Do I have a problem?
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
From early childhood that what we now call “upcycling” and recycling has been part of my life.
Reusing items that others would regards as rubbish, as trash, as waste, and reworking those was the usual thing for us in our family and I must say that I have, to this day, retained this “trait”, for lack of a better word.
To be perfectly honest it has so much become part of my life and my fabric that I look at every, or at least nearly every, item that would fall under the term trash and should go into the garbage can or one of the recycling bins with the questions “can I use this for something” or what can I make with this/out of this” always in my mind.
Some people, in fact, might regards me as having become obsessive in this way and department and this has not just come about with the talk about climate change and having to conserve resources. It has been with me for a very long time, as said; the obsession too.
We have had, in our family, and I do not think this was just because we were Gypsy, the “waste not, want not” philosophy and also the attitude that one person's rubbish may be the resource for us to make to make some money.
Personally, I try not to put anything into the trash or the recycling bins that might be reusable or re-workable, that is to say, upcyclable. The major problem with this attitude, though, is that one needs a rather large barn where to store all those things that could be reused and re-worked and those that just might come in handy some day to make something with or from.
So, do I have a problem?
I have now also – and in fact that is not entirely new with me either – taken to make my own notebooks and a writer can never be without one, from scrap paper, that is to say, from single-side printed pages, whether press releases or letters or whatever. I am also making my own business- and calling cards from various kinds of card stock, such as cereal packs, and similar, and then use an IDEAL 200 stamp to print the details upon the cut up cards.
Glass jars, cookie tins (metal and plastic), and others, are all kept for storage purposes and many times tin cans too get re-purposed and upcycled, like into pencil bins (for the desk) and such like.
I just loathe to see anything that may have a use, however remotely, as it is, or with a little re-working, to get thrown into the trash or even the recycling bins and I also find myself rescuing things that other people have thrown out or lost.
As I said before, it probably has become an obsession but it also means that there are quite a few things that I do not have to send money on as I make them myself by upcycling and if I had the time I guess I would do more of that even.
While it can become an obsession that could last for the rest of one's life it is great fun, I think, and useful fun at that.
So, what's the diagnosis? Do I have a problem?
© 2009
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