Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

Love this whole topic, we should all read this if we are taking things to Goodwill, buying things, or just plain interested in the planet and how "stuff" goes around. Thank you Mr. Minter

I'm recycling some of my review of Minter's first book: Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade to write this review ♥. Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter is amusing, terrifying, inspiring, infuriating and depressing. Not the book itself, which is wonderful: Minter is an accomplished journalist with a unique understanding of his subject matter - junkyards, scrapyards, recycling, reuse, secondhand throughout the world - because he grew up in his family's Minneapolis, Minnesota, US scrapyard. All those other adjectives because Secondhand so compellingly exposes the worst of capitalist excess. Western cultures WASTE resources on an immeasurable scale, and maintain an enraging, ill-informed insistence that Western solutions to global challenges, which often truthfully are generated and propelled by Western societies in the first place, are the only appropriate ones. In a trash can, Western cultures, and a growing number of cultures influenced by Western values, use too many original raw resources to sustain rational levels of production and consumption before the unhealthful consequences to the Earth's ecosystem may be irreversible. There are countermeasures, but governments often lack the will to implement them, and too few manufacturers are willing to make them profitable. That planned obsolescence, which I railed against in another post, is somehow considered wholesome is obscene. There are promising signs of change - "right to repair" laws, for example, are becoming more common. Right-to-repair movements work against legislation which enforces corporate profiteering concerning voided warranties. But it's disheartening that what was once ironclad common sense now has to be litigated.So I'm almost afraid to talk about this book where my clients might read it! Because my awesome, engaged, conscientious, forward-thinking clients are going to take this book to heart. Too many of them already do too much, paralyzing themselves in their efforts to recycle and reuse responsibly. I frequently remind my clients that they are probably sooooooo far ahead of most people who don't care, my clients can slack off for several years and still not fall behind! Taking care of yourself is a way of taking care of the environment.Lauren Williams, Casual Uncluttering LLC, Woodinville, WA USA

Very clear and concise, a quick read. Also very engaging. I liked that the author used real life people and not just dry recitation of facts. The author includes some suggestions for a path towards better sustainability but I felt could have included more about how to actively get involved (legislatively or with various organizations).Overall, time very well spent.

Minter is such a terrific, fluid writer and a dogged, thorough reporter that you'll be enlightened on the larger global problem of Too Much Stuff without having to view it from a bird's eye view: he is there, on ground level, on the streets and at warehouses and refuse heaps all over the world. But "Secondhand" also zeroes in on questions an individual might ask: Why is my grandmother's china becoming less valuable, not more valuable, even as it becomes more "antique"? The answer is useful to anyone who has too much stuff.

I heard the author being interviewed on a local call in radio program and was intrigued enough to buy the book. I worked in retail for a number of years. My mother also had an informal hobby buying and selling used items. She was very good at it. As someone who used to worship at the alter of the mall getting rid of things that no longer suited me always made me feel a bit guilty. I had no idea where they actually ended up. This is an eye opening book. Thank you Mr. Minter. By the way since I’ve retired I’ve been going through my things and getting rid of them. Now I buy only replacement items when they break or wear out.

This is a well-researched book into the secondhand world and offers eye-opening insights into what happens to electronic and textile castoffs. The author's travels to Japan in particular I found particularly interesting and their huge industry in dealing with secondhand goods.This book describes exactly what happens when a TV or an item of clothing is dumped and where it's likely to end up. Various valid points are made such as the longevity of goods, how companies are adverse to product repair, how broken goods thrown away are treasure to others, and the downsides to secondhand.Secondhand is required reading.I purchased the Kindle version.

A thoroughly researched book about the global secondhand industry, how it has changed over time and how it would benefit from higher quality merchandise. Very interesting read!

Minter could stand to stop including so much of himself in the narrative. I often wondered if he wanted to write about the topic or just write about himself.

Wished to learn about the importance of garage sales in N. America

This book is so interesting, I am a big fan of second hand items, I donate and buy items regularly. This book is quite shocking, makes you think about stuff in a different way. For British readers, the author has examples from America and other countries, but does not mention our second hand market. There are highs - people buying, fixing and reusing and re-homing things and the lows - landfill items, cannot be recycled. I would definitely read other books by this author.

I’m not finished reading it yet, but so far it’s keeping me interested, it’s informative and well written.

Although the author tries to give the book a positive spin in the last chapters, this is an eye opening look at the global consequence of Noth American hyper consumption. In fairness, the over consumption habits of other nations (e.g., Mexico, Japan, the Philippines) are also laid bare. Meanwhile, the reader is stripped of the notion that a donation of used items to charity is a mitzvah. It ain't, it is just more fodder for the landfill.

An interesting read about the state of our second hand economy.