One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure

I know people have wildly different opinions on stuff— as in, furniture, clothes, utensils, etc. Some people like everything brand new, shiny, from a box. Others—like me —prefer to give stuff a second life.

In other words, I love hand-me-downs. Now, I’m not saying that I’m willing to pick up a couch or mattress off the side of the road. I definitely draw the line there. I mean, what happened to those items to warrant such disposal?

But I digress. Hand-me-downs, generally, are fantastic, and I feel I and my family have truly profited off others’ willingness to part with gently used items. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

I happened to marry a man who is a big fan of found objects (possession is 9/10ths of the law). He has a hard time not stopping at a yard sale or making the trek to Atlanta to go to the REI slash-and-dent sale (where they offer deep discounts on damaged and returned goods).

I, on the other hand, probably first fell in love with reuse culture when I was pregnant with my first child. Maternity clothes have a very short life, so I welcomed hand-me-downs—a whole new wardrobe! How exciting!

And then, of course, there were the baby hand-me-downs, including a wonderful crib, a bassinet, potties, and oh, the clothes. We had so many second-hand clothes that our baby likely could have worn a different outfit every day for a year. It was insane. I was constantly bagging and boxing clothes to take to a thrift store or to share with other new mothers.

Speaking of thrift stores, we are very lucky to have not one but two thrift stores in this community. The first that I am aware of was Sunrise Gift and Thrift, which is associated with The Church at Monticello. It is located in Venture Court. Now a new one, simply called The Thrift Store, is opening up on the square across from NAPA. The expected opening date is February 18, but that might be delayed due to weather.

This community also has a reclamation business in Property Preservation of Georgia, which buys and sells old “stuff” in Newborn. I even ran into a couple of guys at Ingles who were buying the store out of overripe bananas and potatoes to feed a cockroach breeding business that supplies the reptile industry.

The adage of sustainability is reduce, reuse, recycle. In a previous column, I discussed my attempt to add a fourth R, “refuse” in my attempt to decline accepting take-out containers and other single-use containers. Those original three R’s are in order of importance. The best thing a consumer can do is simply to reduce consumption. Then, if he or she is going to consume, an attempt should be made to reuse an item.

Either find a new life for an object or purchase an item that has already been used. Patagonia even had a marketing campaign called “Don’t Buy This Jacket,” in an effort to call attention to consumerism and reducing environmental damage.

Many people reuse take-out containers for storing leftovers. What about taking down an old barn and using the wood for shelving? Or using an old dish soap bottle (thoroughly cleaned out, of course) as a way to perfectly dispense pancake batter? What about transforming used glass or floor tile to make a mosaic?

Companies are increasingly turning to what is known as a circular economy—an attempt to create a closed-loop in production and waste. We can all think twice about whether or not we truly need to buy something new—do we really need it new? Can we find it second-hand at a thrift store? Do we have something else in our homes that will make do? The less we consume, the less of an environmental footprint we create and the less stuff we have to deal with in the end.