Waste not, want not.

  I have to giggle sometimes when I hear young folks chattering about how they are "Green".  They go on to tell how they use only "organic" products, recycle their water bottles and even REUSE some items!! Wow! Reuse items?  Now that is a novel idea!  Yeah, right.  What makes these whippersnappers think they are doing something so grand? I even had one young lady proudly tell me "You are the greenest person I know!" She meant this as a compliment, I am sure.  

  Think about it for a second, though.  Is this whole "new" movement actually new?  Nope.  As far back as folks can remember, things have been this way.  Most of us "older folks" still do as our parents and grandparents taught us. We do not see it as a cutesy little conversation starter but rather as a lifestyle.  We grow our own food, we can/preserve that food, we sew clothes and reuse or repair things until there is literally nothing left.  It is just something we do.  We do not toss any usable item in the trash.  It is upcycled (the fancy-schmancy  new term for using what you have on hand in a new way).  

  One of my brothers describes my youngest son as the "oldest" young man he knows.  Now that is a compliment!  Although Michael is only in his twenties, he has a lot of wisdom and has a certain calmness about him. Recently, he has been in a "building" mood and has been using a lot of reclaimed items to create fantastical pieces.  This all started with my greenhouse.  Yes, it does have a lot of new wood in it and has a beautiful new "greenhouse" roof but these all came about because of my husband. When he saw what Michael was doing, he took it upon himself to purchase the items.  He wanted Michael to learn to use the tools of the trade and figured that to do this, he needed to at least have decent lumber.  It was a good learning experience for our son and he has since moved on to creations of furniture using the reclaimed lumber.  In the greenhouse, however, he did use reclaimed windows.  Most of these came from my in-laws' home.  We had them stored since a hurricane destroyed the house.   Michael wanted to make use of these and some old doors. Since the doors were quite rotted, he remade them and he redesigned the windows to fit the greenhouse.  Overall, he did a remarkable job. I now have a lovely greenhouse!  

  With his building and furniture creations, my son is following a tradition set long ago.  Both sets of his grandparents were committed to not wasting usable items.  I can remember on the farm that tools, clothing, furniture and most all items were repaired or reused is some way.  One of my favorite quotes from Granddaddy was "You better hang on to that! You might need it some day."  With this, he was trying to instill the lesson of reuse.  To this day, I save string simply because I hear him tell me that I might need it.  (And I usually do!)  Ours is not an unique idea.  Simply put, do not waste.  It is not some new, profound idea that this younger generation has created yet one that they should have had instilled in them from childhood.  The old maxim of  "Waste not, want not." should be a household rule.  Not just because it is the current fad but rather because it is the right thing to do.