On 09/12/2020 12:05, T i m wrote:
On Wed, 9 Dec 2020 11:00:22 +0000, Tim Lamb
wrote:

In message , R D S writes
I'm about to buy some broken slate for our front yard.

It's just occurred to me that about 18 months ago when we had the
kitchen roof sorted the roofer replaced 50 slates.
I never thought to keep them, but now.....

Conversely, I have several piles of second hand slate from my last
roofing job not touched in 15 years. Along with the soft red brick and
stable pavers.

One of us is a Squirrel!

I think 'squirreling' is a function of (potentially) several things.

1) Space. Or at least that typically the thing that stops most
*practical* people storing more than they do.

2) Interest / ability. The chances of being able to do something with
said stuff, be it re-use (eg. turning some surplus bricks into a BBQ)
or finding it an appropriate home (eBay / Freegle / Neighbourhood
Facebook etc).

3) Money. Although there are people out there with plenty of
disposable income who still don't like throwing stuff away, if you
know you have the cash to be able to not worry if something still has
'value', you can throw / give more stuff away and buy what you want,
even the same stuff you previously threw away, again.

4) Ecology. Realising that there is no such place as 'Away' when you
throw something 'away' and so wanting to insure (wherever possible)
surplus stuff is re-processed and disposed of in the best way
possible.

Like, if I have an old inkjet printer that is really dead (no drivers
available, dried up head, broken electronics etc) then I might take it
to bits, salvage any bits I am likely to find handy (some cables,
ground steel rods etc) and dispose of the remains in a more refined
state (plastics / metals / electronics etc).

I don't buy into that 'if you haven't used X for 6 months, throw it
away bs' because there are plenty of things that I go back to many
years later, and maybe only for a short time (as situations arise).[1]

5) Lack of space - flats rarely have much - and/or the inconvenience of
transporting it when moving house.

I generally throw away things that I haven't used for ten years - though
I sometimes regret this.

ICBA to try to sell things - I used to use second hand shops but the
prices were minimal. I might give things to charity shops, but, when
moving house, I don't really have the time or inclination, and this is
usually the time I might want to get rid of things.

--
Max Demian