Think quality when holiday shopping this year

When I stepped out my door Sunday morning, I was surprised to find the charred frame of… When I stepped out my door Sunday morning, I was surprised to find the charred frame of a burnt couch smoldering just a few steps from my porch. As I examined the blackened evidence of the previous night’s celebrations, I could not help but feel a slight pang of remorse: Such a piece could have really tied my living room together.

Now, I certainly do not mean to moralize against furniture burners; if in the right spirit, I might find myself taking match to couch as well, but I think ready acceptance of such an action is a sign of a troubling aspect in our culture.

These days, just about everything is made to be thrown out. From toys, to tools, to pop stars, everything our world is churning out has a short shelf life.

I understand that with certain necessities – diapers, napkins and the like – a disposable option makes life easier, and that’s fine. But lots of stuff – furniture from IKEA, for example – is made with a dumpster in mind.

Sure, furniture like that has an upside – it’s cheap and looks pretty good. But anyone who has ever tried to take his bookcase with a funny Swedish name on a move can tell you that the stuff would make great fodder for arson.

Now, I recognize that the clock can’t be turned back to the time when all consumer goods were produced lovingly by skilled artisans, but I think that as a culture, we would do pretty well to demand better quality.

Of course, that would probably make goods more expensive, and everyone knows how Americans hate to lose out on a good deal. This presents something of a conundrum for the consumers of the world: Pay lots of money and have something for life, or buy it cheap and buy 20.

I guess it all depends on the product and the buyer’s financial situation, but I can think of quite a few cases where paying for quality makes a whole lot of sense.

When I was growing up, it was like we had a new vacuum cleaner every week. My family would buy one cheap, and after filling up just a few bags, we would have to put it out on the curb. I would leave for school in the morning with one vacuum in the closet, only to find a stranger cleaning the carpets when I got home. Such instability can be hard on a child.

Then, after many years and many vacuums, my mom went out and bought an expensive vacuum. The new machine was sleek, solid and German. Ten years later it is still in commission.

As insightful as the Miller family’s vacuum saga might be, such a fable does little good for me now as a cash-strapped college student. On my budget, cheap is good. I can’t afford an expensive vacuum – or any vacuum really, just look at my apartment.

So I guess I can’t save myself from having to buy cheap, but I think I can definitely cut down on the amount of cheap stuff I buy. Looking around my room, I see loads of inexpensive plastic trinkets I could easily do without.

Sure, it will be hard to convince myself that I don’t actually need to buy a new book lamp or electric toothbrush the next time I am out shopping, but the end result of wasting less money and resources will be worth it.

I can carry that same mentality over to my Christmas shopping this year. I am definitely not progressive enough to forgo buying any presents in the name of anti-consumerism, but I think my family and friends would be better served by well-thought-out- albeit cheaper – gifts, rather than by big flashy junk I got at a discount store.

My sister will probably get more satisfaction out of a nice book than, say, the Christmas carol-singing mounted fish that I got her last year.

Gift cards, in all their thoughtless glory, do have the admirable quality of eliminating unused gifts.

Another way of cutting down on waste is to make gifts for loved ones. There is no way to tell that a homemade towel rack or picture frame will be of use to the recipient, but the love will be evident, and such a homespun effort will take less of a toll on the pocketbook.

Think about spending less on cheap crap, during this holiday season and beyond. With oil resources stretched to the breaking point, the Earth’s climate on the fritz and lots of people living in hunger, the world could probably be a better place if less was spent on trinkets we end up just throwing away – or burning – in the end.

E-mail Jack at jhm15@pitt.edu.