For a while now, I've been thinking about getting a new work bag. My current daily driver is of a canvas attaché-style, with metal hardware, and one chunky zipper that has stood the test of time.
I've had this bag since I graduated college in the mid 2000's. I received it as a graduation gift and have used it almost daily for 20 years, before I transitioned to becoming a mostly remote worker. I have a sentimental attachment to this bag, love the look of the worn-in canvas, and plan to use it until it completely gives out. That day may be coming soon: fraying and holes are starting to develop throughout, and its days of stalwart and reliable performance are clearly numbered.
I've come to enjoy and appreciate things that are well used, which positions functional durability and aesthetic simplicity at the top of my criteria for most items of wear or use in my personal inventory.
When I'm planning to keep something for a long time, I do not feel that I am in any rush to acquire it. I can take the time to think: will this serve me well now and years into the future? Is this a transient want, or is this truly something I need? Will this item wear in well, or will it wear out? This is not entirely (or perhaps only) a "buy it for life" mentality. The last, and perhaps most important, box to check is: do I actually need this now? I do not move forward until I can answer all of these questions with a confident: Yes!
Applying this philosophy to my bag search, I've been intermittently reviewing and considering replacement options for the past six months, ultimately settling on a small handful of of likely contenders. Each option meets my functional and aesthetic requirements, is ethically constructed of a material that will likely grow better with age and with use, and will probably last me for the rest of my life - or at least for another 20 years, after which point I hope to no longer need a work bag. Will I ever make a decision and pull the trigger on a purchase?
I still cannot say yes to the last question (do I need this now?), and so I continue to wait.
This is how I aim to practice material consumption. Deliberate, thoughtful acquisition, paired with a decommissioning: a retirement from service of an item that has fulfilled its useful life, cannot simply be repaired or repurposed, and is made of natural and biodegradable materials that won't take hundreds of years to decompose. It can't, and doesn't, always happen this way. It's a goal, an ideal, an aspiration: something to work on and work towards.
In writing this, I recognize my privilege. Deliberate discernment, especially at this level, is in many ways a luxury. Luckily, it's not an all or nothing proposition. It doesn't necessarily require money, patience, research, or access. It requires being thoughtful, recognizing what you value, and finding ways to align your behavior as a consumer with those values to the best of your ability. You and I may have different values. Your values may change over time, as mine have. There is no right way to do this. The only wrong way is to have no values to guide you.
~nullish
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