Posts Tagged ‘Earth day’

World War II Poster

I’ve been thinking about Earth Day over the past few days, and in doing so, I went back to the post I wrote last year on Earth Day.  I was about my grandmother Maxine Morgan, really all our grandmothers, and how they practiced a little Earth Day wisdom as a matter of pragmatism.

And I am struck by how taking care of the Earth goes hand in hand with “Making it Do.”

Making it do means reducing, reusing and recycling.

For me, Making it Do has meant growing my vegetable garden.  And buying more food from local farmers.  It means canning all that delicious local grown food when it’s in season.

It means taking care of what I have, maintaining and repairing clothing and other goods instead of rushing out to buy something new.

It means lowering the thermostat, cleaning with white vinegar and baking soda, and driving less to the store.

Earth day also has me thinking of starting a compost bin and making a clothesline in my yard this year.

Taking care of the earth makes good sense.

Now instead of celebrating Earth Day working in my garden like I hoped…. I woke up this morning to snow on the ground.  Did I mention it was in the 70’s on Tuesday?

I guess it’s the perfect excuse to sew today.

“Making it do” and being earth-friendly go together like jam and bread…

This Earth Day I am looking back and hoping to learn a “green” trick or two from my Grandmother, Maxine Morgan.  (That’s her above… and I think she is just lovely.  I really love her smile.)  Our grandmothers certainly knew how to Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.

In the 1930’s, on the ranch my Grandmother’s family would “reuse” their old Sears Roebuck Catalogs by turning them into toilet paper.  (I don’t think I’ll be trying that one!)  And instead of buying store bought food in packaging, they canned all the bounty of their gardens and fruit trees.  They carefully kept their used bottles year after year.

My grandmother “reduced” by mending all their clothing and darning all their socks.  They only had one pair of shoes each.  Every Saturday they would polish their shoes for Sunday.  My grandmother also loved a spotless clean house.  When the walls needed a fresh coat of white paint, she reduced by only painting the bottom half.  The top half didn’t get worn out and she didn’t have the money to paint the whole wall.

My Great-Grandmother Irene and her daughters would “recycle” by stitching their used feed sacks into dresses, aprons and quilts. And they never wasted food.  What wasn’t eaten by the family, went to the pigs or compost.

I grew up in a world where everything was disposable.  And no matter how much we wasted, everything was in limitless supply…  Of course, we now know, that just isn’t true.  And we can’t keep going on like before.  The time has come for us to be more like our Grandmothers.  It’s time for us to be more resourceful, careful, and creative with what we have.  Luckily for us, we are their granddaughters… and I for one, think that is a good thing.