Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do

 

In stepping back in time, I feel it prudent to take a page from the Great Depression era where many were forced to seriously evaluate their wants and needs.  Frivolity was not an option and those who successfully navigated the hard times they faced did so by making sure their resources, regardless of what they might be, were not wasted.  This was especially true when it came to fuel, food, clothing and pretty much everything else.  Families moved in with each other, often crammed into small houses or apartments and they shared everything.  Collectively they worked to provide food for their table and made every effort to stretch that food as far as possible to keep those mouths fed.  Often, they only heated one room of their homes, typically the kitchen, in order to conserve heating and cooking fuel.  Children all slept together in one bed in order to stay warm at night.  Trips to town for supplies were limited to conserve gasoline and often carried out by horse, bicycle or on foot if they lived close enough or in the city.

 

Flour and many other staples at the time came in cloth sacks and those sacks were repurposed into clothing, towels, dish cloths, diapers and even curtains.  The grocer wrapped one’s purchases in brown paper and tied it with string.  That paper was saved to be reused as was the string.  Haircuts were done at home.  Clothing was often selected from a catalog or handmade, passed down, mended, patched and taken care of in order for it to last as long as possible.  Shoes were polished regularly, oiled to protect them from the elements and taken in to the local cobbler for repair as needed.  If you couldn’t afford the cobbler you did your own repairs with whatever you had at the time that would work.

 

When something was “worn out” such as a shirt or pair of pants it was what we now refer to as “repurposed”.  Repurposing has been going on for far longer than we might imagine.  It was not uncommon for old clothes to be cut up and the best parts used to make quilts.  The not so good parts became rags and, if not good enough for rags, used to stuff a handmade doll or stuffed animal (or the cracks in the walls to keep out the drafts).  Even the cotton that came in a bottle of aspirin was saved for the first aid kit or to add into the stuffing for a toy or homemade pin cushion.

 

If you needed something you made it, built it, borrowed it or bartered for it before you purchased it.  If you couldn’t do that you went without or found something else to make do.  People were extremely resourceful.  They raised as much of their own food as possible, hunted, foraged and were no stranger to preserving, canning and drying what they could to get them through the winter.  You lived with the furnishings you already had and used crocheted doilies or a handmade needlepoint pillow to spruce it up a bit.  Times were tough but you were happy to have what you had.

 

With this in mind, and the current state of our world as we now know it, I’ve often thought of how many ways can I implement some of these same principles into my daily life.  I’ve been doing quite a few of these things over the years, but I know I can do far better.  I can look at items I have and items I think I should trash with a whole new set of eyes.  I can look at the things I think I need or things I think I want with a new set of eyes as well.  Instead of tossing something can I repurpose it?  Do I really need to buy that? Or do I already have something else that will work just as well?  Or do I even need or want it to begin with?  Share your thoughts.  Have you made changes recently due to the current state of the economy?