Throw away society
Environmental rant of the month....
How things have changed. In my parents generation if something broke you got your trusty screwdriver out and fixed it, or if you really had to admit defeat you took it to someone to get fixed. These days if something breaks you merely throw it in the rubbish and buy a brand new, WAY better, one. In the process filling landfills and messing with the environment.
Back in the day you could buy quality goods that real people had made with materials that normal people can tinker with and fix. For example my parent’s fridge lasted, if I remember rightly, 27 years (pretty sure that one was replaced on their 27th wedding anniversary and not because it was broken). One of their original pot sets has lasted years, and to prove that point I have now inherited it and it is brilliant. I remember at my granddad's house, his teapot handle fell off so what did he do, he screwed a goat horn onto it and it lasted the rest of his life. In my mum’s day, when you were young you saved up your money and brought nice expensive sheets and towels and put them into your glory box to save for when you got married. People sewed their own clothes, knitted jerseys and cooked everything from scratch. They made jams, biscuits, cakes and chutney’s, grew vegetables in their own garden.
I miss those days and some of us will confirm that our generation are going back that way a little bit. We have a veggie garden, plastic house and I try and cook most things from scratch. I hate buying throw away cleaners, like disposable cloth window cleaners. I hate all the packaging around everything these days. I use reusable nappies and wipes and always recycle. I have more than one savings account and have never paid interest on my credit card, as it always get paid off in time.
I am reminded of the throwaway society, every day. We have a 21 year old living with us (and it’s not just him but most people his age). It scares me the way young people think and the fact we have a whole generation of people that think it is normal to throw everything away, not even bothering to give it away, or sell it. If a car breaks down, ah I will just get someone to take it away and buy a new one. Cell phones get replaced faster than I can say “oh you have a new cell phone”. The general ability to take care of one’s possessions doesn’t exist, as they are so easily replaced. Savings accounts..... who needs savings when you can have a credit card or overdraft facilities. Its all about competing to get the flashest things and the newest technology and it doesn't matter how you managed to pay for it.
Now I know I can’t fight the industrial revolution and the fact that people make money off creating goods that have a limited life span. I can’t change that goods are packaged to the max so that their product sells not their competitors; or that people in third world countries have jobs because of the throwaway society.
But what I can do is teach my children what I think is important and hope they buy into some of it. Like......
• That things don’t have to be thrown away all the time.
• If you take care of your things then they last longer.
• If you no longer want something then chances are there is someone out there who would buy it, or better still someone less fortunate that you can give it to.
• That it is important to save money and not rely on credit all of the time.
• The joy in growing your own vegetables and making food from scratch.
• That you don’t always need to buy flash cleaners etc when baking soda and vinegar does the job just as well.
• That there are consequences for every action you make so think wisely.
Anyway that is the environmental rant of the month, until next month, see you later.
How things have changed. In my parents generation if something broke you got your trusty screwdriver out and fixed it, or if you really had to admit defeat you took it to someone to get fixed. These days if something breaks you merely throw it in the rubbish and buy a brand new, WAY better, one. In the process filling landfills and messing with the environment.
Back in the day you could buy quality goods that real people had made with materials that normal people can tinker with and fix. For example my parent’s fridge lasted, if I remember rightly, 27 years (pretty sure that one was replaced on their 27th wedding anniversary and not because it was broken). One of their original pot sets has lasted years, and to prove that point I have now inherited it and it is brilliant. I remember at my granddad's house, his teapot handle fell off so what did he do, he screwed a goat horn onto it and it lasted the rest of his life. In my mum’s day, when you were young you saved up your money and brought nice expensive sheets and towels and put them into your glory box to save for when you got married. People sewed their own clothes, knitted jerseys and cooked everything from scratch. They made jams, biscuits, cakes and chutney’s, grew vegetables in their own garden.
I miss those days and some of us will confirm that our generation are going back that way a little bit. We have a veggie garden, plastic house and I try and cook most things from scratch. I hate buying throw away cleaners, like disposable cloth window cleaners. I hate all the packaging around everything these days. I use reusable nappies and wipes and always recycle. I have more than one savings account and have never paid interest on my credit card, as it always get paid off in time.
I am reminded of the throwaway society, every day. We have a 21 year old living with us (and it’s not just him but most people his age). It scares me the way young people think and the fact we have a whole generation of people that think it is normal to throw everything away, not even bothering to give it away, or sell it. If a car breaks down, ah I will just get someone to take it away and buy a new one. Cell phones get replaced faster than I can say “oh you have a new cell phone”. The general ability to take care of one’s possessions doesn’t exist, as they are so easily replaced. Savings accounts..... who needs savings when you can have a credit card or overdraft facilities. Its all about competing to get the flashest things and the newest technology and it doesn't matter how you managed to pay for it.
Now I know I can’t fight the industrial revolution and the fact that people make money off creating goods that have a limited life span. I can’t change that goods are packaged to the max so that their product sells not their competitors; or that people in third world countries have jobs because of the throwaway society.
But what I can do is teach my children what I think is important and hope they buy into some of it. Like......
• That things don’t have to be thrown away all the time.
• If you take care of your things then they last longer.
• If you no longer want something then chances are there is someone out there who would buy it, or better still someone less fortunate that you can give it to.
• That it is important to save money and not rely on credit all of the time.
• The joy in growing your own vegetables and making food from scratch.
• That you don’t always need to buy flash cleaners etc when baking soda and vinegar does the job just as well.
• That there are consequences for every action you make so think wisely.
Anyway that is the environmental rant of the month, until next month, see you later.
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