ok, now this is really a blog

 This will be a day to day green thought.  April 8th 2011

Today I want to address the idea of initial cost vs durability & lifetime of a material. In this economic time, we are all making choices on how to spend our monies. Expendable income three years ago now goes into savings in case there is a layoff. While I see the constant comments about the unemployment numbers, I myself, believe we are on our way up again.  My favorite song at the moment is Andy Grammar’s “got to keep your head up”.

It will make you smile for sure.

Anyway, back on topic. The idea of parting with money is a difficult one. But, I think most of us are getting pretty tired of holding back on the things we want to do until everything gets all worked out. What does that look like anyway? If we want the economy to grow and flourish, we need to move money around. Now, it is very important where and how that money is spent.

Do we want to waste money? No. Do we want to pay for things more than once? No. Do we want to be disappointed in the quality of something we spent our good money on? No way.

Do we want to see/feel the impact that our purchases are having on us and our enviornment, Yes.

It is all about spending money wisely. In the olden days, settlers built their furniture and had it for a hundred years. Dovetail joints and hand carved legs, the craftmanship was beautiful. And you know what? A lot of those pieces are still around today. Longevity. Quality. Money well spent.

The same idea should go into purchases we make now. How often do we go and buy the least expensive item just to make do? We hit the big box store and pick up a piece of furniture made from pressboard and laminate and only expect it to last through one or two moves around the house. Then we can throw it away. I heard a quote last week that stopped my heart cold.

“There is no away…”

It’s all about making better choices with the money we do have to spend. Looking at the durability and the life cycle of the thing and what if it also helped out Mother Earth? HUGE bonus!

So, that’s what I am thinking about today. How bout you?