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This was one in every of Mom’s sayings: “The cracked cup stays.”
It meant that simply because one thing doesn’t look good, you shouldn’t discard it if it nonetheless capabilities. The cup with a chip in its saucer was nonetheless good for her morning espresso. And she used a bit of knife with a partially-melted deal with for years, getting ready great meals as a substitute of buying a brand new knife. There was nothing higher than that knife, as a result of it labored.
Both of these things stay with me as a result of they’re nonetheless helpful.
I query our tradition’s obsession with new issues. I ponder why we’d like issues to look good. Is a bit of chip in a saucer so horrible? If a knife has a broken deal with however nonetheless has a pointy blade, why can’t it nonetheless be used?
We devour an excessive amount of and get rid of an excessive amount of to the detriment of the environment. The siren name of the greenback/offers shops is especially problematic. Shoppers flock to buy low-quality merchandise in massive portions — as a result of it’s so low-cost. So, they get the moment gratification of shopping for stuff, solely to must throw it away as a result of it breaks or wears out rapidly.
We can avoid excessive consumption and preserve stuff out of the landfills by retaining and utilizing objects that don’t look model new however nonetheless work. An previous ebook with a torn cowl remains to be entertaining. A cracked cup can nonetheless maintain tea. By letting go of perfection and specializing in reuse, we are able to get monetary savings and actually assist Mother Earth.
What have you ever received from a decade or a century in the past that also works? Treasure your still-useful cracked and melted objects!
Feature picture courtesy of Sweetaholic, Pixabay. This put up was initially printed on January 30, 2019.
