When has something finished its use? I have a hard time throwing things away. Packaging might hold something else: an empty box could be used for storage or mailing. Accordingly, I'm surrounded by stacks of empty boxes. A mobile phone is my constant companion for years. Then do I throw it away? No, I put it in a drawer with my growing collection of mobile phones and pagers.

If you have a chance to purchase a new piece of consumer electronics, it comes in a box, maybe a box colored with pictures on it, and information about the product. Inside, there are formed pieces of styrofoam and bubbly plastic made to hold, to snuggle your product just right. It's your device's true home, a place it might some day return if it is to be passed along to someone else. So my basement is full of boxes for VCRs, DVD players, Duo Docks, Monitors, PlayStations, DreamCasts, Digital Cameras, Printers.

No longer. I've found the framework I need - I think of throwing things away as purchasing space.