reference counting resources but NOT memory

[Tove]

Is there any elegant/smart solution to reference counting 
resources without ever freeing any objects?

When the ref hits 0 it should free some other resource that isn't 
memory...

Resource[10] resources;

resources[3].inc; // 1 ref - 0->1 transition enable  some feature
resources[3].dec; // 0 ref - 1->0 transition disable some feature
resources[3].inc; // 1 ref - instantly ready to be used again 
without any alloc/free

Maybe it's best to use normal constructor/destructor with some 
arena memory allocator that never actually frees anything? Must 
be a common problem, anyone got experience with a good design?