All that STUFF

Ok, I usually try and refrain from making sweeping social judgements about the intelligent and hard working (yada yada yada,) students of Williams college. But when I see the mountains of crap that piles up in the dumpsters outside dorms this time of year, it just makes me feel awful inside for so many reasons.

How much stuff is getting thrown out that is in perfectly usable condition, only the owner was too lazy to find a new owner for it? How much of that was used once all year, and is now cast away as too old or no longer worth the space? How much does it really made your life better here at Williams?

Yes, I'm talking about extra rugs and funny looking pillows, blow up chairs and halogen lamps, strings of Christmas tree lights and garbage bags full of t-shirts, mountains of books and entire couches left out in the rain. Why are you throwing these perfectly good things away? Can it possibly be that we like the act of acquiring the stuff and the value that comes from bringing home something new and flashy more than we actually like keeping them around and dealing with the space they take up?

Its like this is the dirty little secret of our rampant consumer lifestyle, rearing its ugly head for one short spell of wasteful glory, getting it all out of the way in a few painful days, so that we can return next year with more 'cool new things' from home to fill up the new spaces we'll have. And what's worse is that Williams is just one of thousands of colleges and universities whose dorms are emptying in the same way as we speak, all carelessly filling up dumpsters and thinking about trendy things to bring to the dorm next year.

Well, I'm grossed out. I'm making a point of picking up as much as I can and saving it until it can be given or sold to someone who will value this stuff for what it is. And please, don't feed me back stories of how you've 'saved this item since grade school' or 'aren't throwing anything away'. I know you good people are out there and I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the people who fill up the dumpsters, what do you have to say about your excessive waste!