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A review by kjersten
Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter
5.0
This was a very interesting read! I enjoyed following along on Minter's journey around the world detailing the mysterious afterlife of secondhand goods. It was equally heartbreaking and inspiring. The narration was pleasantly conversational, and I could easily visualize the people and places that Minter frequented during his travels.
In the preface, Minter notes that "one 2006 study of Los Angeles middle-class homes found that 90 percent of garage space is now used to store stuff, not automobiles." Yikes. It's clear that people have an excess of stuff, yet they continue to acquire more and more despite a sizeable decline in the quality of these items. To address this growing issue, Minter suggests that "simple, voluntary steps by manufacturers and consumers to encourage the production of more durable and repairable goods could go a long way toward ensuring that secondhand thrives and grows for years to come."
Reading about home cleanouts for deceased relatives was uncomfortable and sad, but lined with hope. It was very encouraging to see how businesses in the USA and abroad can make this as sustainable and supportive of a process as possible for the families experiencing this common yet not often discussed experience.
Learning more about the programs that Goodwill offers, for example, the project that teaches at-risk youth how to fix up landfill-bound furniture, surprised me. The unfortunate reality of the majority of the rest of the unsold inventory, sadly, did not.
Other notable topics: the questionable marketing practices of childrens car seat manufacturers and whether or not they can be reused (spoiler alert: it seems that they can), electronics companies purposely making devices difficult to take apart in order to discourage consumer repair, and the lucrative upcycled cloth rag industry (in Ohio of all places!) that I was entirely unaware of.
I was also previously unaware of the scale of the secondhand market for electronics, particularly the scale of electronic repair in Ghana. Very interesting!
I am curious how things have evolved to present-day as this book was written a few years ago.
Overall, this was a fascinating read. Minter is a great storyteller and communicates the information well. This is a noteworthy read for those that value sustainability, enjoy thrifting, or are just curious what happens to the things that are left behind.
In the preface, Minter notes that "one 2006 study of Los Angeles middle-class homes found that 90 percent of garage space is now used to store stuff, not automobiles." Yikes. It's clear that people have an excess of stuff, yet they continue to acquire more and more despite a sizeable decline in the quality of these items. To address this growing issue, Minter suggests that "simple, voluntary steps by manufacturers and consumers to encourage the production of more durable and repairable goods could go a long way toward ensuring that secondhand thrives and grows for years to come."
Reading about home cleanouts for deceased relatives was uncomfortable and sad, but lined with hope. It was very encouraging to see how businesses in the USA and abroad can make this as sustainable and supportive of a process as possible for the families experiencing this common yet not often discussed experience.
Learning more about the programs that Goodwill offers, for example, the project that teaches at-risk youth how to fix up landfill-bound furniture, surprised me. The unfortunate reality of the majority of the rest of the unsold inventory, sadly, did not.
Other notable topics: the questionable marketing practices of childrens car seat manufacturers and whether or not they can be reused (spoiler alert: it seems that they can), electronics companies purposely making devices difficult to take apart in order to discourage consumer repair, and the lucrative upcycled cloth rag industry (in Ohio of all places!) that I was entirely unaware of.
I was also previously unaware of the scale of the secondhand market for electronics, particularly the scale of electronic repair in Ghana. Very interesting!
I am curious how things have evolved to present-day as this book was written a few years ago.
Overall, this was a fascinating read. Minter is a great storyteller and communicates the information well. This is a noteworthy read for those that value sustainability, enjoy thrifting, or are just curious what happens to the things that are left behind.