Shh

I hid this in a drawer for two weeks to see if it would be missed. It wasn't, it's broken, into plastic recycling it went.

It's not the Bode, but it needs to be done.

A friend dropped a date to hit a museum with me today, so I took some Sudafed and went through some piles that had been hanging about.
1. Plastics recycling



2.A few dingy ones to the orange bin and the others added to the clothing donation bag.
3. Went through a pile of papers and winnowed.
4. Took some of the girls' magazines to Kita for crafts.
5. Clothes for the donation bin.

The Orange Bin

Things to be donated and things for the new orange bin in the cellar: the one which takes not only small electric appliances, but also used clothing. Cool. I really like that my waste stream is diverted.

Consumption

In my German class, our last theme was on Werbung, or advertising. As per usual, we discussed the topic in relation to our current lives and those in our home countries. My teacher felt that we consume more now than ever and specifically mentioned buying clothes and then giving them away or discarding them the next year to be fashionable.
I found that particularly humorous, as these three shirts, each more than 4 years old, awaited my returning from the US with new shirts to be discarded, although the color was washed out to a very noticeable extent, there were splotches of color loss, and two had (minor) holes. I am wearing a shirt today which has a hole minor enough that I will continue to wear it and, all in all, I shop for clothes only once a year (when visiting the US) and that shopping is primarily to replace clothing with noticeable holes or to buy for the children, who actively outgrow their clothes as well as physically wearing them out more quickly than the adults do.

Perhaps we are the anti-consumption family?

On the other hand, I sent 4 boxes of books back from the show (they were free! Although postage was not.) and I gratefully carried a hand-me-down computer from my mom back as well (does it count as consumption when it's a hand-me-down? I think not. And it replaces my blown up and recycled prior Dell computer.).

Part of thinking about taking a short trip to the US this month is considering what I want to bring back: I usually go with a suitcase basically filled with my mother's books that I need to return to her, and come back with a suitcase of clothing and Splenda, with a side of Jamaica Blue and Crystal Light. We have some shirts for the German waiting there (bought on sale), so he pulled out those he felt were no longer respectable enough for client sites or local office and those got packed up for donation. Some of my shirts went to the garbage and some of the kids' clothes are also for donation. I'm never certain whether they shred these or sell them or what happens, but I'm glad to not discard the ones that I think are in good condition and I'm glad that they benefit a not-for-profit.

Decluttering my Parents-in-Law's house

Here's a cross post.

I was fond of these, but they are now too small for T2, while still in good condition, so on to the donation box they go.