The time it takes to "deal with it" has gone up quite a bit, too. When I was a kid the trash guys would haul anything away that was less than four feet wide. All kinds of furniture, beds, electronics, used paint... whatever. It all went into the same truck.

Now half the stuff you buy is toxic waste when you go to get rid of it. You have to make special trips to the place that collects paint, for instance, which isn't the same place as electronics. There are all sorts of projects my parents would have done without a second thought that I'll pass on because I don't want to spend all that time getting rid of stuff.