Sometimes I think all of this education gets in the way of logic. You see, I just now saw the connection between my simple living lifestyle and my desire to live like my grandmother in this modern world. Today is Earth Day and my grandparent’s lifestyle would be considered both simple AND earth friendly.
I think we are all aware of the World War II admonition to “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Because of rationing, every day essentials were simply unavailable. To keep morale up, the government needed to engage in a campaign to remind everyone that it was patriotic to “make do.” Flash forward to the 21st Century and sustainability advocates are encouraging us to “make do” instead of running out and buying a cheap and poorly made gizmo that uses up valuable resources and will end up in a landfill before we know it (see yesterday’s post for my hope that there will be a return to an attitude of only buying quality merchandise).
Canadian WWII Recyling Poster (Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-30-62)
Recycling during The War was also considered patriotic. Tires, nylon, aluminum, motor oil, tin are among a few of the items that were recycled for the war effort. Women were reminded to only buy as much fabric as they absolutely needed, which is probably why my grandmother never got in the habit, as I have, of essentially buying fabric on speculation and developing a rather robust fabric stash.
Finally, my grandparents ate locally grown food. In fact, most of their food was grown in their Victory Garden and they raised chickens in their own back yard. They also tried to buy directly from local farmers. Throughout my childhood, my grandparents would drive out to local farms to buy “lugs” of peaches, pears, and other fruit that my grandmother would can for the year. My grandparents knew first-hand the impact of unsustainable farming practices because the family farm literally blew away in the Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression.
As we celebrate Earth Day today, instead of thinking that we are being asked to do some new-fangled-hippy-tree-hugging-stuff to save our planet, consider that what we are really talking about is returning the mantra “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” that was a guidepost for our grandparents.
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Great “Earth Day” post. “Throw it away today, want it tomorrow,” my mother used to say. My husband and I were both raised to keep rather than toss anything that might be useful another day. I remember my mother winding any bit of string that came into the house onto a ball. She also carefully reused basting thread. Small things — but part of a bigger picture of the value of thrift and economy.
LOVE this post… and your entire blog! I am a saver… and reuser… and thrifter… and proud of it! I grow a vegetable garden every year. Like you said, I try to live a “simple and earth friendly” lifestyle.
Thanks, gals! One of the lessons My Honey has taught me over the years is that most of the stuff I think I NEED, I don’t. When he reminds me that I don’t NEED the gizmo that I’m impulsively wanting to buy, I can then be rather creative and come up with an alternative to what I thought was the ONLY solution. (did that make sense??)