When did we decide it’s okay to throw things away without thinking twice? When did we become this ‘throw away’ society? What was the tipping point when we decided it was acceptable for the Walmarts to terrorize small towns and small businesses? I remember when there wasn’t enough, and now there’s too much. My grandmother who had a large part in my upbringing went through the depression and believe me when I say nothing was wasted. Now we shave in the shower, we let the water run while we brush our teeth, we leave the tv and lights on when we leave the house and what’s worse, this has become normal; this is the way we choose to live.
Now we’d rather buy something cheap, knowing it won’t last, throw it away and buy it again new.
I found this filing cabinet in someone’s front yard sitting next to the street. I knocked on the door and asked if they were throwing it away, they said yes I can have it if I wanted it. Works perfectly fine, and a small treasure for me.
I was looking for rain barrels for a couple weeks before I found used ones. I heard ‘why don’t you go buy some, they aren’t expensive’. Visuals of more plastic being produced for no reason went through my head, especially when I see rain barrels sitting in yards not being used. I wonder how many people thought, ‘why don’t you just use the garden hose?’
There will come a time when we run out of resources, water will be expensive not (mostly) free from taps or used to water driveways or lawns. There will come a time when plastic won’t be wrapped around everything because it takes a non-renewable resource that will soon run out. There will come a time when our oceans and landfills are so full we’ll live in our own garbage and be forced to reuse and not throw away perfectly good items.
We can all make a difference; we can all make a choice. We can be part of the solution or we can be part of the problem.
On a lighter note, here’s a trendy song that offers a comical video, talking about hand me down clothes.