Journal
Notes on second-hand things, sustainability, and the neighbours passing them on.
Baby things are used hard for a very short time, then sit in a room. It is the clearest case in the whole marketplace.
In much of the world, fixing things had to be rediscovered. Here it never went away — there is a person who mends shoes, radios and fridges within walking distance of most homes.
The problem is rarely that something is broken. It is that it stopped being needed in one house while still being needed in the next street.
Relocation is when most household waste happens. You are tired, the van is waiting, and the easiest thing to do with the extra chairs is leave them.
Ghana has never been squeamish about used goods. Makola, Kantamanto and every roadside stall have run on second life for decades. Givny is not a new idea — it is an old one without the middleman.
Every August, students arrive in Kumasi and Legon needing a kettle, a fan, a mattress and a desk. Every June, the students leaving throw those same things away.
