There is a really good opportunity which will enable you to combine zero waste and passive income. And which you might already be aware of but don’t make the most of. All of us happen to have a number of things at home which can be divided into three categories:
1)Broken.
2)Slightly broken but can be fixed.
3)Workable but haven’t been used for a long time, that is, isn’t really needed.
And as a habit, you would throw most of those things into a trash can. So next time, you feel tempted to do it, hold on. There might be a better option available for you. Which will:
1)Make the environment cleaner.
2)Get you a bit of an income.
I’m talking about sites on which used things sell. Sounds like nothing special. Yet, you might not realise how many things you keep in your home that might rob you of a good part of free space in your flat. Like, outdated smartphones, damaged laptops, and also accessories for them: chargers, speakers, keyboards, and whatnot. Most of those devices can be reusable by other people in one way or another.
You might wonder, ‘Why would anyone be eager to buy a used thing when they can own a new one? It can work with significant things like scooters, cycles, laptops and such. But would it work with things like chargers and keyboards?’ Well, there are a few reasons.
The first and foremost, more and more people are getting into a zero-waste lifestyle. Which encourages to own reusable things rather than single-used ones. Because it, obviously, helps to reduce waste and, as a consequence, pollution. More so, there is the idea of minimalism which, basically, encourages to try to go for just bare essentials in life rather than having impulsive expenditures which ends up as more waste than it could’ve been with a wiser approach. ‘Less is more’ as the saying goes. It also encourages you to save up money for more useful things to spend on. Like healthy food or educational products. At the expense of less significant things, like smartphones, expensive clothes or junk-food, in other words, things that don’t add that much value to your life. Surely, everyone can have a different opinion on what is more valuable and what is less of value. It all depends on the person’s level of consciousness.
Think these people are weird? But maybe It’s just that they want to save up money for things which are more valuable for them. And which, they think, are higher-consciousness ones.
The second reason is that someone just would need some parts from a particular device, like a laptop or a cycle. In this case, of course, buying a new thing is not the best option.
And lastly, a person might have lost or broken a ‘native’ part of his device. And here it works better for outdated things which are no longer produced. Consequently, the only place they could own this part is sites like this.
Some of this might sound weird to you. Depending on how far you’ve gone in terms of zero waste. And yet, you can choose your own level of ‘weirdness’ and act accordingly.
Got highly excited about this idea? So now it’s time for a cold shower.
Don’t expect to make a living from it. Treat it just like a small, but additional stream of income. Just like a bonus. Some of your products will get quickly purchased but for others, it might take much longer. Especially if you put a higher price for them. And for the others, it might take close to forever, unless you, eventually, decide to throw it into a recycling bin or whatever.
(However, even in this case you can get rid of the thing profitably. By sharing unwanted things with other people).
The most important thing, though, is that you might feel more motivated to practise selling unwanted things than throwing them into a recycling bin. Which also means throwing away less waste.
So, it seems to be a worthwhile eco-habit to install, doesn’t it?