Here’s an obvious statement: a junkyard is filled with a lot of junk. The good junk is sold, and most of the rest is recycled. But some things have less than zero value because disposing of some items is an expensive endeavor.
The lesson learned from the junkyard is that giving it away is easier than throwing it away. It’s junkyard philanthropy.
For instance, old used tires are basically worthless. You can’t sell them, obviously. And they cost a lot of money to dispose of. They are hard to recycle, last forever in a landfill, and burning them releases toxic fumes. For a junkyard, it cost thousands of dollars a year to get rid of the tires.
But something unsaleable might still have value to someone. So we would set up a tire rack in the front of the junkyard and leave the tires there overnight. Unlocked. About half of them would be gone the next morning. You’ve heard of reduce, reuse, and recycle? This was well before that phrase.
Whoever took the tires thought they were getting something for nothing, and they got a few more miles out of old tires. We saw it as a cost cutting move. Truly a win-win.
The lesson was clear to me: giving it away is easier than throwing it away. But sometimes you have to find a creative way to give it away.
I’ve wondered how that applies to philanthropy. I’ve seen a lot of wealthy people throw their money away, and I’ve always wondered … what is the lesson here about charity?
Because it seems to me that throwing money away is actually filled with physical, social, spiritual and emotional traps. It’s an addiction, for one thing. And it is also a morally bankrupt way of life. Throwing your money away saps our spiritual well being. It’s expensive, just like disposing of old tires.
Giving it away brings joy, frees us from the entrapment of throwing it away, and might even do some good in the world. It’s profitable, just like finding a creative way to give tires away.
So, as I said, I’ve learned from the junkyard that giving it away is easier than throwing it away.