Wednesday, March 9, 2022

🏁 Axios Finish Line: You're overstuffed

Why gas is so high | Wednesday, March 09, 2022
 
Axios Open in app View in browser
 
Presented By Emergent BioSolutions
 
Axios Finish Line
By Mike Allen, Erica Pandey and Jim VandeHei ·Mar 09, 2022

Welcome back! Thanks for the blizzard of great questions and ideas. Keep 'em coming: FinishLine@axios.com.

  • Smart Brevity™ count: 482 words ... 2 mins.
 
 
1 big thing: Simplify your life
Illustration of hand pulling arrow out of mess of arrows

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

 

We're filling our lives with so much junk — clothes we'll never wear ... spare furniture ... stuff we "might use" — that the U.S. now has more self-storage facilities than McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger Kings, Starbucks and Walmarts combined.

Why it matters: We're overstuffed. And all that stuff often brings a lot more stress than joy.

The big picture: Never in history have so many things been affordable for so many. Never in history has it been easier to swipe a card or click a button, and wait for the Amazon truck to arrive. And never in history have Americans had bigger houses, or storage sheds, to keep it all.

  • Anthony Graesch, an anthropologist at Connecticut College who studies why we have so much stuff, tells us: "I see the proliferation of self-storage in the United States as the materialization of excessive, unchecked and unsustainable levels of consumption."
  • He said it's "also the difficulty we experience in easily severing relationships with many of our possessions."

Time for spring cleaning, but don't just throw it all out. There are dozens of ways to sell or donate your stuff.

Marie Kondo, the Japanese organizing consultant and author who popularized her minimalist KonMari method of tidying up on Netflix, puts it like this:

It's a very strange phenomenon, but when we reduce what we own and essentially 'detox' our house, it has a detox effect on our bodies as well.

Share this story.

Share on Facebook Tweet this Story Post to LinkedIn Email this Story
 
 

A message from Emergent BioSolutions

We Go to create a world that's prepared and protected
 
 

Emergent maintains a critical role in the ongoing opioid crisis. We're developing emergency rescue medications that can help reverse an opioid overdose. It's just one of the ways we defend people from things we hope will never happen.

Learn more about Emergent's protections.

 
 
📊 Stunning stat
Illustration of a cornucopia with toys spilling out

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

 

The U.S. has 3.1 % of the world's kids but buys 40% of the world's toys. Time magazine

Share on Facebook Tweet this Story Post to LinkedIn Email this Story
 
 
⛽ Why gas is so high

💭 A bunch of you asked: Why are gas prices going up if the U.S. barely relies on Russian oil?

The answer: You'll pay a lot more for gas for three big reasons, Axios energy experts Ben Geman and Andrew Freedman tell us.

  1. Supply: Less oil sloshing around in an already-tight market, thanks to Russia.
  2. Demand: Driving and energy use is surging back post-COVID.
  3. Risk: War.

🔮 Be prepared: It's hard to see any of these trends getting better fast. Expect high gas prices for at least the next few months.

🕶️ Be aware: Oil makes up about 45% of gas prices, which is why President Biden is playing footsie with the Iranians, Saudis and Venezuelans.  They have oil. Biden wants cheaper gas. 

🧠 Be savvy: We only get 3% of our oil from Russia. BUT Europe gets 27% ... and we all tap the same global oil pool. Hence, your pain at the pump.

Share on Facebook Tweet this Story Post to LinkedIn Email this Story
 

📬 Invite your friends to join these nightly conversations.

HQ
Like this email style and format?
It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.
 

Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content.

Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201
 
You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.
 
Was this email forwarded to you?
Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.
 

Follow Axios on social media:

Axios on Facebook Axios on Twitter Axios on Instagram
 
 
                                             

No comments:

Post a Comment

Small AI company solving trillion-dollar problem

Small AI Company Solving Trillion-Dollar Problem... ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ...