Respect

When talking to one of my granddaughters recently I told her about something my mother used to do when I was growing up. She would collect family clothing that was no longer wearable as well as old sheets and such, and when she had a good bunch she would ship it to some company. There, woollens were set aside to make blankets and the rest was used in the manufacture of rugs. My mother was repaid with highly discounted blankets.

            My granddaughter was very impressed that my mother was so “avant-garde” as she put it. Of course in those days such action was not referred to as recycling, it was simply a matter of not wasting anything. People remembered the shortages of the Great Depression and of World War 11 and made it their duty to not waste anything.

Even if the term recycling was not used the end result was the same. Things were not thrown away but rather used for new projects as everyone is now finding out we can do by setting our minds to it. And it is amazing that it seems to have spurred creativity as new and amazing uses for things we used to throw away seem to constantly appear.

            In the years that followed the war, things changed as the world welcomed a new era. Gas was cheap and big cars -- many of them pink! -- were everywhere.  As well aircrafts became a preferred way to travel, but at what cost all this to the environment?   Today we are paying the price with climate change that is resulting in storms, floods, etc, and have so much more work to do to save our planet and ourselves.

            I think that today we should take the time to learn how things were done in the past in our search for a greener earth and a sustainable way of life for the generations that will follow. It is simply a question of respect.