When Did We Stop Being A Resourceful Society?

I couldn't agree more that as a society, our wastefulness has gotten way out of whack.  Remember Tupperware?  Now it seems everyone uses Zip Lock bags for leftovers, cookies, snacks - they always get discarded after a short use.  Or how about the use of disposable plates, cups, etc.??  For picnics and certain circumstances, okay, they make sense, but every day to drink out of a styrofoam cup that goes in the waste basket?   

Not only are we wasteful, we are filling the landfills with a lot of things that are not going to break down any time soon.   

Just as the price of gas has made some rethink their driving habits, if the economy makes us think about our wastefulness, a lot of good will come out of it.

Carol, great post.  You know there are some new energy code requirements for light switches that turn the lights off when you leave the room?  They actually just sense movement in the room.  A while back I did a post that talks about washing out roller covers: I LOVE to wash out paint rollers!

Our lives have become so much "easier" than in those old days.  But, things also break quicker these days.  I remember my father complaining about his "IRON wool socks" and how he wished that he could throw them away.  They lasted many, many years and my mother helped them along with her "IRON darning."  My parents couldn't bare to throw out anything that was useful.  A good part of that came from growing up in World War II Germany when they had few if any belongings, long cold winters and little of any food.  Nothing was wasted. ~ Evelyn

My daughter laughs at me and says I have a "poor mentality"...she's talking about the lessons I learned in the Peace Corps.  Everything was saved, as you didn't know if you would need it again.  While I was over there one of my electronic things broke....I didn't throw it away, I replaced the cord.  The phone broke....found a new piece and fixed it.  Food, shopped for what we ate that day or just a couple of days....and never threw food away. 

Today I save jars and plastic, recycle what I don't use, and think of how many uses something really has.  We are such a wasteful society, and yesterday I watched a brilliant Video on this.  They talked about this being planned....how Americans were Marketed to to shop.....shop....shop. By design we are taught to replace things, instead of fixing them, or buying used.  Until all these things change we will remain a wasteful society, and some people will manage better than others with their new Poor Status. We must get over the "me-me" I want it now mentality.........

oops sorry so long :)

Carol, great post!!  I remember my parents were very resourceful.  I grew up very poor and remember wearing remade handmedowns, creative use of left over food.  Last night I made home made chicken barley soup from the leftovers from  yesterdays chicken dinner, which included boiling down the bones for stock.  Over lunch we all talked about things my parents did to make ends meet and I was thinking just the same thoughts as you blogged about.  When did we lose this resourcefulness.  I think we'll see coming years being much more modest than the past few living large years.

Since the beginning of time older generations have moaned about younger.  The human condition is to always want more safety, everything cheaper and faster and to be paid more for our labor.  Tapping into those ideas will make you rich or a successful politician.

Carol~ It really is sad how wasteful our society really is.  It seems we have a "disposable" mentality.  I agree with you, if we "focused" on being resourceful and saving money, and recycling things we would be better off. (Which in turn would have us saving more money too! ) The present economy is forcing a lot of us to re-think what we do and be creative and find ways to save us money in gas.  I don't know about you, but I plan all of my errands to encompass getting it all in one day if possible.   Before I used to just hop in my car and go!  Now, that just isn't so!

Carol, a lot of that resourcefulness did come out of the Great Depression. When you have NOTHING you have to make do with what you have.

Strange you mentioned Tupperware.  It really has almost been replaced with zip-lock baggies.  Those zip-locks are expensive too.  But Tupperware was also expensive.  I sold a house to a Tupperware dealer and I got so tired of forced Tupperware parties and sales.  I still use my saltine cracker holder however.

My grandmother used to make soap, rugs and many other household things.  My mother used to bake everything from scratch including bread.

Those days are lost.