Accumulate is a good word but a bad habit

Accumulate - one of those awesome words to learn in second grade. In spelling I had to ask does it have one c or two? One m or two? The word means piling up of stuff, like mineral in the hot water tank, or plaque in the arteries, or information in reference books. Too bad common sense doesn't pile up as easily.
For instance take the liquid soap containers. Aren't they a joy to behold - pretty, colorful and loose? One pump and out comes a handful of soap, enough to scrub the hide of a full grown elephant. I blissfully wash it off my hands and down the drain the soap goes to accumulate in the drainpipes and eventually demand a call to roto rooter.
I dutifully fill the little box in my dishwasher with soap. That's what the well is for isn't it? Soap companies love it. Uses more of their products. It's up to you to mop the suds when the machine overflows.
One thing I accumulate are books. I like them handy as references when I write. They overflowed my bookshelf even after I laid them down and stacked them. Finally I put them in boxes, in categories, and used them when I needed a reference. Then the boxes accumulated and were put into storage. I really lost track of the contents and the location. Not good.
Let public libraries store books to read. Let google dot com deliver esoteric facts about any subject I can think of.
Now that I have all this extra space what shall I accumulate?
Naomi Sherer