What a jug of marine epoxy taught me

Full disclosure, I don’t think the jug actually taught me anything. It really just reminded me of a lesson I already knew but needed to be retaught (and will probably need additional reminders in the future).  What lesson, you ask? 

Get rid of stuff.

Let me set the scene. Last Christmas, instead of buying a gift for my husband, who is notoriously hard to shop for, my kids and I made him a large sign for land we own.  All of our neighbors have named their properties and have signs of various levels of fanciness to create little outposts in the wilderness—and we’ve been talking about doing that for years. Last fall, I bought some lovely white oak, and with some help, we planed, cut, shaped (thanks Jim), and laser-cut (shout out to the Greene County Library Spark Place, you guys rock) a design into a 2.5’ diameter sign.  We left it as raw wood when we gave it to him so my husband could weigh in on how he wanted it finished to survive the great outdoors. Fast forward—we’d done the research, he’d picked the finishing method, and we were ready to put the first thin coat of marine epoxy on it, to be followed by several coats of varnish.

Collecting up the supplies, the Spouse brought out the marine epoxy two-part mix. The resin part was left over from a project about six years ago. The remains of the jug had been residing in my laundry room for all those years, because “it was a shame to throw it away.”  So, excitement mounted—THANK GOODNESS we had kept it.  This half-full jug was going to save so much money and time.  

Then, we opened up the jug, and the resin was congealed.  It wasn’t hard, but it was definitely the wrong consistency.

The lesson: get rid of things when there’s no clear future use. It pains me to say that—marine resin/epoxy mixes are expensive. But we would have been better off not having that jug in the pantry for six years, only to find it unusable. Having that storage space for something else may not have been life-changing, but applying that philosophy to about a million other little things around the house probably would be.

Note: Many of us don’t like throwing things away. And opened/partially used epoxy is a difficult thing to donate for various hazardous-waste type issues. But I bet one of my crafty friends could have found a use for it.  

Multiple studies show that less clutter aids in mental health at home. It intuitively makes sense that having an environment that doesn’t stress you out will reduce the amount of emotional energy you expend.  Not to mention that for all of us, but especially those with mobility issues, having less to trip over also helps protect physical health.

There’s a part of me that still rebels at the thought of getting rid of something perfectly useful.  Although, in all fairness, it was “perfectly good” six years ago.  But I also need to be honest with myself the next time I’m faced with something like this and wonder if this is something stored or disposed of.  

In the long run, it feels so good to have some additional space in the laundry room.