Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
So true! We had to go to the dump a couple years ago, and it was disgusting not just for the size of the fill but for people arriving with whole cars full of perfectly good stuff that, I guess, they couldn’t be bothered to take to goodwill or a shelter. Sad
It’s shocking!
Repeat daily.
So True! Every day you live on Earth is Earth day!
That’s what I do.
Only thing I bought today was a photo album, which I’ve needed since last summer! I need to catch up on photos before college graduation next month. I got free bakery goods at the food bank. I love that they divert unsold food to people instead of to the trash.
So true! Humans, as a whole, need to wake up quick smart! There isn’t another earth waiting for us when we finally destroy her, or she does us!
I second this blog post!
Yes! There is perfectly good stuff that already exists for the taking, or buying used – if you need it.
Your picture is worth a thousand words!
Preach it, Sister Katy!
An experience I haven’t reported in any recent FFT was finding a huge pile of discarded lumber on a nearby curb–including two beautiful old 2 x 4s that were not only really almost 2 x 4, but 14 feet long. I hustled home and told DH, who went after the load with his truck and trailer. He was even more shocked at the waste than I was.
But I just did a huge kitchen remodel with new counters begging to filled up with lots of shiny new small appliances. We came under budget by $1000 and it’s burning a hole in my pocket. You are such a kill-joy Katy!
I just want to admit what I did last week.
I bought a bra at the thrift store, the rule was no shoes, socks or underwear would I buy.
Last year it was socks….do you know how many new (with tags )pairs of socks people give to the thrift store, well now they apparently do the same thing with Bras.
$4 for a Bra that actually fits me….apparently I have no shame.
I also have no shame, having bought two bras off eBay that were new without tags. 😀 I bought a great slip a few years ago at a thrift store for 99 cents. The line is drawn at panties, though.
Well, if the landfills are only filled with tons of old panties I think we can say we made the right decision.
I buy bras at Goodwill. Not worse than a shirt IMO.
Some are donated by stores – new!
No kidding. There is no such thing as a “cheap” new item. We keep making do with what we have and sharing items we no longer need (I gave away several items on Freecycle last weekend).
I hate how Earth Day (like every other day) has become about consuming.
~ Be the change you want to see in the world
Katy, this is wonderful reminder of why I love NCA. It is about more than just money. Our resources are limited. When they are gone, it is forever. Food waste is especially upsetting. We use our precious resources to grow and produce food, then we throw away so much of it. All the while people go hungry.
Did you know if you buy the wrong size or style of product, for example unsweetened almond milk instead of sweetened when you bring it back to the store they have to throw it out. It does not matter if it is a box of crackers that you had for a half hour and come back in to exchange them.
When I found this out I now eat whatever mistakes I make.
That really is a waste. They do the same at Bath and Body Works. A lady in front of me in line got a ton of lotions, gels, sprays as a gift. She didn’t like the scent so asked for an even exchange. The girl behind the counter said no problem. The store seemed short staffed so the customer lady asked if she could help out and re-shelve it. The girl said no because it was going into the trash.
Manufactured stuff is what makes America great though!
I’m all for using it up but do not advocate Earth Day at all
You should check out how Earth Day began and what it was all about
when it started
Actually Earth Day was founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. Supposedly the Ira Einhorn claims are untrue. Philly Magazine has an article called “No Ira Einhorn is not the founder of Earth Day” that debunks Einhorn’s claims. Worth a read.
Earth Day’s message is simple. It is not about hate. http://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/
Sorry, Sassy. I’m old enough to remember the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. It was EXACTLY about the earth, and protecting the environment. After Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring came out in 1962, a lot more people took interest in the environment. Combine that with the counterculture, and the country was ripe for Earth Day. There have always been people who have touted population control as a way to extend Earth’s resources, but Earth Day was not about that. Yes, abortion was a hot topic (Roe v Wade was in 1973), but the crucial point wasn’t to promote abortions, but to allow women the right to choose for themselves what should or shouldn’t happen to their bodies.
Bee’s right. Follow her link for an accurate history of Earth Day. You can see that the person who spearheaded it was Gaylord Nelson, decidedly not a convicted murderer.
Our county has container sites for the rural folk who don’t get trash pick up (like me). We all have to pay the same $140 for use of the sites on our property taxes every year, and we have to haul our own trash. There’s no incentive to reduce trash — no fee per bag instead of flat fee — other than the incentive of having to haul more bags at a time if one throws a lot away. What really burns me is that they stopped recycling glass, stopped recycling most plastic, and started threatening the employees with firing if they allowed people to leave good stuff out on the ground for others to pick up. People used to put perfectly good items out neatly at the dump and the employee would take it in if it rained. If no one wanted it in a few days, he’d finally get rid of it, but that really didn’t happen — someone always wanted what was set out. Then he told us one day, he wasn’t allowed to do it anymore or he’d get fired. SO STUPID of the county, and complaints have gone nowhere.