 December
Buzz
Here we are at the end of another year and the
beginning of a new decade, and a lot of us are thrilled, no make that
ecstatic, to say goodbye to 2009. I never thought in my lifetime
that we would experience such an economic downfall as we did this past
year. Many of us grew up listening to our parents or grandparents telling
stories about the depression or possibly poking fun at their frugal
ways, as that could never happen to us. That generation was one of
frugality and savings whereas we are more about spending and enjoying
today with no worries about tomorrow. Well, we all had a bit
of culture shock when the the proverbial $*#% hit the fan. So
let’s think of it as a wake up call for many of us and in many
ways a good one.
I recently attended a Sustainability
Summit for the furniture industry in North Carolina and was SO
happy to hear about all the industry was doing to become more "green".
The furniture business has been hit hard and companies had a lot
of time to take stock and look at how to reduce costs and save
money. It is amazing how much you can save by just paying closer
attention to shutting off your lights, reusing materials, recycling
and being more aware of how you operate your business day to day.
Here we are in the full thrust of the "high holiday
shopping season" and we are bombarded with so much useless stuff,
but we think it is great because we can get so much of it at a bargain. It’s
occurred to me that we just have way too much stuff, myself included.
We all just got carried away with the accumulation of stuff, we
don't even have enough room for all our stuff!
Recently I started
noticing all the self storage places that have sprung up all over the
landscape; start keeping your eye out for them and you won't believe
how many there are in Metro Boston. We have so much “junk” we
have to actually rent out these spaces to hold more stuff that we probably
don't need but we are paying rent to hang on to it, so we won't be
without our stuff. Seems silly, doesn’t it? I think a good
New Years resolution for everyone is to take "stock of all our
stuff" and maybe we can re-distribute it, donate it, re-purpose
it, reuse it, recycle it, or hey, maybe even use it. Let's all
agree the only new stuff you should be bringing into your home this
year is NICE furniture that will last a lifetime. I’m sure you’ll
all be able to find a purpose for your old furniture, no need to rent
a self storage unit!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Peggy Burns
Queen Bee
Previous Buzz issues
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
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