Over the last few months we at Re-Nest have made a conscious effort to write about the other side of green—those items, products and designs that aren't plastered with splashy buzz words (recycled! reclaimed!) but are nevertheless valuable, durable, and consciously made. Sometimes the best green thing you can do is to live with what you love and treasure. This is the first thing I thought of when I came across a new site from New York-based blogger Foster Huntington, who asked friends and acquaintances to submit a photo and list of items they would take if their house was burning.
Whether you're endeavoring to live with less or simply trying to practice appropriatism, this focus inevitably leads us to ask ourselves what things in our home do we value most? The answer is likely to become completely clear if you're ever faced with an emergency, like your house burning down. (Hopefully that never happens!)
Check out a few of the submissions at The Burning House and then come back and tell us: what would YOU save?
(Image: The Burning House)
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Assuming all human family members are out...
Cat
photos
computer (with digital photos)
guitars
mouse house (old toy)
jewelry
everything else can be replaced.
Merril Markoe used to write about her frequent evacuations from her home in California, which is famous for wildfires. She said one time when they were being evacuated, she put the dogs in the car, grabbed her purse and a few pairs of pants. She thought to herself, if this is everything I need, what the hell is all that stuff I'm living with?
Last week I had a scare with my hot water heater. The electrical panel caught fire. There was a lot of smoke, but the fire was fortunately contained within the heater. So I can tell you from real experience what I would take if my home were on fire - I took my cat and my keys. That's all I had time to grab in a very minor situation. I can't imagine having time to grab anything else if faced with a major fire.
I would save 3 old paintings I inherited or at least one.They come from my grandmother's house and are really precious to me
Kangaroo skin bag containing jewelry
Suitcase set my grandparents gave me
Violin from austria "great grandparents"
Mac,ipod etc.
Silver goblets
Wool peacoat
Purse and lockbox
"Oreo" my border collie. ...
I've already had to deal with this question when my house burned down when I was little. I was only able to save two things but have added three more things that I would bring now that I'm grown up.
–my MacBook (all of my photo memories, school work, and music)
–a wooden tobacco box of things I've collected since I was little
–my old teddy bear
–my mom's old books
–souvenirs my grandparents, my parents, and I have brought back from Europe
(Aside from people and pets?)
-Important documents (birth certificate, SS cards, marriage certificate, etc)
-Any and all photos I could grab
-My husband's guitar
-my husband and my teddy bears from when we were babies
-family jewelry I have
Ugh makes my skin crawl even considering if this happened. Hopefully it won't to anyone here.
My house did burn down last Spring. I was sleeping when it happened and luckily my cat and I got out. (Actually, I carried him out, he was sleeping too). Anyway, I left the house without shoes (I barely had the wherewithal to put on pants) or a jacket. I did manage to grab my cellphone but everything else was left behind. I didn't think of any of the things people have mentioned. If I had to do it all over again I'm pretty sure the only additional thing I would remember would be shoes, maybe a jacket.
Thinking about this really puts things in perspective.
-My cat, in his carrier.
-My laptop.
-Passport
-Cellphone
-Purse
-Laptops
-My paintings
-Wallet and cellphone
That's it, but that's because everything else can be replaced. It's not because I can live for a long period of time without everything else (cloths, refrigerator, stove, bed etc.)
I keep important docs - passports, mortgage stuff, insurance, etc. - in a safety deposit box at my bank. Living in a 125-year old wooden home (read tinderbox) on the San Andreas Fault, knowing these docs are in a firesafe vault makes me feel a little more secure.
Cat and family. Everything else is backed up or is just STUFF.
Much of my stuff is stored in the cloud (Omnifocus, Evernote, Steam, and Google Docs). I've started transitioning my photos and music to the cloud too. If anything were to happen, I could get them back. Potential house fire or other disaster is exactly why I decided to move to the cloud. I've heard too many stories of people dyeing because they ran back in to save something (or someone).
We have a 2nd story escape and 2 first floor exits.
I keep my phone and car keys by my bed (since I'll need to make phone calls and get in my car)
I keep digital goods and copies online (for backups and anywhere-access)
We have smoke alarms in every room (since it could start anywhere in this poorly-wired house)
I don't sleep completely naked (god, the horror of running out of a burning building naked... in New England...)
This did happen to use and my sister got her cell phone and that was it, she didnt have pants on neither did my mom. My father and I were at work already. It was a four alarm fire nothing was left. But we did have our docs in a fireproof safe, thank god. But the 4th scrapbook I was working on was melted to the floor destroyed. I said I would have grabbed these but there was less the 30 seconds to get out. Insurence replaced everything but now we back up everything and the backup drive is in the safe now as well.