Uni-taskers

My theme for this year is “reduce” – I want to reduce waste, save water, and get more energy efficient in my home. I’m also working on reducing clutter. I’m happier with a clean, tidy house, and that’s a lot easier if it isn’t full of stuff I’ve bought on a whim.

As part of my reducing project, I’ve been reading the Unclutterer blog. They’ve got a lot of good ideas for sorting out the cruft in your life, not just material goods but general lifestyle tips as well. I really recommend giving it a look if you’re interested in living a simpler life.

One of my favourite features is their “Unitasker Wednesday”. Each week they post a photo and link to the most useless junk products I’ve ever seen, so their readers can make fun of them. I get a good laugh out of it, although every now and then I see something there that I actually own!

Some of my favourites are:

• the heated lotion dispenser – avoid the trauma of putting cold moisturiser on your hands!
• the martini shaker – no, not your average cocktail shaker, this one does the shaking for you. I’m not sure if it shakes daiquiris as well, you may have to buy a separate gadget for that.
• the EZ egg cracker – because knocking it on your kitchen counter is too difficult for some people.
• the USB-powered pet rock – ok, this one is a joke product… but really, how many were actually sold?

I laugh about it, but honestly it’s a real shame. Just think – there’s factories in south-east Asia with people working for slave-wages just to bring us this crap. How much of the metals we mine and ship overseas get turned into little gadgets like these, which will probably break within months and get thrown out? How much oil is wasted on the cheap plastic?

I’m trying very hard to avoid this kind of shopping. I want the products I own not just to be made in an eco-friendly way, I want them to be useful and long-lasting, to be quality products I actually need.

Which is your favourite unitasker? Do you own any of them? I’ll confess to loving my ice-cream maker – but that one generated huge controversy in the comments on the Unclutterer blog, so I’m  not alone! I like being able to make ice-cream from local organic ingredients in whatever flavour I like. But maybe I should pass on my sandwich press to someone who enjoys panini more than I do…