> create much less landfill

But maybe bought from a salesman with a Humvee and a artisan that spends every last cent on overseas travel

The issue is that trying to analyse the breakdown of $ by environmental outcomes is hard.

There is a lot of propoganda about how to be environmentally sound. We tend to pick one dimension like trash output. We lack the information to be able to make better balanced decisions, for example sometimes the throwaway thing is better for the environment.

> expensive shelfs

I think that example is selection bias. I'm sure you can think of plenty of expensively wasteful examples too (it's easiest to look at other people to find that).

Counter-factual: I made some shelves from waste-stream offcuts, and other shelves were going to be thrown out. Plus costs to paint them (much much less than even the cheapest of new shelves).

You are speaking from the position of privilege. Not everyone is as lucky as you are in your country, let alone the world.