One of the things my fiancee says she loved about me from the start was that my apartment was uncluttered. I don't think I've owned 100 things in my life.
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Most consumer electronics these days are such that repairing it when it fails is more expensive than replacing it. Automobiles are declared "clunkers" when they reach a certain age or mileage, and repairing them is considered a waste of time and energy - just scrap it and buy a new one.
When we bought our tent trailer a few years ago, it needed new tires. It was cheaper to buy complete wheel assemblies - rims and tires - than it would have been to get new tires put on the old rims, and there was no program to take the worn-out tires on the still serviceable rims and recycle everything. I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with the old ones.
It seems the more we push the idea of a green culture, the more we're presented with resource-wasteful products as our only option. It's all about the bottom line, and more profit is made in the dispose-and-replace industry than it the "Make it to last" industry.
The possessions as burden idea is a key point in the Buddhist way of thinking.
There are people who were lamenting the cash for clunkers program, which destroyed usable vehicles and their parts. The 3 R's are in that order for a reason, 1st, reduce the consumption used, 2nd reuse when possible, then 3rd recycle. Recycle consumes the most energy of the 3.
Some places will buy the rims for scrap, and most places have programs for recycle the tires. Or you can try freecycle, where you give away stuff. Someone would take it.
I would think scuba gear would be considered as a set, since there aren't any individual elements that are useful by itself. A BC is not really useful by itself. But unless it's needed for safety's sake, such as redundant regs, etc, extras would be counted separately. Scuba gear does last an awful long time, my husbands reg is about 20 something years old.