Yesterday afternoon, I threw away a popcorn machine… not one of those household table-top, stir-crazy popcorn makers like my grandpa used every Sunday night growing up. This was one of those commercial popcorn makers like they use at the movie theater. You know, the ones that make the good popcorn perfect for melted butter. The heating element burnt out so we decided to throw it into the dumpster.
Physically, it was an easy process. I put it into the trunk of my car. Drove 1/8 of a mile round back to our company’s dumpster. Opened the gate. Threw it in. And drove away.
Emotionally, it was also an easy decision. Sure, the machine likely cost hundreds of dollars when it was first purchased (and who doesn’t love popcorn)? But there was no long, drawn-out decision process and no second-guessing. I should have been sad to see it break, but I wasn’t. Probably because it had been donated to our company a number of months ago and didn’t cost us anything. And you know what they say, “Easy come, easy go.”
As I drove away from the dumpster, I couldn’t help but think of the decision, the process, and the relative ease of removing this piece of metal and plastic from our lives. This was a possession that I had nothing invested into – absolutely nothing. It was given to us freely. And as a result, it took no effort (other than a few heavy lifts) to immediately remove it from our lives… even though it makes something that tastes so good.
I couldn’t shake the cycle of reflection that had started in my mind and I ended up asking myself two questions about the lives we choose to live…
1) Is one of the reasons we have such a hard time parting with our possessions because we have so much invested into them? We’ve worked hard to get to where we are. We studied hard in school – sometimes for 16+ years. We searched for a career that would pay the bills and buy nice things. Once we found it, we committed 40+ hours/week to our craft – learning our field, taking risks, and becoming good at it. To show for our effort, we buy food and things and cars and houses. We have our entire lives invested into the things we own. So much so, in fact, that removing them almost seems laughable. Why would anyone purposefully live with less after spending so much of their lives getting to a point where they can own so much? The significance of our investment begins to cloud our thinking about what actually adds value to our lives… and what subtracts from it.
2) Am I then investing my life into things that really last? Lasting fulfillment can never be found in things that are temporal by nature. It is foolish to invest the bulk of our finite energy, time, and resources into things that can not bring significant meaning to our lives. The value of faith, love, hope, and relationships will far outlast metal, plastic, and glass. These are things that I long for – these are the things that deserve my resources. May I always pursue them with greater intensity than the items destined to be thrown into a dumpster.
And to think I was only intending to throw away a popcorn-maker…
Mark says
I’m with some of the others here… while I appreciate what your thought process was, it would have been nice to see if it were possible to recycle it in any way. If it was just the heating element then that should have been easily fixable.
kara baker says
May everyone I know read this.
kamisaki says
yes, recycling would have been better, but I do agree with the thought process you are trying to highlight in this story. It’s baby steps for all of us, and sometimes just getting thoughts in order is the first major hurdle.
Cat'sMeow says
Now you can just make pop corn in a kettle, the old fashioned way :)
I think it’s either time, money or emotions that we have invested in the things we can’t part with.
Tamara says
I wonder if you considered donating the popcorn maker. Perhaps a repair shop would have been able to fix the heating element and resold it? This post makes me sad; I’m all devoted minimalist but I am definitely against unnecessary waste.
joshua becker says
Appreciate the comment Tamara (and the similar commenters as well). Sorry this post made you sad. This is, of course, not the first time I’ve taken some heat in a comment section due to using the trash can rather than the recycling bin.
We are certainly not against recycling and use it whenever possible at home… this was not always the case but matured a lot in this area while living in Vermont. Unfortunately, in this case, convenience and both transportation/time constraints made recycling not as viable an option.
Elizabeth says
There’s always the possibility that someone will come trashpick the item, and be able to fix it or sell it for parts/scrap, themselves.
Matt says
Even if someone will come pickup the item, it still requires a lot more effort to get rid of it this way (you’d have to find someone and arrange for them to get it). Also, sometimes you just want to be rid of something. Take it to the dumpster and it’s instantly gone…waiting on someone to pick it up can mean it will be sitting around awhile.
I think it’s good to recycle and reuse where you can, but there are certain times when just getting rid of the item overrides the hopes of someone doing something useful with the item.
Annie says
I’m sure I’m in the minority, but when I get something for little money or for free (like your popcorn maker), I tend to have a harder time getting rid of it than I do something I spent more money on. Why? Not because I am protecting my investment, but because I’m protecting my savings on that item. For example, I purchased a gently used juicer for $40, that would have cost me $100 if I had bought it new. I am just as likely to want to take care of it and protect my $60 savings as I am my $40 investment.
I would not have thrown away the popcorn maker. I would have tried to fix it if it’s something I enjoyed using, I would have donated to someone who could fix it, or I would have recycled it.
No significant statement here, just a different way of looking at things.
FC says
I used to buy things at garages sales, I undestand what you are saying. But if you think about the others need, and donate what you no longer need, it give you a heart-filling sensation.
Cullen Carter says
This makes our current lifestyle clearer. I’m trying desperately to consume in a way that doesn’t create refuse (i.e. more stuff thrown away).
Resources of planet Earth are only finite (most of them anyway). If we keep living the way we live, we’ll consume ourselves into oblivion.
FC says
Totally agree.
We can’t continue buying things like we were used to.
Thorwing away my TV helped me to realize this.
kamisaki says
In my journey to minimalize, it just clicked in my brain one day that, although something may have cost a lot of money, although I bought the best toy on the shelf, although that kids’ bike that I bought for my son still looks brand new, and cost a decent amount of money, I didn’t buy those things with the idea of selling them in the future. I bought a bike because he needed a bike. I bought a car track because I knew he would love it for a few years, and I bought a table because we needed one. When those things had served their purpose, my old reaction would have been to get back as much money as possible, and craigslist them, put them on Ebay, or have a garage sale. However, now I see them for what they are, things that made our lives better for a time, and now might make someone else’s life better for a time, and……I can let go. I don’t think about the $20 I could make on the table, or the $15 I could recoup on the bike. I find joy in simplifying my possessions, and knowing that in doing so, I have the opportunity to benefit someone else. I find joy in not having a “to list” pile in the garage, or a garage sale pile collecting in the corner. I also find joy in not having to actually oversee a garage sale, which I find to be one of life’s more stressful events :)
FC says
You’re right. Give to charity is the best you can do. There are a lot of people that dont have nothing and they really need those stuff, at least for some time.
Amy says
It’s too bad your town doesn’t have a recycling center for small kitchen appliances.
Suzette @ cajunnewlyweds@blogspot.com says
Just what I was thinking :)
FC says
Neither do I, I live in Buenos Aires, but when you throw something like a pop corn maker theres always something that pick that up from the streets.
Becky King says
I gota agree … someone might be able to fix it and reuse and bring joy to another family with a ton of HAPPY kids…
Marzena says
Luckily few months ago in my country, Poland, new regulations came in (EU driven) that allows you to bring the damaged electrical equipment to any store that sales one – they are obliged to utilize it using company specializing in electrics recycling.
It’s just a pity so little people care…
Kate says
Whenever I have to buy something for my boys, I now buy secondhand, so instead of paying $30 for a spring jacket, I get one for $2. This makes it so much easier to part with things when they are no longer needed because there is no financial investment. It creates a cycle, almost as if we’re just borrowing things as we need them. Last year’s jacket is back at the resale shop for someone else’s child, and I’ll get a new one to fit my growing boy. I look at it as a $2 rental fee to have a well-fitting jacket for the year.
Elizabeth says
My housemates think I’m nuts, but I feel the same way about “renting” stuff from thrifts. I buy almost all of my clothing from thrift stores and once I’m tired of the items, and if they are still in good shape, I donate them back. I spend far less than other people do on brand-new items they only wear a few times and then let sit in a closet somewhere for years.
I also donate items that I buy new or which are given to me, which I no longer need or want, so in the end I’m not just re-donating clothes that are more worn than when I bought ’em. Things that are too worn out to be donated get used for rags, crafts, lining pet carriers, or for those really messy jobs like shoveling manure in the barn, where I won’t feel bad about tossing the clothes out afterward.