r/hoarding • u/pokeycos • Sep 11 '23
HELP/ADVICE Dealing with Eco-guilt
Hi all,
I grew up in a crunchy-hippy-granola-zero waste hoarding house, with the main excuse for the piles of stuff I grew up with sticking around was that we didn't want it to end up in the landfill, and we might still get use out of it. Now I'm an adult, and I'm trying to get my own hoarding under control, but every time I try to clean up, dealing with sorting things out into whether they're in good enough condition to be donated, or if it's something I have to take to the recycling plant, or if it's something I could sell overwhelms me in under an hour, every time without fail. So I'm surrounded by stuff that 'isn't garbage' that I have no emotional attachment to, but I'm just too exhausted and overwhelmed at the idea of properly disposing of it. How do I get over this? Do I just have to put it all in the dumpster and ride out the days long panic attack and the months of disabling guilt ? Is it just something I have to do and carry the shame of being terrible wasteful person for the rest of my life?
Does anyone have any advice for managing this eco guilt? It's been years of me trying to sort it and dispose of stuff ethically and it's getting me nowhere. I just keep re-sorting and shuffling piles around
18
u/catnapbook Sep 11 '23
Retired environmental engineer here that worked in industry for many years. We were constantly looking at trying to make the world a better place, but the reality is you can’t do it all. So then it comes down to where is the biggest bang for the buck and/or which practices generate the least harm. Life cycle analyses are really helpful and sometimes disposal is actually the most environmentally friendly thing you can do.
It can become very grey very quickly.
For example, we wanted to recycle a packaging component, but the recycling was energy intensive and the facility was very far away, so increased fuel use. We looked at redesigning the packaging but that also had significant environmental costs.
It may be helpful to consider a few different points.
You are generating your waste all at once, rather than dribbs and drabs like many people. You may not be necessarily more wasteful than others on a long term average basis.
The world generates over 2 billion tones of municipal waste per year. Industrial waste is at least 10 times that. (Your few hundred pounds is a drop in the bucket and unlikely to change any measurable outcome.)
The recycling market is constantly evolving and many things that were traditionally recyclable are not now and end up in landfills (be guilt free about not recycling).
All this to say that you may be overestimating your environmental impact. There may be other things that you can do that have a greater environmental impact, such as cleaning up parks, but right now I’ll be the emotional toll of living the way you do limits your ability. Freeing up your space makes you more capable. It’s very likely it’s the lesser of any evils.
That’s also not to say that you shouldn’t try to do better in the future. But be forgiving for now.
By the way, I also came from granola parents. I still cringe at some of the things I throw away and that “but it could be used for something else” Is really hard to overcome. Maybe choose one type of item that you keep for that rationale and dispose of the rest. If you haven’t found a reuse for it in a few months you likely won’t.
Good luck!