I didn’t grow up during the Depression. I have enough to eat, comfortable shoes, and the right coat for the weather, so my habits aren’t from want. I’m not sure where it comes from, this aversion I have to wasting anything.
I recycle paper, cardboard, glass, tin cans, and the food garbage in my kitchen. I’m experimenting with new ways to compost.
I give stuff away to people who might have a use for it…or who might just be throwing it away for me. I frequent the thrift stores, but not to buy. They know my name when I drive up with the contents of yet another cabinet or closet, and they don’t bother to ask if I need a receipt. I’m not doing this as a tax write-off but as an obsession to waste not. I have a list of takers, including a place in Tulsa that recycles cloth.
My man thinks recycling is inefficient. It may be. But he doesn’t complain when I use every bit of a whole chicken: frying chicken legs, thighs, and wings; making a casserole or chicken salad from the breast meat; and making broth and soup from the carcass and remaining bits. He probably doesn’t realize that I skim the hardened fat from the broth and use it for sautéing. Now, if I could just figure out how to dry the bones and grind them up for the garden!
Instead of questioning why I try to use all the bits, I want to get better at it. And in case you’re wondering, the hallways in my house are clear. This isn’t hoarding…unless you count books…but using, sharing, and giving.
What are some of the things you use, and how, that most people toss to the side?
Apocalypse Farm 