As the saying goes
Do you have a favourite saying? So many to choose from! Personally, I'm quite fond of the proverb that advises: "Never put off till tomorrow what you can put off till next week." And the more surreal: "Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is also much further away."
But the one that's been on my mind lately is: "Waste not, want not." Its use was first recorded in 1772, but there's an earlier version:"Wilful waste makes woeful want," which dates back to 1576.
The idea is that if we avoid wasting our resources then we'll never be in want. I dont know if that's true, but we certainly do waste too much - though we seem to be getting better and making do and mending. Thrift is back in fashion. But we're still wasting a lot of food - buying far too much and then throwing it away.
So I was interested to see a new list of simple advice for caring more for the planet.
Refuse: Reduce: Re-use: Repair: Recycle.
Sometimes one more is added: Recover. Which I think is about recovering the materials used in making stuff, for example recovering the precious metals from old mobile phones.
But what about the first five? We can only buy what we need, not what we want - refuse to buy just for the satisfaction of getting more stuff. We can buy less of what we need, cut down, consume less. We can use things more than once, use them in different ways instead of chucking them in the bin. We can make do and mend - our stuff doesn't always have to be shiny and brand new. And when we've done all those things, we can take the trouble to send stuff for recycling instead of to landfill.
Those are five things we can all do.
Love Lorna
Rector
of Branston with Nocton and Potterhanworth
