For the past two months now I've been learning and working on our home, getting ready to sell it. The amount of lessons I've learnt is pretty priceless, but I've also noticed a slight shift in the way that I think. I've literally been on a binge of fixing things, and not defaulting to discarding and replacing.
Today's ease of access, and the viral idea of consumerism, makes it to where it's simpler to just throw things away. Why fix it? Just buy a new one - Is probably the phrase most of us default to. I should point out this is not unique to the US, but it sure is dominant here.
Spending time fixing a door for example, replacing rotten parts, priming and painting, might sound like too much work, but does it not seem more responsible than throwing away a door? I guess that's my point. Instead of replacing the kitchen counters, just throwing them away, How about refinishing them?
Maybe it's somewhat romantic in a weird way to think about the things that end up in dumpsters, but I often wonder how many fixable things, how many valuable things, get discarded due to convenience and I can't help but to feel a bit guilty.
Is it worth fixing? Maybe not economically, but maybe that's not the only thing that matters.
MenO