Let's Talk Trash: How to Properly Dispose of One-Neopoint Items

Anyway, I was walking through the marketplace when something disturbing caught my eye; a half-eaten slice of cloud pizza, lying in the mud beside the pathway. Up in the Space Station there were strict regulations about trash, and I was puzzled why nobody had the common sense to dispose of it down here. So I carefully lifted the putrid pizza with my index finger and thumb and tossed it into a nearby trash can. The can was literally filled to the brim with rotting pieces of food and other unwanted items.

I don't know why, but gazing at that trash can put me into a deep thought. I've been to the city countless times, and I don't remember a time when the streets were spotless. There was always a Chia Pop wrapper, Neocola can, or rotten left sock laying on the ground somewhere. Let's face it... Neopia is facing a problem, and it's only getting worse. It's time to talk "trash".

Every day, thousands of items are created in Neopia. They're manufactured in shops and won from various games and competitions. A classic example of this is the Tombola on Mystery Island.

"The islanders spend hours every day making booby prizes for the Tombola," said the Tiki Tack Man during a recent conversation I had with him. "I'm thankful for their contributions. But when I see our prizes being sold in other shops for only a single Neopoint... I just wish other people would understand how much work goes into our program."

Indeed, many items like Tombola prizes are carelessly ignored by Neopians. But if they're so worthless, why are people still trying to sell them in their shops? They'll only make a Neopoint or two, and chances are that nobody is going to buy the item. This is where the trash problem originates.

When the 1-Neopoint items pile up inside the shops, they're often carelessly thrown away when they still won't sell. The most popular location for throwing away trash may be surprising to some, and obvious to others: The Money Tree.

"I just feel bad for the poor tree," replied the local Soup Faerie when I asked for her opinion. "I mean, how would you feel if people constantly tossed trash into your face? The Money Tree is about kindness and lending a hand to those less fortunate... but trash isn't going to help anyone."

So, I have addressed the problem at hand. But is there a solution? Indeed there is. My fellow Neopians, I am asking you to do a favor for our community by utilizing a very powerful and simple tool. What is this tool? I like to call it "the Discard Item button".

We've all done it before; you select an item in your inventory and you're given a choice of options. The Discard Item option will produce a quiet poofing noise and cause your item to dematerialize into a million particles, so it's gone forever. It's a clean way to dispose of unwanted junk, and it's safe for the environment.

If you don't want to vaporize your items in this manner for some reason, stomach acid will have the same effect. Therefore, if it's entirely possible, feed your junk items to your pet. Grarrls and Skeiths, with their notorious appetites, will eat many items that other neopets couldn't even fit into their mouths. This is also a clean method of disposal, but the only difference from the Discard Item button is that your pet will be left with a full, somewhat satisfied belly.

"Exclamation: I don't know why I never thought of that!" said Golgasp, my robot Grundo, about three seconds ago.

"Irritated Statement: You don't have to quote me when I am standing right here."

Okay, fine. Just be quiet for now, I'm trying to explain something.

"Confirmation: Very well then..."

Currently, not many Neopians use the magical, mystical Discard Item and Feed buttons for one reason: greed. They're so concentrated on becoming rich that they will take anything, even useless trash, slap a 1-NP sticker on it and place it on the shelf in their store. Just yesterday I saw a shop that was selling buckets of sludge that were supposedly "Touched By Dr. Sloth Himself!" With that kind of insanity, maybe good-old Sloth will come and "touch" the shopkeeper too.

Now let's think for a moment. Does selling an item for one Neopoint really make sense? Look at it this way: You can spend less than 10 minutes playing a game and earn anywhere from 300 to 1,000 Neopoints. All those piles of sludge, bottles of green sand and old rotten left sandals will only earn you 1 Neopoint a piece, and they'll spend days sitting on the shelf before somebody buys them for whatever reason. You'd have to wait a very long time to sell 300 to 1,000 junk items and earn the same amount of money you would from playing 10 minutes worth of Neopets games. To me, that makes NO sense at all.

So the next time you collect a booby prize from the Tombola or catch something other than fish in the Underwater Fishing Cave, help Neopia stay clean by feeding it to your pet or using the Discard Item button. You don't have to change your habits overnight, but removing even a single item in this manner can make a difference. If everyone pitches in, not only would the streets of Neopia Central be cleaner, but it may slow down inflation or eventually stop it completely (hey, it's always a possibility). And that makes Neopia a more pleasant place for everyone.

Disclaimer: The "Touched By Dr. Sloth Himself" slogan is a trademark and copyright of Joe Mynci's Downtown Convenience Store. Used without permission: Sloth is coming to get you anyway, Joey.