Posted by Snow in 
Plasma TV
Recycling Junk is business. Big business. But at the micro level it can be as much business as an individual entrepreneur can bring. With the emphasis on re-using existing resources, the Western world is full of things that can be repainted, refinished and repapered into an attractive suite.
Many items in full working order are being thrown out for convenience or necessity. Reclamation used to be very difficult because people were loathe to part with things of value for free. Now people are leaving house keys on the table and walking away from mortgage responsibilities. Taking a house full of furniture is not on their minds.
While waste management works as a business and a commodity industry. But on the individual level, a piece of furniture can become part of a home or tableau in a restoration cottage or period home. The market for antiques and vintage furniture grows every day. Collectibles are a hot market that only keeping furniture for future generations will keep alive.
The vintage furniture market is going to be a hot one when all the real estate markets heat up again. So many homes are moving through foreclosure a ton of resources are going to waste. As many homes go under the auction hammer and familes are displaced to smaller places. Lots of unwanted belongings in good working order are going begging.
Anyone with long term protected storage is in a position to make a lot of money and preserve a lot of history. In areas of the country right now where resources are getting carted off to the landfill, anyone that can keep what is worth keeping will come out on the other side of longevity making a mint.
Recent decades of consumer culture mean serious antiques have been misperceived and undervalued and left by the curbside. In an era that is more sustainable and eco friendly than ever, landfills may triple in volume with houses being torn down and furnishings and fittings hitting the earth.
Anyone looking at hedge funds or stock portfolios should look no farther than a an airtight watertight storage space like an attic or basement full of collected things being thrown away daily right now. A lot of value that has huge industrial costs is being tossed away in an unsustainable manner.
The message about Freecycle.com need to be communicated more. I have seen big screen televisions like the one pictured above left by the curb because movers said the family didn’t want it. These opportunities will not come around again for us to save value, preserve culture, commemorate history, and recycled our available resources.
RSS Feed