I owned an old house with a cellar we never used. One day my mum visited, and I lost her. This wasn’t a huge, sprawling estate, just a tiny Victorian terrace house, a ‘two up, two down’ with an off-shot.
I wandered, called and eventually, just before panic set in, I found her. She was sitting on a piece of old carpet on the grubby cellar floor with the biggest rotten cardboard box full of tat you’ve ever seen. Packed with old screws, buttons, nails, you get the idea, tat. The previous owner left it behind. No doubt it was too heavy to move. Oh, and as we discovered, the ancient carton fell to bits if you tried to lift it.
She was so engrossed she hadn’t seen me, or heard the hound sniffing like a basset on a scent chase. I sat down quietly on the top step. I had never seen such a contented look on my mum’s face. She was literally sorting it all out by hand. The items were being lifted as if they were treasure. Each button wiped with a licked finger or scrubbed with her hanky. Yes, she always carried at least one hanky. She was one of those mums who licked and scrubbed at our cherubic faces to remove anything from her ‘borrowed’ lipstick to ice cream mess on a walk.
Do those mums still exist, do monogrammed hankies?
Maybe not the best idea in a pandemic, but they are surely better than tissue crumbs after an accidental trip through the washing machine. Anyway, back to the box and my mum. She examined each item, then placed it in their designated spot. Slowly, small piles of treasure grew in a circle around her. Even one which I assumed she designated ‘miscellaneous.’ Every single piece got dropped into types, put in jars and kept for later. The miscellaneous got filtered to ‘no idea what this is’ or ‘past redemption’ and ended up in the bin.
I’m not suggesting we need to sit in cellars or save every screw or nail.
But we have become too disposable. We don’t save the last chunk of soap, or create a new bar, with mixed up colours and scents ideal for the kitchen sink. If a sock gets a hole, we no longer darn it. We even throw socks away because we can’t make the time to match it with its lost partner. Even though we know that will turn up in a week.
My parents argued every week about the HP sauce bottle (other sauces are available.) It was a glass bottle and the last bit of sauce got stuck. Mum balanced it so the leftovers ran into the top of the fresh bottle. My dad used to say he earned enough money now it didn’t matter anymore. My mum countered that if it hadn’t been for all her penny pinching, they’d never have all they had. She had a point. I’m not suggesting you drain the sauce bottles, although now they’re awful plastic you can cut them open and scoop out the last bit. Note from Author: HP, bring back the classic glass please.
We need to get #Pennypinching trending.
It’s sad to see young people learn that disposal is how to deal with broken things.
The future engineers of this world need to learn how things work by taking them to bits and trying to fix them. The future clothes designers need to learn their trade by darning, redesigning and re-sculpting. Cutting and sewing. Our future is looking pretty grim right now. We need to learn from our past. Admittedly humans aren’t renowned for their skill in that area.
OK, I’m in, but don’t know where to start
Things need to change, but you don’t have any intention of saving old screws. Next time you throw away an item of clothing, think twice. Could you donate it? Could you cut off the buttons and save those? Artists and creatives always love buttons. They are great for kids to learn to count, too. And yes, of course, please be careful with small choking hazards. Drop those pearl gems or fleece toggles in a jar and donate your button jar. You can even buy a plastic game that is literally pretend buttons in a box. What is this craziness?
Electric kettle broken? First check locally as charities often fix, then donate them. Nothing? Does Freecyle operate locally? No? OK. Cut off the plug for safety. Let your older child take it to bits, under supervision. See how it works. Talk about it. Indulge their interest and curiosity. Encourage innovation.
You can find thousands of ideas here. From the art of beautiful pottery fixes, Kintsugi, to visible darning on damaged wool clothing. We can save money and resources by reusing, recycling, redesigning, but to me it’s more than that. It’s seeing the beauty and use in the small things.
Developing World
If we don’t learn from our past, we could learn from the developing world. You only have to visit a country less wealthy to realise how wasteful we are. They throw nothing away if it serves a purpose. Plastic drums and as planters. Old washing machine drums used as barbecues. Old clothes reused for anything from oil-rag to dog blanket. Greenhouses built from plastic bottles. Get creative.
Have We Lost Sight of What’s Important?
We seem to have lost our ability to see the value in things. I truly hope maybe this post makes you think twice before dropping that item in the bin. The bin is the last option.
Was my mum a visionary? I don’t think so. She grew up with fresh air, but not much else. I don’t hanker for those times, but hope we learn from our past actions and see the beauty and value of all things, otherwise we will not survive. Dramatic, I know. Remember, the world doesn’t need us to survive, but we need it.
We become our parents. As a teenager, I would have fought you tooth and nail if you suggested I was anything like my parents. Now I’m quite pleased to say she taught me something. Now all I need to do is convince my daughter to follow suit.
Oh and yes, those jars of screws and nails came in handy. They held up pictures on walls, backs on drawers, and many other handy little things for years to come.
I’d love to hear about your recycling project.
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