In previous posts, we talked about personal transportation (aka cars), and we’ve also discussed how to do better with lawns and gardens. But what about the rest of the stuff if your garage?
Let’s start with tools. For decades now, we’ve been told, via marketing, that DIY is the way to go. Short for do-it-yourself, the average homeowner is expected to be able to handle his own plumbing, painting, electrical work, drywalling, shelving installs… the list goes on and on.
And my choice of pronouns here is deliberate. The marketing message is still aimed primarily at men, and the subtext is that if you can’t do your own handiwork, you need to turn in your man card.
It’s nonsense, of course, but it’s nonsense that moves a lot of tools every year. And most of those tools sit unused in the garage for 99.9% of the year. That’s not a criticism of the handy person in your house, it’s simple math. Unless you work in the trades, or say, enjoy woodworking as a hobby, the tools just aren’t in use very much.
I want you to sit with that thought for a moment. Think of how many cities there are in just the USA, how many houses with garages there must be, and how many tools there are just… laying there. Now think about the colossal amount of resources that went into making and distributing these tools.
It’s insanity, really.
What can you do about this? For starters, you can help renormalize not buying new all the time. This is probably going to happen through sheer demographic force anyhow: as baby boomers downsize, we are going to see torrents of barely-used goods flood the market. (Trust me on this — I ended up handling the estates of my grandparents, my great aunt and my parents. The sheer volume of stuff in three ordinary households was staggering.) But we may as well get started down this path right now.
Second, you can simply rent what you need. It’s cheaper and doesn’t require the storage space or the hassle of packing up and moving stuff when you change accommodation.
Third, make the effort to maintain your equipment properly. The only thing worse than having stuff just sitting around… is stuff seizing up because of dirt, moisture etc. When I sorted out the estates I referenced above, it was heartbreaking to see how much stuff had become unusable due to neglect. Some of it was repairable, but a lot of it, made as it was with brittle, aged, plastic parts, simply had to be recycled. Use dust covers and tool boxes, lubricate things properly, and keep batteries in the house in winter. Sharpen your lawnmower blades, clean out the cutting deck, and keep the tires properly inflated. Same goes for your car — if you must still use a gas car, keep the tires at the right pressure and make sure you keep up with oil changes and tune-ups to save gas.
So, what else can we do about our garages? Well, if you have a lot of old paint cans or dead oil filters hanging around, take an afternoon to gather them all up and take them to your local hazardous materials drop off. The same goes for light bulbs, spray cans, lawn chemicals, used oil, and so on.
Speaking of paints, choose water-based and low VOC content. Then you won’t need smelly chemicals to clean the brushes, and the paint is somewhat more eco-friendly.
If you work in your garage, and have it climate controlled, give it the same attention you give the rest of your house. Make sure it’s properly insulated, the doors are sealed properly (especially the big bay doors), and put up curtains to minimize heat loss in winter, and solar heat gain in the summer. If you’re moving and in and out of your garage frequently as you work, just turn the HVAC to it off.
When it’s time to upgrade or replace your HVAC system, either for the garage or for the whole house, consider a heat pump and fans over a gas-fired furnace and AC unit. They’re more efficient, so they’ll save you money in the long run. I’ll get into more of this when I cover basements.
Motion sensors will help ensure the lights get turned off even when the kids forget (again), and LED lights will last longer and provide more efficient light.
Finally, consider getting involved in the right to repair movement. Not only have many manufacturers deliberately locked us out of the things we purchase and use, but many things are built to fail and aren’t easily repairable even with the correct equipment. In addition to normalizing buying second hand, we need to normalize repair shops again.