[Disclaimer: if you are a shopaholic, don’t read this.]

I’m all about STUFF…rethinking my STUFF…recycling my STUFF. I’m giving it away, finding ways to resale it for reuse. It’s actually a great feeling to cut loose of possessions that only a year ago I wouldn’t have considered parting with them…not NOW anyway.

I can’t keep track of how many times I’ve moved since my childhood; and each time it’s involved a garage sale, yard sale or moving sale. They’re all the same: there’s the pain of selling perfectly good STUFF for a pittance of their original price, as well as the joy of someone taking STUFF off my hands that I never wanted in the first place, and for a price! The adage one man’s trash is another man’s treasure is true for me. I’ve scored many an unwanted treasure, all the while comingling my junk with my neighbors, calling the event an “estate sale”. We want top dollar for our STUFF and low-ball our neighbor for their STUFF…or work out an amiable trade. Bartering and bargaining comes as natural to some as hunting and gathering to others. Most of us have a story or two about finding the deal-of-the-century. I have a really good story of my own.

Life is one big Acquisition and Exchange of money, property, resources, ideas, beliefs, personal skills and talents. And, we consume; we consume a lot, albeit some more than others. We dance this dance everyday of our lives, often unconsciously, not seeing the big picture – the impact our decisions and consumption have on the environment. Even as green consumers, we can fall back into old habits of conventional consumerism – wanting the latest eco-friendly technologies, trendiest green fashions – the new STUFF of the late 20th and 21st centuries. Daily, in the news we read reports that disclaim the value of what we considered to be some of the best eco-products on the market today made from sources like bamboo and corn. It turns out that some of these products are actually doing more damage to our environment that what they were designed to replace. Some of the concerns are transport-miles, energy, waste and over-consumption of natural resources, and land-use. It’s a lot to think about, so…

…having said all this, would you agree that restoring, remanufacturing, and reusing our STUFF and other people’s STUFF needs to be the #1 eco-friendly decision we, as consumers, should make? Now, before I shop, I’m asking myself “Do I need this or want this?” If that fails, I’ll go ahead and add the item to my wish list, or carry it around the store with me until the impulse to buy fades and my want is no longer a need. My heightened consciousness as a consumer is knocking the STUFFings out of my lifestyle. I’m actually enjoying the challenge, as I prepare to move…yet again. I see it as a blessing, an opportunity to reuse, reduce and recycle my wonderful and not so wonderful STUFF.