from around the home that we might not previously have thought about recycling (Recycle Now)

Now, I think this is a great idea. We should all think more carefully about what we can recycle. However, I think that recycling is similar in some ways to carbon off-setting, in that it gives us ‘permission’ to carry on as before with the same level of consumption. Telling ourselves that it’s ok to keep buying ‘stuff’ and using resources because they can be recycled is really not sustainable at current levels of consumption. Recycling takes energy, but less than production from raw materials:

It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials. Making recycled steel saves 60%, recycled newspaper 40%, recycled plastics 70%, and recycled glass 40%. These savings far outweigh the energy created as by-products of incineration and landfilling. (Stark State College)

But it still takes energy – and there can be other negative outputs, such as from the bleaching and de-inking processes in paper recycling. So, whilst recycling should be one of our ways to be more sustainable, it shouldn’t be our first one. It would be much better if we didn’t actually use the object or resource in the first place. If you don’t accept the plastic carrier bag offered to you in the supermarket and instead use a cotton bag or a basket or a box of your own, then one less bag will be in circulation and it will never need disposing of at the end of its life.

Reducing consumption is a much more effective way of saving the planet, and if you do already own ‘stuff’ then, when it comes to the end of its, life consider whether it could be repaired or re-used or repurposed. And if you get fed up and want a change, why not try a bit of adaptation, embellishment or upcycling? All these approaches encourage us to be creative – to see our ‘stuff’ in different ways and to think about our options.

So this National Recycle Week I will be:

Reuse = Reduce

Reuse = Reduce

  • repairing some pyjamas (and thus not buying new ones)
  • buying my fruit and vegetables loose and using my own bags
  • sorting through all my old teaching notes, extracting the paper for use in the garden and saving all the cardboard folders, lever-arch files, box files and poly-pockets for reuse
  • opening my post with a letter opener so that I can use the envelopes again with the aid of some envelope reuse labels
  • and continuing to look for ways to be creative with my ever-increasing pile of OHP transparencies… before I give up and send them to Emily in the US to get them recycled!
  • oh, and recycling too… I always do.
6 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on June 21, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in reducing consumption
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on June 21, 2015

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2015/06/21/reduce-your-use/

But it might come in useful…

Apparently those of us interested in being greener by reducing consumption can be divided into two camps: the minimalists and the hoarders. You can, most certainly, find me in the latter. Whenever an item has reached the end of its use I find it difficult to throw it away. I cannot help but think that ‘it might come in useful’.

  • That box that my new secateurs came in? It’s very sturdy, if somewhat oddly proportioned… it might come in useful.
  • The old dismantled chicken coop that was a bit of a disaster? There’s mesh and a little door and wood… it might come in useful.
  • The old gutters from the house that were replaced five years ago? You can use them to grow plants in apparently… they may, even now, come in useful.
  • Padded envelopes? You can never have too many padded envelopes in a variety of sizes because you never know when you might need to send out 157 items in the post! They may (all) come in useful.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture.

Filling the space available

My bulging office

The trouble is, I’m starting to feel swamped by all this accumulating ‘stuff’ and so I’m having a bit lot of a clear out. A responsible clear out that does not simply mean sending everything to landfill and starting again, but finding an appropriate home for everything that I feel able to let go of.

The big task  at the moment involves teaching materials. After an internal tussle, I have made the decision to give up my university teaching and not to seek other similar work. The time has come to let it go. Now, there is a lot of ‘stuff’ associated with my teaching, including piles and piles of handouts. These take up an enormous amount of space in my office – occupying floor and bookshelves – that could be put to better use. So, I’m getting rid of them. Pretty much all the up-to-date stuff is on my computer anyway, so I don’t need to keep paper copies. And, even better, I know what to do with all the paper… it’s going in the bottom of the new raised bed to act as a carbon source! Well, we will keep a bit as scrap for printing on, but the amount I have would last us forever, so I’ve decided to convert it back into plant material: from hand-outs to herbs!

The other thing I came across today was a collection of OHP transparencies. I quickly searched on the internet to find out if these could be recycled… the answer is ‘yes’, but not in the UK as far as I can tell. The company 3M used to recycle them, and still do in the US, but an e-mail from them this morning confirmed that they no longer offer this service here. I’m rather disappointed about this because clearly a method is available. I see that there are a whole host of things you can use them for in an arty and crafty way, but I don’t want to. First, I want them gone because I’m making a break from this aspect of my life and second, I just don’t want to add to my stocks of ‘but it might come in useful’ craft materials. Anyone got any ideas? It has been suggested that I pass them on to a local primary school for craft work, but I’m not convinced that they wouldn’t just end up in the dustbin (call be cynical). So, if you have some use for acetate sheets with printing on them (all about conservation and ecology), just let me know because at this rate I’ll be sending them to Pennsylvania for recycling!!!

 

21 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on June 17, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in reducing consumption
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on June 17, 2015

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2015/06/17/but-it-might-come-in-useful/

Bragging rights

I am constantly exasperated by the fact that we are bombarded with the message that success and happiness can be equated to owning the latest ‘stuff’. Large corporations, of course, have a vested interest in perpetuating this idea – after all their raison d’être is to sell us more things and thus make a profit. This is the reason for fashion – you really don’t look better in this year’s colours  than you did in last year’s… however much  clothes shops tell you that you do. Similarly, the latest i-phone is completely unnecessary to you because all you ACTUALLY want to do is send e-mails, look at a couple of web sites and make a phone call or two… why on earth you would want to queue up overnight to be the first to obtain the latest model is beyond comprehension.

Are you successful because you have a huge TV, a fast car or the latest video game? Are you happy because you own a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes or a BMW? Even if the act of buying these things gave you instant gratification, do you not find yourself hankering after the next purchase as soon as you have got the first one home? If the answer is yes, then you are being suckered by retailers and manufacturers.

So… what really does make you happy? And what should you be bragging about to your friends? Well, my experience is that I can find happiness in all sorts of places…. on the beach, cuddled up with my sweetie, collecting fresh eggs from my hens, picking herbs in the garden, watching an eclipse or writing my blog. And what do I have to brag about in the way of possessions? Well there are a few…

Solar, wind-up radio mended again!

Our much-repaired solar, wind-up radio… still going strong

Me and my props (including the snails)

The masterpiece (a rare picture of me posing with it)

The new wand seems to be a rather brighter grey than the old cleaner

Our old Dyson vacuum cleaner… with several new components helping to extend its life

A work bag made from yarn left over from another project

A work bag made from yarn left over from another project

Ready for action

My handmade string shopping bags

The complete set up

My repaired antique swift and secondhand wool winder

The Snail of Scrappiness

The Snail of Scrappiness – a gift from a friend (the lovely Kate)

All mended!

Our twice-repaired Kelly kettle

And I could go on and on… you may be identifying a theme here. All these things have a history and memories associated with them. Every single one of them makes me smile when I look at it. Every one I want to preserve and continue to own for years to come. Every one I want to share with you.

So, what about you? What objects that you own REALLY make you happy? What would you like to brag about?

OK… here are a few more of mine…

Snail of Happiness and Snail of Doom
All soled up
Beautiful contrast
Star anise
Lily’s lampshade
Chicken house made from recycled plastic
A gift of treasure
Just because it’s a dishcloth doesn’t mean it can’t be lovely (no pattern for this, I just made it up)
Ready to eat… a garden harvest
Sam… she makes me happy
Anything I’ve grown!
14 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on March 26, 2015  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on March 26, 2015

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2015/03/26/bragging-rights/

Spare room

Not long a go the UK government introduced a measure that has come to be referred to as the ‘bedroom tax’. The housing charity Shelter explain the rules as follows:

New housing benefit rules introduced on 1 April 2013 mean you won’t be able to get housing benefit to pay for all of your rent if your home has ‘spare bedrooms’… If you are a council or housing association tenant of working age receiving housing benefit and renting a home that has more bedrooms than you need, your housing benefit will probably be reduced. Pensioners claiming housing benefit will not be affected… Under the new rules, the limit on the number of rooms you can claim for is based on the number of people living in your home. If you have more bedrooms than the rules say you need, you will be treated as ‘under-occupying’ your home. You will get less of your rent paid for by housing benefit.

All sorts of issues have arisen because of the introduction of this new rule, including it highlighting the lack of rented accommodation suitable (in this context) for a single person, i.e. with only one bedroom, and the expectation that all couples need just one bedroom, irrespective of physical problems or health.

However, the purpose of this post is not to discuss the relative merits of this policy (you can read lots more about it elsewhere on the web), it was just the starting point that got me thinking about how much space we actually need…

I have a friend who is a great advocate of ‘tiny homes’ – he and Beauty, his German Shepherd dog, live in a very small space – a single room houses his, bed/sitting space, kitchen and work area. For some years he lived in a van (mobile home) so in comparison the ‘house’ is palatial, but in addition he has lots of land and is able to spend a great deal of time outdoors if he chooses. In addition he doesn’t have a partner.

Filling the space available

Filling the space available

I think Mr Snail and I would drive each other mad if we didn’t have separate spaces to occupy. In theory, our house has three bedrooms (not that we are affected by the bedroom tax as our house is bought and paid for and we don’t get or need any state support to be able to have a roof over our heads), but in practice it has just one. The other two rooms described in the details when we bought the house as ‘bedrooms’ are now office/work space – his and hers, so to speak. There is no room in our house this is not used on a daily basis. I do sometimes hanker for a spare bedroom in which seamlessly to install guests without having to resort to the (comfortable) bed-settee in the living room, but on balance, we make good use of all the space we have with our current arrangement.

The thing that concerns me, however, is that I expand to fill my space… or rather my belongings expand to fill the space available (my personal size is fairly constant, although slightly larger than I would like). Because we live in a bungalow with a relatively large footprint, we also have lots of loft space, which is occupied by more of our belongings. As a result of all this space, I don’t really need to worry about accumulation, but it does concern me as it allows me to gradually collect more and more ‘stuff’. I have got better at not buying things, but it’s still all too easy to accumulate. So, I’ve been inspired by revdarkwater and his blog What I shed today in which he records the things he’s getting rid of – from plants to furniture, from clothes to bits of car – trying to shed something each day. I don’t think I’m up to his achievements (I’m just not ruthless enough), but I am trying to shed something every week. Last week, three pairs of shoes went to the Salvation Army, the week before some books went to the British Heart Foundation shop and this week… well, I haven’t decided yet, but I will find something to shed. My aim is not to send things to landfill, but to find them good homes or alternative uses… what could you shed today?

38 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on May 29, 2014  •  Permalink
Posted in community and society
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on May 29, 2014

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2014/05/29/spare-room/

Catharsis… or clearing the decks

Catharsis is defined by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the process of releasing pent-up emotions’, but recently I have been thinking of the medical definition of ‘purging’. So, domestic catharsis is taking place…

As I’ve mentioned before, here chez Snail we are hoarders. It sometimes seems that nothing gets thrown out because anything might turn out to be useful. There is always the worry that, should we dispose of any item, as soon as it is gone we will need it. However, over the past few weeks I have been trying to have a clear-out.

I don't think it even fits me anymore!

I don’t think it even fits me anymore!

Rather than throwing things away, I have decided that selling is good. It’s not the time of year for car boot sales, but it does seem to be the ideal time to sell things that other people might consider would make good seasonal presents (whether for the solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Yalda… whatever). So, with this in mind, I have launched myself into e-bay selling. I have raided the loft and found never-opened jigsaw puzzles; I have delved into the coat cupboard and emerged with motorcycle gear (we haven’t had a motorbike for about 8 years now); I’ve unearthed hardly-worn shoes from the bottom of my wardrobe and hardly-worn clothes from the hangers. The satisfaction of selling such items is two-fold: we make a little money from them and they go to someone who actually wants them, rather than accumulating dust here or ending up in landfill.

Currently I’m only scratching the surface, but I have good intentions to be persistent, so that slowly I will make a dent in the ‘stuff’. Now I just have to hope that I don’t suddenly unearth a motorcycle and need that leather jacket and gloves again!

2 Comments
by The Snail of Happiness on December 9, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in community and society, reducing consumption
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on December 9, 2012

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2012/12/09/catharsis-or-clearing-the-decks/

STUFF and nonesense

As the summer comes, it’s so much more tempting to be outdoors than inside, but we are currently working on a project that requires spending quite a lot of time in the house… changing the use of some of our living space. I started working in the living room when I was here on my own because it didn’t cause any disturbance and it saved me heating more than one room. Now Mr Snail-of-happiness is at home all the time, it seems silly for me to work there, for us to have a shared office (that I don’t work in because I want solitude) and for him to have a separate workshop/studio. So, the decision is that I will have a small room to work in, the living room will no longer host any work and he will have the big room to do what he likes in, but where the main computer will remain.

All this means that lots of ‘STUFF’ needs to be moved around… and once you start moving STUFF’ you realise how much of it you’ve got. My assessment is that I definitely have too much STUFF. OK, I’ve had lots of years to accumulate it, but I do seem incredibly reluctant to throw it away. I can understand this if something has the potential to be useful, but why oh why had I kept my annual job evaluation sheets from when I was a civil servant over 10 years ago? What was I thinking? Did I envisage a time when I would be applying for another job and someone would say ‘Well, yes we like your cv and your gazillion qualifications plus the glowing references, but could you provide documentary evidence of the courses that your boss suggested you might like to go on in 2001?’ Somehow I have a feeling it’s never going to happen. And so, the old job evaluation sheets are destined for the compost heap.

But it’s not just paperwork I collect… I have also had to dispose of a huge number of padded envelopes. I don’t mean a couple of dozen, I mean several hundred of the things. They were on the top shelf of a large cupboard. Even as I was throwing them away I kept wondering whether I might , some day, regret this rash decision. But I am being strict with myself… drawers are being emptied and the contents evaluated. Supposedly I’m only keeping things that I need. Even with this approach I’ve still got loads of STUFF.

Perhaps my biggest downfall is books… I love them and find them very difficult to part with. Slowly I am weaning myself off buying paperbacks – a Kindle has helped and downloading audiobooks (great way to access books when you’ve spent your whole day editing and the last thing you want to do in the evening is read) – but non fiction books still find their way into the house in abundance. This means that I am in the process of transferring hundreds of books from the shelves in one room to the shelves in a different room. Look on the bright side, though… it’s great exercise.

I’m not sure whether it is good or bad, but Mr S-o-h is also a squirrel (favourite items to collect: electronic equipment). I guess we couldn’t live with each other if one of us was a hoarder and one a minimalist, but our collective collecting has resulted in a house full of STUFF.

So, the time has come to provide myself with a less cluttered space in which to work and I’m hoping that this will encourage my creativity. It will still be like working in a library and I will still have loads of teaching materials to find a home for, but perhaps if I can start with a tidier room I will have a tidier mind and be less likely to commence the collection of extraneous STUFF again… maybe…

… now where did I put that bin bag full of bubble wrap…?

1 Comment
by The Snail of Happiness on June 6, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by The Snail of Happiness on June 6, 2012

https://thesnailofhappiness.com/2012/06/06/stuff-and-nonsense/

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