Satisfaction does not have free 2-day delivery
It seems like in a lot of cases these days, gift giving has devolved into whatever $20-50 Amazon item in that category comes up first.
I am very grateful for people that are willing to buy me gifts. But really, please don’t buy me junk.
I’m working on it, but it actually hurts my feelings when you buy me crap. I actually love receiving gifts. There are a ton of random niche things I actually would love to own. In my mind, I feel like if people would just spend 3 seconds thinking about things I like and what they already own in those categories they wouldn’t mind just giving to me, I’d end up with a lot more meaningful items and a lot less plastic packaging.
“New” items in particular stress me out. We have so many things in our world rotting in landfills infinitely more interesting and useful than whatever the cheapest clothing factories can produce currently.
There’s a rule about trash when you’re outdoors. Obviously you take out anything you bring in. But on top of that, any garbage you touch is now your responsibility. I think that’s true even indoors. Yes, the Amazon warehouse is full of the cheapest drop-shipped goods imaginable. Until you buy it and touch it, it’s not your responsibility. I have plenty of blood on my hands. I’m far from blameless.
Be especially cautious about buying batteries, or things with batteries in them. That’s a lot of trash you’re now going to have to figure out how to get rid of. Lead-acid are pretty recyclable but the new-fangled lithium batteries entombed in glued together plastic and dubious circuitry are a problem. I actually wrote a blog post about recycling batteries.
So that’s it, man. Just buy less stuff. Don’t buy me stuff, unless you’re Sam. Give me your old interesting crap. The older the better. If it’s survived this long, chances are it will make it a few more decades.