Sahana Sundar is a data analyst and writer who is passionate about creating a peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world. Her goal is to engage in activism that feels positive and energizing while being cognizant of the struggles that people are facing every day.
My parents bought me my white desk from IKEA 10 years ago when I was in 6th grade. As I was a serious middle schooler, I needed a great place to do my homework. The desk has supported multiple computer situations, me shoving random stuff into my drawers, and many evenings of studying.
Eventually, its pristine white condition faded away. I’m not always gentle when I write — I’m working on it. And a desk is totally the best place to paint my nails and then not clean up the mess, right? All of this chipped off some of the white paint and made my desk look not-so-new. But I am a DIY genius, so I decided to put wallpaper on half of my desk…which I then started to peel off. I just accepted the desk as old, and decided to buy a new desk when I was “older”. There was no way I could justify asking my parents for a new desk just because mine had some chipped paint. It was still 100% usable and sometimes immigrant frugality = sustainability.
During the coronavirus lockdown, in which most of us were getting less movement than pre-COVID times, I fantasized about getting a standing desk. But this wasn’t just driven by my irritation of sitting in the same place all day. I was also watching tons of desk setup videos with the latest standing desks, high-tech computer setups, and beautiful decorations. I would think, “If I had that setup, I would get all of my work done.”
Let’s be honest, none of that is true.
Recently, I was thinking about getting a standing desk/upgrading my desk setup. But my zest for it was gone. I realized this desk is more than enough for my needs right now, and I actually love it. Even things that used to bother me are now amusing. One of my paint chippings looks a dragon, and another looks like a turtle, and that’s pretty entertaining.
My thought process didn’t change overnight. It started with normalizing that my space didn’t have to match the pristine aesthetics I saw on YouTube and Instagram. This desk setup by a YouTuber called Harshibar helped a lot. In the video she shares her 10-year-old desk, monitor passed down by her parents, and desk chair that has a few issues but still gets the job done. She shares some of her hesitations with posting her desk setup because it didn’t look the same as many of the others on YouTube. She invited her audience to “roast her setup” in the comments, but that didn’t really happen. So many people loved that her setup was authentic, relatable, and more affordable! For me, it was the first time I saw a desk setup that somewhat resembled mine.
The other aspect of this change was reconsidering my values. While it’s possible that I could have sold or donated this desk, it’s likely that I inevitably would have had to dump this in a landfill, and I did not want to be someone who threw away a perfectly good desk just because I didn’t like how it looked. As I get older, I increasingly value the utility of things more than what they look like. When I went to India this summer, I learned that several pieces of my grandparents' furniture have been in use for almost 50 years. I am grateful that they are continuing to serve my family, even if they have aesthetically seen better days.
Sustainability is playing a bigger role in our daily lives, both online and offline. As more consumers now care about sustainability, there are a growing number of brands selling “green products”, in the name of saving the planet. Every product we use is extractive. We are taking materials from the Earth without replenishing them. Sustainable products just extract their materials in a better way, and that’s only if they aren’t participating in greenwashing.
The constant promotion of (aesthetically pleasing, trendy) sustainable products overshadows the fact that we need to extract less from the Earth, and by far the easiest way to do that is to use what we have for as long as we can.
✅ Bonus: by using what you have and participating in the circular economy, you will probably save a lot of money. For the frugal among us this is very satisfying.
Even if I may buy a standing desk someday in the future, my dragon and turtle paint chip friends are currently here to remind me that they are what make my desk setup unique, and that together, the three of us are going to be the most sustainable furniture trio the world has ever seen.
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