Summary
"Revelatory, terrifying, but, ultimately, hopeful." -- Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
From the author of Junkyard Planet , a journey into the surprising afterlives of our former possessions.
Downsizing. Decluttering. Discarding. Sooner or later, all of us are faced with things we no longer need or want. But when we drop our old clothes and other items off at a local donation center, where do they go? Sometimes across the country--or even halfway across the world--to people and places who find value in what we leave behind.
In Secondhand , journalist Adam Minter takes us on an unexpected adventure into the often-hidden, multibillion-dollar industry of reuse: thrift stores in the American Southwest to vintage shops in Tokyo, flea markets in Southeast Asia to used-goods enterprises in Ghana, and more. Along the way, Minter meets the fascinating people who handle--and profit from--our rising tide of discarded stuff, and asks a pressing question: In a world that craves shiny and new, is there room for it all?
Secondhand offers hopeful answers and hard truths. A history of the stuff we've used and a contemplation of why we keep buying more, it also reveals the marketing practices, design failures, and racial prejudices that push used items into landfills instead of new homes. Secondhand shows us that it doesn't have to be this way, and what really needs to change to build a sustainable future free of excess stuff.
Author Notes
Adam Minter is the author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade and a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He lives in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Starting at what many people would consider the end of the story, when it's time to dispose of possessions that are unwanted, unused, or broken, business journalist Minter (Junkyard Planet) takes readers on a surprisingly jaunty trip through the global market for secondhand goods. Starting at a storage unit in the Minneapolis suburbs and winding up in Ghana's Golden Jubilee Terminal, a major import crossroads, with stops in Japan, India, and Malaysia along the way, Minter introduces a colorful cast of characters, such as 41-year-old "Shoe Guy," a (self-declared) 35-year veteran of the U.S.-Mexico trade in used goods, and Robin Ingenthron, a Vermont entrepreneur who exports computer monitors from the U.S. to the developing world. Largely a portrait of an industry in decline due to items such as clothing becoming cheaper and less durable and higher ticket electronics being developed to insure that they are difficult to repair, Minter's book reveals an economy hampered by an increasing overabundance of supply ("The things I value, I quickly realized, generally aren't valuable to anyone but me"). This is a fascinating, eye-opening look at a dynamic, largely unseen world that only starts when one drops off something at a thrift store. Agent: Wendy Sherman, Wendy Sherman Associates. (Nov.)
Guardian Review
For the American business journalist Adam Minter, the afterlife of our possessions is personal. His great-grandfather was a small-time junkyard dealer ("he did what millions of other Russian Jews did: he became a ragpicker") and his father owned a scrap-metal yard. His grandmother, Betty, had a passion for collecting stuff and her basement was filled with things she'd either inherited or bought in a sale. As a child, Minter recalls her showing him antique lamps, US presidential badges ("If I Were 21, I'd Vote For Kennedy") and a wooden drop-front desk: "I'm saving that for you." We use the things we buy to build a picture of who we are. Minter's previous book, Junkyard Planet (2014), investigated the international trade in rubbish. This one looks at the globalised secondhand market. The idea came from the experience of dealing with his mother's possessions after she died. Many of them ended up at a charity shop and he hoped that the things she had cherished "would be used in some way - not landfilled, incinerated, or recycled". His book is an attempt to reassure himself that was true. In the course of his research, Minter travelled across the world to wherever secondhand goods are "collected, bought, repurposed, repaired and sold". Everywhere he was "overwhelmed" by the sheer scale of unwanted stuff. Between 1967 and 2017, the amount Americans spent each year on things - from sofas to smartphones - increased nearly 20-fold. A recent survey found that 90% of space in US garages is used to store unused stuff rather than cars. British wardrobes contain 3.6bn unworn garments. Twenty years ago, China was a major importer of secondhand clothes; now it has become the world's biggest consumer of new clothing and is exporting vast amounts of used clothing. As affluence increases around the world, people are switching to new products, and as the value of secondhand things falls, so the piles of unwanted stuff grow ever larger. Minter argues that the secondhand industry offers a potential solution to this flood of unwanted products. He visits Goodwill Industries, which has 3,000 secondhand stores across the US and Canada, "the king of an American thrift trade that generated at least $17.5bn in revenue". Charitable giving is, he says, "the past, and the future, of what's left behind". In Mexico he explores the booming trade in secondhand goods brought across the border from the US: "It's one of North America's most environmentally sustainable businesses." From Mexico and west Africa, to Malaysia and Japan, Minter is impressed by the secondhand industry: "The desire to profit from castoffs creates innovation and livelihoods." But everywhere he hears a common complaint: new products suffer from poor quality. Globally the amount of clothing produced doubled from 2000 to 2015. But the average number of times a garment is worn before disposal has declined by 36%. This is a big problem for traders in secondhand goods. A shirt that pills after two or three washes or a set of particleboard shelves stuck together with glue can't be resold: they're dumped. The secondhand industry is both sustainable and profitable: its model of reuse predates "the environmental movement, the decluttering fad, and the oncoming flood of unwanted stuff from baby boomers". Minter wants his book to shock readers into buying less stuff. But he also believes governments should promote initiatives to boost product longevity and repairability. US states and the EU are indeed considering consumer right-to-repair legislation, a step that may help the secondhand market by creating a reservoir of goods that can be sold and resold. There is little hard data on the secondhand industry and Minter's original and well-written study offers a truly international perspective on how old stuff can be given a new lease of life. As he writes, secondhand is "the green economy made real".
Kirkus Review
In a follow-up to Junkyard Planet (2013), Malaysia-based Bloomberg Opinion columnist Minter looks at what happens to our discarded stuff, the used household goods and clothing donated to thrift stores or sold at garage sales.While conducting his research, the author traveled widely in North America, Asia, and Africa to interview people involved in every aspect of the secondhand business. Because statistics on the business are scanty, Minter tells much of his story through the people he met at the many stops in his global journey. These include home cleanout businesses in Minnesota and in Japan, a swap meet in Mexico, a used clothing exporter in Canada, a sorting warehouse in Nigeria, and a Goodwill store in Arizona (in 2016, Goodwill International "generated $4.16 billion in retail sales, making it the king of an American thrift trade that generated at least $17.5 billion in revenue"). Chronicling the work of the employees at these various businesses, Minter shows readers their expertise, what special knowledge they need to have to operate successfully, what problems they face, and how the secondhand business is changing. China, for instance, used to be an importer of used clothing, but it is now an exporter. The author's respect for the people working in the business is clear, but the character-driven approach tends to lengthen the report and blur its clarity. Still, readers will come away with an understanding that the supply of secondhand goods is vast, the amount of stuff in the world is still growing, and that the secondhand business is supplying billions of people around the world with goods they want and need. The author also offers some recommendations, especially about the quality of goods, noting how the manufacture of more durable and repairable goods would have a positive effect on the secondhand business, something he notes that is beginning to happen already. The handful of black-and-white photographs, unfortunately, are generally small, murky, and unhelpful.A character-driven, detailed, eye-opening report far richer in description than analysis. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
On the surface, an entire book detailing the world's obsession with stuff (including a pointed analysis of reduce, reuse, recycle ) seems dry. In Minter's capable hands (Junkyard Planet, 2013), the topic comes alive. People have needs and wants, and the global economy depends on consumerism. Once purchased, things eventually break, tastes eventually change, and people eventually die. So what can we do with all that stuff? Minter takes the reader on an international journey of reuse. In Tucson and Nogales, Mexico, Minter reviews Goodwill Industries and the thriving secondhand resale culture. In Minneapolis and Tokyo, he provides examples of companies that resell items removed from a deceased person's home. In Toronto and Cotonou, Benin, there's a thoughtful analysis of the used clothing trade. With dozens more stops on this world tour, Minter designs a workable path forward to combat the glut of stuff, including a plea for solid construction that can be used for years and legislation that promotes repair rather than disposal.--Sarah Steers Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Rag and bone men were a feature of 19th-century urban life. They were among the poorest of the poor, earning their living by scavenging scraps of bone, rag, and metal, then sorting and reselling it. Today, the sale of secondhand merchandise is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Goodwill Industries, a nonprofit, operates in multiple countries and in 2014 generated $5.6 billion in revenue, most of which funded its charitable operations. Minter's (Junkyard Planet) latest is a fascinating piece of journalism, navigating the journey of goods from the donation box to their final destinations. It also takes a look at the profitable business of assisting with downsizing, decluttering, or cleaning out the treasured possessions of departed loved ones. There is much more to the secondhand and reuse market than is commonly imagined. Daniel Henning gives a crisp narration well suited to the material. VERDICT Will engage those with an interest in business, consumer choice, or the environment, as well as those who enjoyed the author's first book.--Cynthia Jensen, Gladys Harrington Lib., Plano, TX
