Our ridiculous addiction to acquiring more possessions is stuffing up the planet, so it’s time to call in the experts
Ages ago, an old friend who was an early adopter of environmental concerns wanted a new kitchen. He asked an expert he knew from his work in woodland conservation what wood his new kitchen should be built with. He was startled to get a sharp response: “If you really care, then don’t come to me asking which wood to use; ask yourself if you really need a new kitchen.” Point taken, but not much acted upon, by him, me or anyone else I’ve come across.
I’m so sick of stuff. Some of it is stuff I really need or that is at least genuinely nice to have, but a good 70% is useless stuff. Clothes I’ll never wear, books I’ll never read, kitchen utensils I’ll never utilise. Items big and small that presumably felt essential the day I bought them but turned out to be quite the opposite. I suppose that as I get older the 70% figure will grow and grow until the morning of the day I shuffle off this mortal coil. At this point the percentage of stuff I own that is useless to me will stand at a nice round 100, because, of course, I won’t be able to take it with me. But what I will be able to do is leave it to my children to bump up the percentage of stuff useless to them that they own. And so it goes on.
Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist
