Overconsumption: the French ready for the big storage

Tout a commencé par un coup de fil. L’Agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie, l’Ademe, un organisme d’État, propose à Paris Match, et donc par extension à moi, de participer à une opération de désencombrement. Objectif : réaliser l’étendue de mes possessions pour me convertir aux joies de la sobriété. Vivre mieux avec moins. « Tu vas participer à une entreprise de rééducation»», s’amuse l’une de mes chefs. Pas faux. Sauf que, j’en suis persuadée, je suis peu concernée. J’ai un conjoint, trois enfants âgés de 4 à 14 ans, et je nous pense raisonnables – à l’exception de l’aînée, entrée dans l’adolescence avec l’envie irrépressible de faire les boutiques armée de ma carte Bleue. Le fascicule de l’opération est inquiétant : « Trier»» est une activité « très consommatrice d’énergie»», qui « peut faire remonter des émotions»» ; « on peut vite se sentir découragé face à l’ampleur de la tâche»». Heureusement, à chaque foyer est adjointe une « home organiser»» ou « organisatrice de maison»» (ce sont des femmes). Ma Marie Kondo1, du nom de cette spécialiste mondiale du rangement, s’appelle Camille Hecker. Coach d’intérieurs depuis six ans, elle est douce et bienveillante.

Lire aussi:Marie Kondo : le bonheur par le vide

We start by going out.It is proven, it works better."When you bring your possessions together," explains the sociologist Valérie Guillard2, professor of universities in Paris-Dauphine, their accumulation, who was hidden in cupboards, scattered in several pieces, "becomes concrete.This is the theory of psychological distance.This awareness - we all thought we were reasonable consumers - is necessary to change.I was sure I have a maximum of 30 pairs of shoes.I have 54!"About fifty per person, that's what we find almost always," reassures me Marie Vegas, another coach of the operation.A person participating in the study has counted 83 and 453 clothes!"The latter, adds Marie, are counted in hundreds of pieces by individual.»»

Lire aussi:"Le Black Friday, symbole d'une surconsommation folle"

And 93 % of French clothes have not been worn for at least a year!This accumulation transcends social circles and categories of objects.A child had 10 kilos of balls, five households accumulated more than 9 kilos of connectors!In France, the homes questioned think of having 34 electrical and electronic equipment when they have, on average, 99!And, in a housing, all of the objects weigh, in general, 2.5 tonnes!Charlotte, 34, sales assistant, two young children, remembers her life before the big sorting: "When you were vacuuming, you had to put everything away.We waste our time looking for objects that we bought before finding them!And we kept a lot, in case.»»

Accumulate, pile up, then ... Throw: 39 million tonnes of waste is produced by French households (at an annual cost of 16.7 billion public money).In ten years, this figure has only fell 2 %.And despite several laws on waste and the circular economy, we remain far from our greenhouse gas reduction objectives: but the clothing industry issues 1.2 billion tonnes each year, more thaninternational flights and maritime traffic combined.It's urgent !

This liberating storage even pushed certain women to separate from their spouse

In pain, I empty cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, cupboards, dressers, shelves.I sort, I empty, I sort."We have a very strong emotional relationship with objects," explains Valérie Guillard, the sociologist.They embody a story, a person, a moment of our life, they are sometimes seen as companions.And if they represent something that is not yet settled, it is complicated to part with it. Pareil quand c’est un cadeau, quand il a coûté cher ou quand on se dit qu’on le donnera à nos enfants, qui souvent n’en voudront pas !»» Pour désencombrer, il faut savoir qui on est, ce qu’on aime, ce dont on a besoin, être en paix avec son passé et faire un peu de philo.What difference between the useful and the necessary?Between this same necessary and the superfluous?The truths of a day evolve: this object which seemed necessary remains useful, but has it not become superfluous?Our ADEME coaches then turn into personal psychologists. « C’est une désintoxication et il faut se faire aider»», me rassure Camille.Faced with the magnitude of the task, Trier becomes an obsession.I put fifteen days of vacation before the start of the school year, I am on the back of my children, my companion, so that they do their part, I groan, too, but we advance ...

"Put in the recycling center," explains Charlotte, "blocked me.Giving a second life to objects helped us separate from it.»» Nous découvrons, près de chez nous, les filières du réemploi, les ressourceries, les recycleries, les boutiques d’occasion, les sites de vente, d’échange, de location, les repair cafés… Tout un circuit parallèle, peu connu, qui évite la poubelle et donne à d’autres la possibilité de profiter de ce qui nous est devenu inutile.As our houses are emptying, we breathe better, we find the pleasure of being at home. « Votre salon a doublé de volume, on dirait que vous avez déménagé»», note un ami, estomaqué.Sarah, a young mother living in the countryside: "I felt crushed, I felt like I had a weight on my shoulders and she flew.It was a revelation.»» Savannah, 31 ans, parisienne : « Cette opération m’a apporté du bien-être, je suis mieux dans mes pompes.»» Charlotte : « J’étouffais, j’étais l’esclave de mes affaires.I didn't know how to say no, I took everything I was given.»» Camille, notre coach, conclut : « Les gens ont fait le tri dans les objets du passé, ne pensent plus à ceux du futur.They are in the present.»»

In 2019, as part of another ADEME operation, 243 households had reduced their food waste at 59 %.This time too, all the participants swear that their practices have changed.They put themselves for used buying, rental, exchange.Charlotte and Julien praised a shamponist for 10 euros - a device that is worth more than 200.With the sale of part of their business, they were able to reimburse their car credit a year earlier.On a daily basis, the drop in their consumption allows them to save more.Many, to borrow or lend, have met their neighbors.And almost twenty households have attacked other clearances: kitchen utensils, linen, bathroom objects, books, administrative paperwork ... But this great cleaning is still mainly in the hands of women who, what, whatLet us say, are mainly in charge of purchases, laundry, storage, cleaning and therefore sorting ... This liberating decluttering also tells our lifestyles, gender equality and the famous mental charge.Marie Kondo assures that certain women she accompanied separated from their spouse at the end of the operation!

By emptying his house, the whole family breathes

But is it reasonable to try sobriety, when consuming makes us win growth points?In France, the clothing sector generates 150 billion euros and represents 1 million jobs."Consuming less but better creates value and creates it locally, insists Pierre Galio, head of the ADEME consumer service.Reindustrialize France is part of this strategy: products can sometimes be more expensive but they are of better quality, they generate employment for their manufacture as in repair and re -use channels.»»

So how do you resist sales, the irrepressible desire to multiply gifts at Christmas (approaching!) As for birthdays?Soline, 3, found that she was missing games."However, it was overflowing," laughs his mother, Charlotte. J’en ai désencombré plus de la moitié, elle ne s’en est même pas rendu compte et, aujourd’hui, elle ne se plaint plus !»» Selon une étude de l’université américaine de Toledo, un enfant qui possède quatre jouets joue deux fois plus longtemps, est plus concentré et utilise davantage son imagination qu’un autre qui en a seize.From now on, I know that everything that between the risk of not serving beyond a few days and that, then, it will be necessary to store, to repair, to repair.After harsh negotiations, my two little ones accepted only for an object that enters, another kind. Ma grande a d’abord expliqué qu’il lui était impossible, à son âge, de se passer de la « fast fashion»».However, to earn a little money by selling her things, she converted to Vinted.Today, she also dresses on this second -hand sales site.Provided that I do not ask him to touch his books or his stones, my companion is now converted to more sobriety.And each purchase is reflected and meets a need.This is the essential, explained to us Émily Spiesser and Marianne Bloquel, the two experts in charge of the operation in Ademe.Finally...A few days ago, looking for a gift for a niece, I gave myself a coat.I told myself that I never had time to do the shops and that I did not have them adapted to the season.Finally, c’est ce que je crois…

1. « La magie du rangement»», de Marie Kondo, éd.First, 272 pages, 17.95 euros (sold for 10 million copies worldwide).2. « Comment consommer avec sobriété»», de Valérie Guillard, éd.Superior Boeck, 160 pages, 14.90 euros.