At the bottom of my drawers, there is an old hoodie that sits, folded and clean. Every morning my hand passes over it as I choose something else. A part of my brain considers it waste, it seems wrong, it seems out of place. It’s a perfectly fine hoodie, comfortable with no damage, but my mind itself has created this barrier to consider it as waste, my brain calls it a “matter out of place,” but I can’t bring myself to throw it away or even donate it. I think my brain likes having this waste in my room, and if I throw it out, I’ll just create another mental barrier for another piece of clothing, and that will become waste.

“Waste is matter out of place” – Mary Douglas. Matter out of place is a rather broad definition, as such anything can become waste. When you look outside of hampshire, in yards and lawns, there is no leaves on the ground. They have all been raked up to make the area look pretty. So for most people, leaves are waste. However, this is not what nature believes, in fact the fallen leaves help the grass survive and grow again in the winter. The entire ecosystem is built around this “waste,” and in our attempts to “clean”, we harm natural system built millions of years ago.