CRAP I Sold — Week of July 6, 2026

 

One of the things I've noticed since starting my C.R.A.P. (Conserved Resources Awaiting Purpose) project is that value often isn't created by buying something new. Sometimes it's created by simply finding a new purpose for something that's been sitting on a shelf.

Last week, five very different items left my house for new homes.

• A Callaway golf club head cover.
• A copy of Anatomy of an Island: A Geological History of Oahu.
• A Lionel Ready-to-Run Train Set VHS instruction tape.
• A brand-new, still-sealed pair of Philips iPod earbuds.
• A lot of seven environmental and ecology books.

At first glance, they don't appear to have much in common.

A golfer wanted the head cover.

Someone interested in Hawaii wanted the geology book.

A Lionel train enthusiast needed the VHS tape.

An iPod collector—or perhaps someone still using an older iPod—wanted the unopened earbuds.

And someone else now owns seven books that shaped much of my own thinking about ecology, biodiversity, restoration, and the relationship between people and nature.

What they all had in common was this:

I had absolutely nothing invested in any of them.

Most came from donations, leftovers from past projects, or things that had simply accumulated over decades. They had already served whatever purpose they once had for me.

Instead of ending up in a landfill, each one is now beginning another chapter in someone else's story.

That's really what C.R.A.P. is about.

It's not clutter.

It's not junk.

It's simply Conserved Resources Awaiting Purpose.

Sometimes that purpose is to teach.

Sometimes it's to collect.

Sometimes it's to restore a favorite hobby.

Sometimes it's simply to make someone smile.

Every item that finds a new home reduces waste, generates a little income, and reminds me that stewardship isn't always about protecting wilderness. Sometimes stewardship begins by looking around your own home and asking a simple question:

"Who could use this more than I do?"

This week's collection of "CRAP" answered that question five different ways.

See all of my C.R.A.P. HERE