Instant Survey: Are You A Packrat?

Packrats and consumerism are why everybody thinks they need a 4000 sq ft house with walk-in closets, 3 car garage, and endless storage space.

If you look at most average homes built during the Baby Boom era, you see modest kitchens and small closets. How did people manage to raise 4 or more kids in 1000 sq feet? They were much more efficient back then at not being packrats.

best thing for pack rats is to be taught that you dont need to aquire so much stuff in the first place.

My wife was a pack rat and i was always having to go through her stuff getting rid of it just to keep the house livable. After our last move i have finally engraned in her head not to buy random junk and things that are not needed.

One of the nice things about living in the "ghetto" is that if I have anything that I want to get rid of I put it on my curb and its generally gone within an hour.

What I'd really like to see is a business or nonprofit or government agency where you can donate broken electronics that they then fix up and sell cheaply. My guess is the good majority of appliances that get thrown away can be fixed, but most folks don't have the time, tools, or knowlege to do so... and buying a new one is cheaper than paying someone to fix the old one.

being a packrat certainly isn't great for the environment, but it's also hard to overcome. Having been raised with the mentality that everything could be useful at some point in time, it drives me crazy to get rid of stuff. I wish it were more simple, but I struggle with simplifying my life.

One of the best things to come out of meeting my wife (besides, of course, meeting my wife) was moving into a smaller home with her. It's definitely pushed me to divest of a lot of stuff that I came to realize I didn't need. I'm not completely cured of being a packrat, but I've become much less of one because of the need to keep our small footprint less cluttered. As Leah notes above, it's a struggle, and as Mad Eye Moody in the Harry Potter series often declares, it takes "constant vigilence!" But ultimately it can be quite freeing psychologically and save you money going down the drain in the long run.

I'm sort of a packrat, but a "productive packrat" if that makes sense. I keep things in order to get more use out of them, to save money, and to save resources. This is what I understand "packrat" to mean; I don't associate it with consumerism, as some people in this thread seem to.

However, being a packrat can get out of hand. If you are not organizing the items, and if you do not have a reasonable, likely, and timely purpose in mind for it, it's just going to pile up and hold you back.

I've been actively trying to get rid of stuff I've managed to pick up; stuff that may have had some value to me when I put it away, but I haven't used for the last couple years and am not likely to use again. And anything else I keep, I organize it, so when I do need it, it isn't hard to find.

There is a place for a resonable degree of "packrat-ism" in the environmentalist big-picture. Done right, it can keep things going longer, and stretch resources.

Actually packrats can be good for reducing consumerism.

I've never lived in a big house, but I packaway leftover materials, things I've been given, and things I don't know how to recycle at the moment, but I will find a way later. I delve into my packs regularly, saving trips to the store to buy new things. I despise buying new things, if know I can find it used.

Plus, I've read that in towns where packrats are prevalent, the thrift stores usually have better surplus, because packrats are less likely to want to see a 'perfectly good' thing just get thrown in the trash.

Madison has this lovely revolving curb ethic - leave it out for someone else to find, and pick it up if you think it's cool. The downside is that I see a LOT of cool stuff on the curb and am prone to picking it up. But the upside is that while I may be a packrat, I am acquiring only used items, not buying new.

like a few other commenters, i am a packrat for, not against, environmental purposes. i save things because i think they could still be useful and i can't stand throwing them in the trash. i am in the process of learning to use freecycle/etc. to make sure that things that are useful, but not to me, get out there to get reused instead of cluttering up my closet.

HOWEVER, we are now living in 570 Sq Ft and have shed a ton of stuff to Habitat for Humanity . We are still combining and sheding and storing things (in Boxes) that fit under the bed ...we are trying.

I was just walking up the street and found a shop run by professional packrats, recycling old furniture.

http://www.thewhiteattic.com

The best way to recycle an item is simply use it like it is.
Saves heaps of energy, pollution and toxicity.

I, too, am a packrat that saves things that may be useful. As the anon mentioned, organization is the key. Saving something for a purpose then forgetting or losing the item when needed is not all that purposeful, eh?
I move every so many years, so instead of luggin with me a bunch of stuff, because things are already pre-sorted, I can either quickly recycle, or drop off at a thrift store (depending on the item).

I marked my answer as yes, but in general, the things I save are materials that will later be used to create recycled art, etc. I mean, yeah, it's possible that I don't really need the pipe organ pipes I've been saving for three years, but then, on the other hand, I think they're going to become a privacy fence this week. So maybe that was a good idea after all. And so on.

freeTOreuse a better choice than American freecycleto - freecycle Toronto

freeTOreuse is a Toronto Reusable Social Networking group of over 5500 members where each and every day people give of what they no longer use to those who have a need and reuse.

The owners of freeTOreuse both born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada do not charge for this service as well as they do not make any monetary gain or profit for the work that they do.

Unlike freecycle a nonprofit corporation in the state of Arizona - The Freecycle Network who run freecycle Toronto - freecycleto who's founder Deron Beal has received $130,000 American Dollars from WM Waste Management.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7955511/from/RL.1

Here is some more about freecycle for those who need to know and be forewarned http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freecycle_Network read it in its entirety.

Why would anyone want to support freecycle who are going to make money off of those items that you are going to give away for free? We sure don't know but maybe it is because those who join freecycle do not know what they are getting themselves into until it is too late. Well we think it is never too late!

At least ways for those of us Canadians in Toronto, Ontario who want to keep our cash north of the border! You have an option! Come join freeTOreuse today and bring more than just a smile but also bring those Canadian owned items and keep those belongings that you no longer want to use but want to reuse in Canada.

Join freeTOreuse today and bring a smile. :)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freeTOreuse
freeTOreuse-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

It's free stuff Toronto - Toronto free stuff

Evolution dictates change and reusable social networking is that change!

It is our hope that some day everyone in Ontario will "reuse locally and accept socially" that is our motto!

Check out our freeTOreuse CAFE for more groups in Ontario

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/freeTOreuse-CAFE

Founders :)

free ONTARIO reuse GROUPS
http://freereusegroups.freespaces.com

Please support Reusable Social Networking that was founding by us in Canada for Canadians by blogging this message or adding an url to your web site. You may circulate this message and get the word out by sending it out. Thank you! :)