Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
What's Wrong With this Picture: Airing My Wet Laundry in Public
This is a short one. (See picture for the executive summary.)
Four years ago, before the entire housing industry crashed, I purchased my first home. Great move, I know. I was the face of adjustable-rate mortgage schemes. Let's just say, I didn't exactly get a deal on anything. I am, however, a rare example of someone who actually was able to refinance and keep my beloved farmhouse. (So far.) All in all, I have no complaints except for one...
My big splurge items were a new washer and dryer. My thinking at the time -- invest in a good brand, spend a little more and get rid of the energy sucking 2 units that came with the place.
Almost on cue, both stopped functioning as promised by the end of their limited warranty dates. The washer just blats like a hungry goat 30 seconds after being turned on with a complicated error message that we still can't decipher. The only solution is to turn it off and on again until the Frigidaire fairy magically restarts the system.
The dryer, on the other hand, is now permanently dependent on a 50 year-old stool to keep the door shut. My husband said that there was some sort of clasp or something that had fallen into hole. Apparently, the only solution is to call a repair service to fix it. ($$$$$$$)
My question to anyone who has insight: How do manufactures figure out how to design things to fail "just in time"?
My Conclusion: Someone made a damn good stool 50 years ago. Wish they had a brand I could promote.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Why am I blogging and what does a tee shirt have to do with it?
Ever ask yourself... "What common household objects stay out of landfills and why?" Me too, so here I go blogging...
Here's something you should never admit to -- I'm the opposite of a hoarder. I buy stuff and then throw it out when I'm tired of it, so I'm certainly not some sort of green guru anyone should look up to.
I recently started this blog focused on why some items are saved and others are tossed into landfills, in order to better understand my own bad behavior, maybe fix it and ultimately reduce some personal guilt.
Selfish, really, but you can't fault me for being truly sickened by the vision of all of the things that I whimsically purchased and soon after, banished to landfills while continuing to gorge on cheap, meaningless items. The thought of it all is enough to turn me "green."
So, in response to this self reflection, I posed an simple question to my friends, "I need some ideas for a blog I'm writing... what are you favorite objects that are 10 years old or more and why?"
I was thinking folks would respond with testimonials about lawn mowers or salad spinners, but I was wrong.
The first post came from a childhood friend, Geoff. He said it was a baseball cap with "my submarines name on it (USS Lewis & Clark; SSBN 644). It was one I wore while in the Navy, on shore and at sea. It's just a reminder of those days. It's kind of floppy and the brim is partially tore off, but it's an original."
Straightforward answer from a straightforward guy.
It made me question the primary supposition of this blog i.e. "Made to Last" -- a cotton ballcap doesn't apply, does it? And then I remembered the description and mission:
"This blog is dedicated to reviewing ordinary household objects that have stood the test of time and are still useful and most of all - Not in a Landfill."
Doesn't a ballcap or my husband's torn 20 year-old tee shirt count, even though they never represented significant environmental hazards to begin with?
When trying to define durability, perhaps we also consider how objects are "valued" -- whether through an appreciation for craftsmanship, as a symbol of important moments or simply because they are beautiful.
I invite you to comment.
Here's something you should never admit to -- I'm the opposite of a hoarder. I buy stuff and then throw it out when I'm tired of it, so I'm certainly not some sort of green guru anyone should look up to.
I recently started this blog focused on why some items are saved and others are tossed into landfills, in order to better understand my own bad behavior, maybe fix it and ultimately reduce some personal guilt.
Selfish, really, but you can't fault me for being truly sickened by the vision of all of the things that I whimsically purchased and soon after, banished to landfills while continuing to gorge on cheap, meaningless items. The thought of it all is enough to turn me "green."
So, in response to this self reflection, I posed an simple question to my friends, "I need some ideas for a blog I'm writing... what are you favorite objects that are 10 years old or more and why?"
I was thinking folks would respond with testimonials about lawn mowers or salad spinners, but I was wrong.
The first post came from a childhood friend, Geoff. He said it was a baseball cap with "my submarines name on it (USS Lewis & Clark; SSBN 644). It was one I wore while in the Navy, on shore and at sea. It's just a reminder of those days. It's kind of floppy and the brim is partially tore off, but it's an original."
Straightforward answer from a straightforward guy.
It made me question the primary supposition of this blog i.e. "Made to Last" -- a cotton ballcap doesn't apply, does it? And then I remembered the description and mission:
"This blog is dedicated to reviewing ordinary household objects that have stood the test of time and are still useful and most of all - Not in a Landfill."
Doesn't a ballcap or my husband's torn 20 year-old tee shirt count, even though they never represented significant environmental hazards to begin with?
When trying to define durability, perhaps we also consider how objects are "valued" -- whether through an appreciation for craftsmanship, as a symbol of important moments or simply because they are beautiful.
I invite you to comment.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
A 15 Year Old Salad Spinner Made Me Think
As my husband was putting away the dishes last night, he fondly held out the salad spinner he brought into the marriage and said something quite uncommon about a pretty common household object...
"I've had this salad spinner for 15 years."
No big deal, right? But it made me think. How many objects can we say that about? Haven't we accepted the notion that all consumer products are planned in advance for obsolescence? Isn't that part of the unwritten contract most of us enter into with manufacturers?
In contrast to our Zyliss salad spinner, I now have 6 printers in my barn that within a year of purchase just stopped working for no good reason. They linger in ecological purgatory as I wait for some kind of salvation...something better than the landfill. So the question I pose in this blog is simple, "what are the products that were made to last and have?"
Comment and share your own story with me.
"I've had this salad spinner for 15 years."
No big deal, right? But it made me think. How many objects can we say that about? Haven't we accepted the notion that all consumer products are planned in advance for obsolescence? Isn't that part of the unwritten contract most of us enter into with manufacturers?
In contrast to our Zyliss salad spinner, I now have 6 printers in my barn that within a year of purchase just stopped working for no good reason. They linger in ecological purgatory as I wait for some kind of salvation...something better than the landfill. So the question I pose in this blog is simple, "what are the products that were made to last and have?"
Comment and share your own story with me.
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