Things don't always go as planned...(& some ramblings about sustainability)

I didn't get to the Iron Age event at Gamla Uppsala after all. Sad, but seeing that I'm still not completely well I felt that I couldn't spend two days outdoors - I just can't miss any more days of work so I have to be well until Monday! But I guess there will be more opportunities in the future... :(

And yes, this means that I didn't get my peplos done either, so no new pics either.

Anyhow, I was just sitting here and thinking, so I thought I might as well post my thoughts here! Who knows, I might inspire a thought in one of you? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as well.

I've been thinking about sustainability. Keeping the earth along with all her inhabitants safe. Because even though my interests often lie in the past, I often wonder about the future and how we can pull ourselves out of this mess. We're using up raw materials at a frightening pace, while at the same time flooding the environment with trash! It's really quite insane, thinking that we can keep this up; sooner or later we will run out of resources. And we'll all be living on a dump.

Now some people simply call out to all consumers to STOP BUYING THINGS! At least, to stop buying NEW things. But however good it feels to shop second hand in order to spare our environment we simply can't all do that, our economy would completely fail as a result! Which wouldn't be good for us, and certainly would not be good for the environment either (since no one would be able to afford the green alternatives). So I just don't think it's a good solution to simply stop buying things.

What I do feel very strongly for, is a change in attitude. Trash is just another type of raw material, it's not waste. Up here in Sweden we are relatively good at this, we have a lot of recycling of materials going on on a large scale. At least when it comes to glass and metal. Most of the other stuff we just burn. Which of course isn't all bad either considering we draw a whole lot of power from it! But considering how much time and money went into making all of those products that we burn, I can't help thinking that more should be recycled.

And by the way, if you're living in a country where all the trash is just piled up and "forgotten"... landfills are insane and scary!

I feel my mind is slipping into more general ramblings, so I should probably try to end this post somehow. Just think about it next time you throw stuff out. As soon as I move to a house with a bit more garden space I will start my own compost. If a piece of clothing gets a tare I'll try to mend it. If that's not possible I'll try to cut it up and use the fabric for something else. Especially buttons and zippers should be saved! The goal isn't to stop buying new clothes, it's to lengthen the lifespan of the garment/fabric so one doesn't have to buy new stuff as often. Which would also mean that one can afford a bit more expensive clothes as well, so it should be possible to get better quality and more environmentally friendly products!

Generally, I think that's the way to go. Don't try to STOP consuming. Just slow things down. Extend the lifespan of the materials we've already put to use. Support companies and organizations that recycle on a larger scale. Have fun, be creative, and make beautiful objects that will last. And if you've read this entire post - thank you! And if you have any suggestions on what ordinary people can do, please write me a comment! Or if you just want to say hi...  Thank you for reading!