On this extended trip I took an old 16L High Sierra backpack for carrying stuff during the day. Early in my travels I learned its glaring deficiencies: the zippers get caught on their protective covers constantly and there’s a weird middle sleeve that doesn’t hold things well without the straps being adjusted all the time. Small issues right? Well, when you’re using a piece of equipment every day, and something as simple as opening the pack becomes an arduous task each time, it gets frustrating.

Until it doesn’t. It’s been about 4 months on the road now, and I’ve gotten used to the zippers and the sleeve. And I’ve realized that the backpack is still useful, it still functions. What a waste it would be to throw away Old Blue, as I’ve come to affectionately call it, for a new bag. This one works. It’s far from perfect but it does what I need it to do. I’m not going to discard it for something new until it wears out.

I know it’s blasphemous to suggest an approach like this for our phones, but what if we did this with all our possessions? You come to learn that the newest and best isn’t really paramount to your happiness. Like recycling, the first tenet of sustainability is reduce consumption. Sometimes it’s simply about becoming comfortable with what you got.