wanted: thrifty people

"Thrifty" is the word my friend John uses to describe people who take the used furniture from the street corners. I am "thrifty".
Every Monday is 'big stuff' garbage day. This means that people who are sick of their furniture or appliances are able to put them out on the curb and have them picked up by the garbageman. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who feels this way, but it seems like people get sick of their furniture fairly often. I've already written a blog about this called trash and treasure, but I wanted to throw a picture or two on here to commemorate the future destruction of these awesome closets.


Every Monday, on my one minute walk to my school, I see a pile of awesome furniture, or antique stuff lying out on the street. Last Monday, from my second story classroom where I teach, I got to see the men come in the pickup truck with their crowbars and hammers. I got to see them smash all the tables, chairs and drawers to pieces and load up their trucks. It's not that I'm a huge antique fan or anything, but I just feel like there should be something else that can be done besides smashing these items to bits. To me that seems wasteful and... just sad.
I know that this is the way of the world - we trade off our old stuff when we can afford the newer, shiner stuff- does this cycle end? This closet, with it's hand made, mother-of-pearl inlay door might have been labored over for a long time. Or it might be just like hundreds of thousands of others - out of date and obsolete. Either way, when I walk by that corner tomorrow, and see slivers of mother-of-pearl on the ground, I'll feel slightly upset at our consuming culture. Am I being silly with this, my "thrifty" nature getting the best of me? or am I right to question the amount we consume?