THE SHIRT FARMER .COM

My son was reading, "Sign of the Beaver" for a book report. It had been quite a while since I read it, so he was reminding me of this great story. It's about a boy trying to survive during the early colonial period.

Anyway, a minor point of the story became an expanded topic of discussion for us. While the boy is alone in his cabin, a strange man came around. The boy was very cautious, but fed him and gave him shelter for the night. The boy was determined to stay awake because the man kept eyeing the boy's rifle. It wasn't long after the man fell asleep though, that the boy did as well. As you can guess.....the rifle and the man were gone when he awoke.

My son picked up on the fact that the rifle was the most prized posession that boy had......that and a pocket watch. Both handed down to him. Compare that to today!

In only a few generations we have progressed from caring for a few cherished family heirlooms to casually discarding items long before their usefulness has expired.

I remember my grandfather's "dump". It was a dug trench at the edge of the field. Not much went in there....it probably took a decade to fill! I remember standing at the edge with a broken plate. It was the first time I saw the dump. There were a few other broken dishes, a pair of very worn out leather shoes.....a glass jug. It wasn't a frequented place.

Now, ............

well, I know we produce a 13 gal. bag of garbage per week. That's after recycling glass,paper, aluminum and tin, and composting vegetable matter. How many times per day do I open the cabinet door that leads to the garbage bin? What do I throw out? Why is that different than just two generations ago?

We all know the answer, I guess it's just a matter of THINKING about it. I plan to stop and think, "What is this I'm throwing out, and what can I do to avoid it?" Then, follow that trail- and act on it.

Care to join me?

(also see "Bag Campaign")