Early on in our new life in Fife we noticed a subtle difference in the way of life here. We needed our garage door fixing and the man came to tell us the bad news that the fixings were obsolete. Down south that would have meant a costly door replacement. Imagine our joy when the helpful man suggested that he take the fitting off the other door and pop down to the blacksmith to see if he could make one for us. A brilliant solution and once they had a coat of fresh paint, the garage doors looked good and were working perfectly.
My husband prefers old cars and has a Jaguar. Although it uses more petrol than the modern versions it appears to be much easier to fix. He argues that the car has lasted for nearly thirty years, is in good condition, is like sitting in your favourite old sofa and runs well. On the other hand I was offered a lift by a lady from down the road in her relatively new Ka. Her friend had had a problem with her own Ka and when quoted the cost of replacing the faulty part it was in thousands, almost making it a throw away car. Fortunately it was under guarantee but I felt that it was an sad reflection on our ‘throw away’ society.’
In our new life here I try not to hoard, but I do try to mend things and to keep anything I might use for something else, otherwise it is recycled if at all possible. I am a volunteer with Kinghorn in Bloom and our motto is to recycle and reuse as much as we can. We overwinter plants for another year, lift and divide plants and bulbs and use unwanted goods in a creative way. Being on the coast old boats feature quite highly, but so does driftwood, old anchors, old fishing net ~ in fact anything we can find when beach combing. Out latest idea is tyres. Watch this space …
Here are three excellent blogs about recycling:
A good one for children in the Easter Holidays:
Using plastic bottles creatively
For shoppers:
The World’s First Mall of Recycled Goods
Protecting the environment:
A Selection of Reflections 