We are a wasteful society. Yep, you me and almost everyone ya know. Everything we buy is over packaged and mass marketed to our ravenous appetites as consumers. We are absurdly focused on the lowest price, so manufacturers make products cheaper and cheaper so now almost everything has become disposable. It dawned on me that this behavior is not only wasteful but is totally anti “green” and bad for the environment.

I began thinking about re-using when I was cleaning and restoring my mom’s 182 year old bedroom set this last weekend. This set had been passed down from one generation to another for 5 generations. This well built, beautiful piece only requires a minimum of attention every 10 years or so to look great. Had they built furniture way back then like they do now, dozens of beds and dressers would have ended up in land fills from each generation of my family.

I remember my grandfathers TV. It was built in 1965 by RCA and lasted through the mid 1980’s. It still worked when he disposed of it. Only one TV in 20 years. I have gone through 6 TV’s in 20 years. I am sure these also ended up in landfills. Does anyone remember when you would get a free phone from the phone company when you set up a phone line and that these lasted for decades? Now, you’ll see these old, still working phones at antique dealers. Now, there are more newer phones disposed of every year than in any previous generation.

Though some products change because of fast developing technological improvements, many don’t. They just try to market a newer style, color or look to get you to buy again.
Newer isn’t always better. Manufacturing lower quality products is actually advantageous for the manufacturer. It guarantees you’ll have to re-purchase the product again in a few years, helping keeping them in business.

For those of you who want to be “Green” in everything you do, one of the easiest ways is to up the quality of product you buy, thereby buying less. Better quality means the product will last longer. It will last and won’t wear out near as fast as a cheaper quality product and will stay out of our landfills longer.

Better built cars last longer. Outside of vanity reasons, do you really need a new car every two years? Keeping a car well maintained, increases gas mileage and the life of your car, saving you money. Better quality garments hold up and will last years longer than their cheap “Walmart” counterparts and they won’t end up in landfills as quickly. They can also be resold at resale and consignment stores extending their life and helping you get more bang for your buck.

So when you’re thinking “Green”, think about how much you really consume and then toss. Getting better value or quality product at a bargain price, saves you money and isn’t wastefully using up our resources or hurting our environment because it will last longer. The words “value” and a “bargain” have always been associated with each other. But now I think we need to associate the “value” of a quality product with their impact on the environment.

Suzanne O'Connor