A RE-Purpose Driven Life

March 2015, By Nicole Langelier.

I recently saw a Jerry Seinfeld on the Tonight Show doing a stand up sketch about THINGS – how many ‘things’ we have and how all these ‘things’ move through the value chain from when we first get something new that we love and adore and display, to its ultimate demotion to the garage with all the other ‘things’ you once loved but have now permanently banished, never to be seen again.

As he was doing his act, which was of course hilarious (who doesn’t love Seinfeld?), I was just visualising this mass of accumulated crap in every house across the Western world. As I was picturing all this ‘stuff’, I was also picturing the manufacturing of it – all the water and electricity used, the trees cut down – the deforestation, the mining for the minerals in the old cell phones and appliances, the oil the plastic these things are made out of – and then all that stuff going into a landfill somewhere for future generations to worry about. It’s a bit of an overwhelming thought to say the least.

Look – I am not going to claim to be some tree hugging environmentalist – I like to shop and I like things – but the things I like the best are the things I can give a second life to. I’m not a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t like waste, I don’t like excess, I don’t like stuff for the sake of stuff, and I don’t like hoarding.

I live a RE-purpose driven life.

My love affair with great vintage design and flea market treasures is all about second chances – maybe third or forth chances – maybe more. I’m not into this disposable world we live in. It shits me even. My re-purposing filters through all that I do – the objects I display in my house, how I dress, what I eat. I’m a great cook, but the best meals I make are always the ones made from yesterday’s leftovers reinvented. I love fashion, and I am always the most excited about my outfit when I can find something in the back of my closet that I haven’t worn for years and I fall in love with it again because I find a different way to wear it, making it new again (it’s like shopping in my own closet!). If I still don’t like that thing I found in the back of my closet, I find the right friend to give it to. This is not about being cheap – it’s about being aware.

Although I don’t claim to be an environmentalist, I do care about this planet and the impact of our obsession to possess new ‘things’ has upon it. There is so much stuff already filling up our garages – they say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so let’s consider our impact and start uncovering and sharing and re-purposing those treasures. It is still new if it’s new to you!

Check out this link to Jerry Seinfeld’s sketch on the Tonight Show.