I recently again across these “words” from a photo journalist based in my local area. The original article is posted here and thankfully I have been given permission to use some of the text.
The idea of trading ‘pre-loved’, second hand goods isn’t a particularly modern or state-of-the-art phenomenon. With the rise of cheap labour and the growing mass of competing outlets, we are in fact buying more in Britain today and ‘loving’ our goods for shorter periods.
While this may be the case, the increasing popularity and the globalization of the internet is doing its bit for the ‘Reusing’ sentiment. It’s not only bringing about resurgence, it is actually making the selling and buying of used products a ‘stylish’ endeavour.
Reuse in every day life is, in fact, prominent in the UK. Just look at cars (they are far more popular second-hand than new). However, this is a trend which largely relates to costly items. For example, of the people who wouldn’t consider looking for second-hand shoes, a small proportion would think twice about living in a previously owned house – which is likely to have had a whole range of people sleeping, eating and toileting in it.
If it’s a question of quality, then the design and manufacturing often matters more than age. Good design and manufacturing, of course, can be found in second-hand items – perhaps even more so. With this in mind, a conclusion could be drawn that for a long period in British culture, reusing small and affordable items just wasn’t the trendy thing to do. It was left to the uber ‘greenies’, with very few others joining in.
Despite the dominance of this culture, the internet and the digital era – with the benefits of its immediacy, the rules of cyber aesthetics and the ability to mass communicate – has created a globalized, sought-after domain of ‘reusing’. Whether you want to buy or sell, anyone can access it – quite anonymously and with little effort.
Most people have heard of Amazon and Ebay certainly play their part in the reuse equation) but there are a whole host of other sites, only a click away. Many of these ‘reuse’ sites work in a slightly different way to Amazon and Ebay but provide a very useful inlet (or outlet, if you will) for disposing of your unwanted goods, in return for money.
As a child I used to love visiting the local ‘dump’ with my Father. Only because if you where quick enough you could quickly steal a couple of items from the bottom of the pile. Early on I learnt (perhaps due to my parents unwaivering commitment to being stingy) the true value of material goods; every item has a use and can indeed be used again.
Reuse, Reduce and Recycle
When we look at the world around us, its probably fair to say that the continual production of food items in packaging is contributing to the ever increasing threat of Climate Change. How many of us reuse the packages that our meat and vegetables come in? Very few I’d imagine. Now, I have to admit that its fairly pedantic to get angry about others not reusing (the grossly nonresuable packaging) – I try and personally buy vegetables ‘loose’.
More needs to be done by the supermarkets to improve the average Joe’s capacity to recycle and indeed reuse. This could include:
- Not providing packaging for loose fruit and vegetables
- Taking slight inspiration from a coffee product w/ halirious advert – not selling coffee in packaging.
Of course there are hundreds of ways people can help impact the planet through reusing products and packaging. How many more can you think of?
