Chen Ya：Decluttering is a Practice of Death

By Chen Ya, Jointing.Media, in Wuhan, 2023-04-05

Tulips in the yard (2023)

SQM, Jointing.Media

In the French novel “The Elegance of the Hedgehog”, Paloma, an intellectual prodigy who is under 12 years old, contemplates suicide on her upcoming birthday, as she does not want to live the life of a doomed goldfish trapped in a bowl. She intends to spend the rest of her life filming her own movie. However, very few people choose to “self-destruct” like Paloma, or opt for euthanasia like Fu Daren. It can be a challenge for most individuals to appropriately plan for the remainder of their lives and to predict their own expiration date. In Japanese novelist Nosaka Akira’s “Grave of the Fireflies”, he writes, “Who can say whether tomorrow or a tragic accident will come first?”

In Chinese culture, there has always been an elusive and taboo attitude towards death, and life education is often neglected in the education system. While individuals like Zhuangzi, who entertained himself by beating a drum and singing after the passing of his wife, represent an exception to the rule, most people fail to grasp the reality that “you and I are all mortals.” In the illusion of inexhaustible abundance, coupled with the belief that old age is not approaching, we tend to excessively consume goods that far surpass our actual needs.

The documentary “Human: The World Within” has calculated the amount of resources consumed by an individual over their lifetime, revealing that each person will consume around 35 tons of food, generate 8.5 tons of food packaging waste, drink 146,000 gallons of water, use 4,239 rolls of toilet paper, wear 192 pairs of shoes, and use 46 sets of clothing. In addition, an individual will typically take around 7,163 showers, consuming hundreds of thousands of liters of water, along with 656 bars of soap, 198 bottles of shampoo, 272 bottles of body spray, 276 tubes of toothpaste, 78 toothbrushes, 411 skincare products, 35 tubes of hair gel, 37 bottles of perfume, 25 bottles of nail polish, and 21 tubes of lipstick. For women, this also includes the use of around 11,000 sanitary pads, as well as several bottles of sunscreen.

Is it truly necessary to consume as much as we do in order to survive? Lauren Singer, a 25-year-old Environmental Science graduate from New York University, has been living a “zero-waste lifestyle” since 2012. She maintains a vegan diet and refuses to utilize any plastic products, handcrafting nearly all of her daily necessities. Over the course of four years, , the only waste she has generated is contained within the following modest jar, which is a fraction of what most individuals produce in a single day.

Image source: from network

There’s a distinct class of goods defined as modern necessities, such as personal computers. The manufacturing process of a single computer requires a staggering 240 kilograms of fossil fuels, 22 kilograms of various chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water. The material consumed by a single computer, prior to leaving the factory, is equivalent to that used by an entire car. The disposal of discarded computers also presents a significant challenge. According to recent studies, the average person discards 40 tons of waste into landfills over the course of their lifetime.

Would a person who advocates for an environmentally-friendly lifestyle become an unscrupulous “shopping fanatic”? A human lifespan consists of approximately 30,000 days, during which time both time and money are precious resources. When one’s life comes to an end, possessions that are unable to be taken away become either cherished contributions passed on to future generations or items that are discarded or recycled.

Objects that were once in the possession of historical figures have a cultural and historical value that exceeds their material worth. Often referred to as “cultural relics,” examples of such objects include dragon robes and crowns. Their value lies in the cultural significance they carry, and not in the function they serve. Ordinary individuals, upon passing, tend to have their clothes either burned or donated. As for other items, the preference is to replace them with newer objects that have more practical use, unless they hold artistic or antique value that may appreciate over time. Unfortunately, nobody can predict how long these items will be retained by future generations. This becomes especially challenging in the core areas of first-tier cities where the price per square meter approaches 100,000 yuan, leaving little space to store “useless” objects. As time passes and successive generations come and go, the emotional significance that these objects once carried fade away, along with the physical form of both the objects and the descendants who once owned them.

What is death? Death is the concept of beings and things that have vanished, that we can no longer see or encounter again. Once the heart forgets, forgetting becomes tantamount to death. To this end, some say that “true death is when no one remembers anymore.” Therefore, in Chinese culture, individuals are encouraged to establish their moral principles and express their ideas prior to passing away. Looking at it from another perspective, the value of material possessions lies in the memories and time they carry. When we come across certain objects, they prompt us to think of the people associated with them and the times we shared. After all, such objects are merely triggers for memories and never the most crucial part of them.

There was once a report about a Chinese artist who curated an exhibition using objects cherished by his deceased mother. The vast number of items on display was astonishing. Undoubtedly, this type of personal exhibition holds practical significance as it presents a string of old objects that bear both the imprints of time and individual experiences. These objects tell the story of an ordinary Chinese woman’s life journey and reflect the changes of her times. Such exhibitions can prompt viewers to ponder the present and contemplate the future. However, has any journalist kept tabs on the aftermath of this exhibition? I suspect that, much like the human body, these objects will eventually revert to their basic particles after reaching the limits of their respective materials’ lifetimes, unless they are preserved and collected in a museum. Though each takes a different path, all lead to the same destination.

Some argue that consumption is not only a means of survival but also a way to fulfill psychological needs. “Buying, buying, buying” is seen as a reward for one’s hard work, a way to “treat oneself well.” However, in many cases, people’s consumerist beliefs are implanted subconsciously. In “Work, Consumerism, and the New Poor,” sociologist Zygmunt Bauman portrayed the situation in developed countries in the 1990s. In a consumer society, a “normal life” is one lived as a consumer, where one can choose from a variety of products and enjoy pleasant feelings and vivid experiences. For poor individuals in a consumer society, lacking the ability to live such a “normal life” means they are seen as failed, deficient, and inadequate consumers.

“The main demand placed on individuals by society is to participate as consumers, and first and foremost, to shape its members according to the requirements of the ‘consumer’ role, with the expectation that they have both the ability and willingness to consume.” (page 29) In other words, the focus of society has shifted from production to consumption, and the way people integrate into the social order and find their place in it has changed. At this point, “people must first become consumers before they can have any other special identities.” (page 33) While producers in society still exist, their significance and meaning have changed. In particular, in the consensus that “consumption leads the economic recovery,” economic growth is dependent not only on “national productivity” but also on the enthusiasm and vitality of consumers themselves. Corresponding to this change is the fact that stable, long-term careers with guarantees and certainty are no longer widely available, while permanent, secure, and predictable jobs are increasingly scarce. New jobs often have deadlines or are part-time, and the trendy concept of “flexible” employment represents a game of employment and dismissal with almost no rules. (page 34) Bauman’s observations were of the social landscape of the 1990s.

Due to a lack of personal consumption evaluation and tracking systems, combined with a general absence of self-awareness regarding the impact of individual behavior, people tend to overestimate their own consumption ability, leading to excess consumption and unnecessary accumulation of possessions. This tendency towards overconsumption leads to secondary waste and environmental pollution. According to various statistics, globally, at least 30% of food is wasted each year, with nearly 60% of resources being hoarded, around 2% of electricity being wasted, and industrial waste accounting for around 30-50% of total waste, and building waste accounting for about 30-50%. Studies have shown that if all stages of the food supply chain are considered when calculating waste, then the greenhouse gas emissions associated with food waste will account for approximately 8% to 10% of global total emissions.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2021 Food Waste Index Report, an estimated 931 million tonnes of food was wasted worldwide in 2019, amounting to 17% of total global food available to consumers. The report notes that this amount of wasted food could fill 23 million 40-tonne trucks, which if placed end-to-end, would circle the Earth seven times. Furthermore, although food waste is typically seen as a problem only in high-income countries, this report finds that almost every country and region evaluated has food waste issues, with the severity not being dependent on income level.

The United Nations predicts that the world’s population will increase from 7.6 billion to 9.8 billion by 2050, making it difficult for food production to keep up with rapid population growth. In addition, around 3 billion people worldwide cannot afford a healthy diet. The world is now facing its most serious food crisis in 50 years. The population of people affected by food crises increased by the largest amount in almost four years in 2019, with a total of around 821 million people experiencing hunger, and the COVID-19 pandemic could cause an additional 130 million people to suffer from hunger. However, at the same time, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2019 report on world food security and nutrition, about one-third of the world’s food produced each year, a total of approximately 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted.

In the novel ”The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” Paloma uncovers a small secret kept by the apartment concierge, Honey. However, Honey’s unexpected passing prompts her to reexamine her outlook on life and death. This year’s Qingming Festival marks the first observance of the festival in China after three years of battling a pandemic, causing individuals to continually confront death during this period.

It is crucial to appreciate food, consume in moderation, and safeguard space for our fellow beings and other creatures. As one reaches middle age, changes in physical function may also bring about psychological changes. Adopting the lifestyle of disassociation can also become an expression of one’s attitude towards life. The human body is akin to a house, with a lifespan of seven to eight decades, accumulating possessions beyond our actual needs. Decluttering is, in essence, a death practice.

Author’s bio: Chen Ya, a person living in another world.

中文原文

Translated by Google Translate

Edited by ChatGPT Next、Wind

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