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Jessica Leigh Lebos
When Jessica Leigh graduated with a degree in creative writing, she figured she'd be slinging lattes for the rest of her life, so she shaved her head, moved into a VW bus and set off for Alaska. Good thing the van broke down just north of San Francisco, because she just hates cold weather. Her baris...
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Built To Last

Tuesday, July, 15, 2008

It’s nice to know someone else in the office shares my aversion to our throwaway culture: Designing Goddess Jessie sent me this NPR article called “Are You Sure You Own Your Stuff?” about a guy who calls himself Mr. Jalopy.

Mr. Jalopy, the creator of the world’s first  bike-up movie theater and a leader in the “Maker Movement”, discusses the cultural shift back to repairing that bike (or CD player, lawnmower, stereo) instead of tossing it and buying another cheap version made in China.

"If you're not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don't really own it," Mr. Jalopy argues. "The terms of ownership are still dictated by the company that assembled it and glued the iPod shut so that you couldn't get into it."

Cool beans. But by far the best part of the article is the photo gallery of some seriously kickass art cars. (My favorite is the Leopard Bernstein!)

You may remember that I’m slowly attempting to transform my crappy beige minivan into a work of artistic absurdity. Not only is it a statement about not going into hock for that super cute new car, it makes me feel much better about the fact that the right side sliding door is currently being held shut by a bungee cord.

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onetwothreebirds
onetwothreebirds
Indeed!
Posted Tue, 07/15/2008 - 16:18
Thank you for posting this, Jessica. We are far too wasteful in our society. In the past couple of months I've known three people to do massive clean outs that involved several trips to donation stations and dumps. That's nutso. We need so little to survive and we want way too much. For a happy life, I say less is always going to be more and personally live by the old Momma rule: if you haven't used something in a year, get rid of it. These days we've got Ebay, CraigsList, Freecycle, donation stations and more-- there is no excuse for keeping loads of stuff. And, given our economy, there is no excuse for buying loads of stuff, either. Shopping as a hobby is, hopefully, no longer cute, fun or responsible. Rhi B.
BCBlogger
BCBlogger
It's blogs like this. . .
Posted Tue, 07/15/2008 - 20:07
that make me feel a little guilty about my consumerism - and make me love this blog-space even more. And I do NOT take offense. Sometimes, we (I) get caught up in the noise of our own (my) heads, common sense disapears and we become something that we weren't really raised to be. I DO unecessarily give up on things that could probably be repaired rather than tossed. . .your blog is a nice tap on the shoulder. . .reminding me that I'm not living the best way I can. Thank you!
jessicaleigh
jessicaleigh
Oh God, I didn't mean to sound so self-righteous!
Posted Wed, 07/16/2008 - 09:23
Really, girls, I love to shop with the best of 'em, but I am really lazy and I hate clutter. And I REALLY hate it when sh*t breaks that's supposed to be built to last - like vacuum cleaners (I've bought four in the last five years.) Shopping is still one of my favorite hobbies - I just don't actually buy anytyhing :)~Jessica Leigh
onetwothreebirds
onetwothreebirds
Self-righteous?
Posted Wed, 07/16/2008 - 13:22
You didn't come across as self-righteous. Did you find our posts self-righteous? I think you opened a good conversation: Why don't things last longer? It seems like they used to. For instance, I still use my grandmother's mixer. It's as heavy as a full suitcase, but it works fine. I also use her vacuum cleaner, which is older than I am. I'll tell you where my stance comes from: Travel in third-world countries. I truly believe American don't realize how lucky and wealthy we are. We need so little yet we want so much. Meanwhile, we're depleting resources, filling closets and running through credit. Frankly, it scares me. Rhi B.
jessicaleigh
jessicaleigh
Well, yeah!
Posted Thu, 07/17/2008 - 10:39
I completely share that mindset, Rhi B! I can't stand the waste of how crappy things are built these days. ~Jessica Leigh
nkgaskill
nkgaskill
I couldn't agree more!
Posted Mon, 07/21/2008 - 19:16
I recycle for other people. It is mind blowing what makes it into the bin that could be donated, repurposed, or (quite frankly) left at the store. In the spirit of our community's new found "green-ness," we shouldn't forget that there are two other "R's" that make up the trifecta... reduce and reuse. Though the missing and most important "R" should be refuse. Refuse to purchase the unnecessary! Its easier on your wallet and your planet.