What I bought last year (besides food)
I’m trying to remember all the material things I bought last year besides food.
I paid for many services and non-material things like train rides and web hosting. I also caused pollution that hurt people (and wildlife) in other ways, but I see paying for material things as a useful proxy for polluting.
What I remember:
- One thermal shirt from a thrift store
- One tank top from a thrift store
- A wide-brimmed hat from a thrift store to block the sun without sun screen while charging on the roof
- Razor blades from a reseller on Craigslist (though I’m giving them away, see below)
- A DC cable to charge my computer from the batteries I charge from solar
- An envelope at the post office to mail the book manuscript
- One pair of shoes from eBay
I’m sure there was more, but I think that’s most of it. I’ll add to the list as I think of more things. I’ll try to reduce the amount in 2024. I don’t think I need more clothes, though socks and underwear wear out.
I probably spent one or two thousand dollars on food and zero on doof, depending on how I categorize defatted peanut flour, which I buy in bulk.
Some people may scoff at it, but I found plenty of clothes this year that neighbors were getting rid of: two pairs of shorts, four hats, a tank top, a turtle-neck sweater, and I forget what else. A few hand towels and dish towels. I get plenty of food from volunteering. I give most of the useful material things I find away. Oh yeah, a few yoga mats, sunscreen, toothpaste (sealed), toothbrushes (sealed, they give toiletries away in the park to help poor people and recipients leave a lot of it without opening it). I find lots of vape pens, usually full of nicotine liquid though one was full of THC liquid.
Regarding razor blades, I’d been looking for a used safety razor (taking blades, not cartridges) on Craigslist and Offerup for a few months. Then while picking up litter, I saw on the street a new, in the box one of these razors with a box of 100 blades just sitting there. No one was around. As far as i could tell, the sanitation department would clear them away. So I kept them from the landfill and switched to it. I love it, especially for saving it from the landfill.
I had already bought cartridges for my old Gilette Mach 3, but I prefer this thing, so I’m giving the cartridges away, unused. I’ll update when I think of other things I found too.
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