I drive my mum crazy with my refusal to throw things away.
She and my 92 year old neighbour June were both very vocal recently about my patched jeans. “They look TERRIBLE”, June told me in no uncertain terms. I wasn’t insulted at all, but I did find it hilarious – both she and mum were of the generation that equated “old and mended” with “poor” and saw it as something to be embarrassed about.
I, on the other hand, love old things.
Recently, after nearly 14 years of trouble-free service, our car started playing up. This would be the car that we didn’t replace last year, choosing to invest our savings into solar power instead.
In the end we needed a new starter motor, but for the better part of a year, the auto-electricians (we went to two) couldn’t diagnose the problem. The motor would just occasionally refuse to turn over, and I was getting nervous every time I got in the car. Then Pete said, “Babe…she’s just old and tired. Sometimes she has a harder time getting up and running. We just have to be gentle with her.”
And just like that, I stopped worrying.
Because you see, I get being old and tired, particularly after the craziness of 2020. Sometimes I don’t want to start either.
And as I looked around our house, I realised that so many things we have are old and tired.
The handle of our Magimix food processor cracked after eight years of continuous use.
A new bowl would have cost us over $200, but a piece of Gorilla Tape made it as good as new. Although I now have to handwash it…
. . . . .
Our kitchen fridge is in its 18th year and can now only be closed with a foot – it needs pressure in just the right spot for the door to seal properly. We need to jiggle the key in the back screen door to get the bolt to shoot, as the frame has moved a bit in the two decades since it was installed.
We could afford to replace the fridge and the back door without too much difficulty (the car is a bit harder), but I really don’t want to. Firstly, because apart from these minor quirks, they all work perfectly well. The fridge stays nice and cold, the back door is fine, and the car still drives well.
Secondly, the environmental cost of replacing things is humungous. Forget for a moment the actual dollars involved, but consider instead the cost in terms of raw resources, human labour and energy. Not only does buying a new fridge involve all those inputs, but disposing of an old fridge is also difficult, expensive and polluting. Yes, we will eventually have to get a new fridge, but I desperately want to keep the one we have as long as possible. If that means paying for expensive repair costs, then so be it.
Thirdly, and I do understand that not everyone thinks like this, but I adore the imperfect and the quirky. It’s like my previously inanimate items suddenly develop personality. And temperament. I start to view them with great affection and develop an almost maternal concern for their wellbeing (yes, even as I was typing it, that sounded insane). But the things which make our modern lives comfortable shouldn’t be disposable at the first sign of wear and tear. That might have been the thinking in the 80s, when everything good had to be shiny and new.
In 2020 though, as the planet drowns under the demands of eight billion humans, I think we have an obligation to make our possessions last as long as they can. And to be honest, shiny and new is pretty boring. Give me something with a backstory any day of the week. But please…don’t tell my mum about it. ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I just found a little crack in my winter boot. I have to find a way to fix it!
I am with YOU! but my Mum was into taking care and mending etc so maybe I got it from her. LOVE your jeans! they have Character :)
I love your jeans. Very hip!
The snow has started here and last week our old snowblower clapped out. Hubby pushed it over to our handyman neighbour’s place. He’s someone who rescues stuff and fixes it up. He loves mechanical challenges but this time there was nothing to be done but look about for a replacement motor. So today he and hubby went and bought a motor and now he is tinkering and fitting it into our snowblower. I’m sure that if it can be repaired, he will do so and it will be as good as new.
We are truly fortunate to have M. Guy as a friend and neighbour. And not just us, but also the rest of the neighbourhood.
It’s so satisfying not to have to throw things out and replace…
Upcycling clothing has gained in popularity. Tell your Mom you are creating art. Your mending fits that category.
We bought and installed a replacement seal for our refrigerator door. It helped reduce electricity use for the fridge. Maybe that would help your fridge.
Thank you, but the problem with the fridge is that the door is slightly off-kilter. I think the seals are ok. And I’m not tell my mum anything, I’m not opening that can of worms! :D
I have an acquaintance who likes to buy herself new clothes, shoes and handbags. I don’t much, I like to get full wear out of things I buy because I love them rather than because I’m bored. The other day I was talking to her amongst a group of friends and she tittered and pointed at my backside: “you have a *patch* on your backside”. I agreed that I did, with my eyebrows raised. Everyone else asked about mending, and thought it was a great idea to mend favourite pants. She went pink and huffed and wobbled off on her new high heels. It makes me tired… At what point did efficient mending go from being a real skill, the sign of a good ‘manager’ of resources, to something shameful to be mocked and disapproved of?
I’m with you about keeping things as long as possible by patching or repairing. I finally had to let go of my 25 year old sneakers because I couldn’t glue them together anymore.
Here is something else for people to think about when keeping an old fridge but it could also be other old appliances. What about the cost of producing the electricity that keeps an old, non-efficient fridge running? Also the pollution caused from burning fuel to create electricity.
Sometimes buying new (or newer) is more environmentally friendly and frugally responsible than keeping the old running longer. For example: I lived without a fridge for over a year. The first month without it my electricity bill dropped dramatically. That fridge was about 20 years old energy guzzler. I finally got a new fridge and barely even noticed a difference on my electricity bill because its so energy efficient. It only uses 20 kilowatt hours a month. In my city that amounts to about $1.50 a month. I feel as if I’m being more considerate for the environment and my budget with the new fridge.
Also, most places these days have people who pick up old appliances to recycle the metal as income. Meaning very few appliances of any size actually end up in a landfill.
Anita, thank you, this is a very good point! We had to change our dryer a few years ago and opted for an expensive heat pump one which uses a tiny amount of energy compared to the old one. We do actually have one super old freezer which is using more energy than it should. But at the moment, our electricity footprint is completely offset by the solar energy we’re generating, so we’ve held off on getting rid of that one yet. But energy usage is always a consideration. In terms of what happens to old appliances, I think a lot of them still end up in landfill or getting crushed, particularly if they’re picked up and taken away when a new one is delivered. Plus the other consideration is the enormous cost involved with actually MAKING a new appliance – the materials, the labour, the energy. It’s a very complicated issue, isn’t it! :)
I enjoy your blog so much! Your philosophy on getting full use out everything registers with me. Thanks!!
We watched a show tonight on Netflix, “The Repair Shop” Each episode the experts mend some fabulous antiques. We talked about how comforting it was to be fortunate enough to live in a house with old things as well as handmade things.
And those jeans are brilliant!
Nodding my head as I look around at my old wabi sabi house and contents 🙄
Celia I think your jeans look great, much nicer than the new ones that have threadbare sections and large holes in them because that is trendy. Everything gets repaired and fixed at our place, as my hubby is the proverbial Mr. DIY and handyman, I don’t get to throw anything out without excessive scrutiny however we do know how to declutter, that’s different.
I am with you Celia and my mum would say just the same, even though she used to unpick woolies and re use the wool I remember her winding It round a chair back and she used to save butter paper for her roast chicken. She is not with us now but you brought back the memories.
No wonder our retail businesses are all going out of business!
Unfortunately (for the planet but not retailers) there are many people who’d rather buy cheap and are happy when it breaks so that they can go out and buy another shiny new one. My philosophy now is that if I make a major purchase then it has ‘to see me out’.
Love the jeans. Wearable art.
Maybe the older generation feel that way because they lived through times of shortage – and in my mum’s case rationing. She was always frugal but it was a shock to me and my sister after she died how much new and unused ‘stuff’ she had.
I’m with you and mourn the passing of things that are totally beyond mending.
I recently purchased a little gizmo called Fixd, it plugs into your car (anything from 1996 onward) and through an app on your smartphone it will diagnose a problem with the car. It’s a Christmas gift so I haven’t tried it yet but it gets great reviews.
About three years ago, while I was cleaning and drying out my Magic bullet, I lost one of the little bits that has to be engaged to turn on, so I replaced it with a piece of plastic that I whittled to the same size and shape; still works perfectly fine!
Recently my Nespresso Vertuo started leaking and when my husband called them to have it repaired they said it would be cheaper to buy a new one! I was appalled! We fixed it ourselves and now it works perfectly fine, no leaks. I really hate the way we have become a disposable society.
I have just had to say goodbye to my 23 year old washing machine. I don’t think it is good as the old one which had a hot fill meaning I could heat the water by gas, but the old one was dangerous as the wiring was perished. I bet the new one won’t last as long.
We had to get rid of our old oven when the wiring perished as well and it became a fire risk! We do the best we can, but there’s only so much we can do! :)
Oh Celia your posts are always so funny.
You aren’t insane you are one of the most sane people I know!
I have exactly the same problem with my Magimix which is 17 years old. I got the motor repaired earlier this year and now the handle is threatening to fall off. I will do the gorilla tape fix and squeeze a little more life out of it. Thanks for the idea!
This is the one we used!
https://www.bunnings.com.au/gorilla-48mm-x-8m-clear-repair-tape_p1662684
Thanks Celia! You’ve inspired me with your thoughts and ways a lot over the last couple of years and I’m really thankful for that. There’s a lot of mindless consumption and waste around us so it’s good to do our bit. Keep up the good work!
You made me feel better about my shabby sofa which has got worse in lockdown through overuse. I like your joy in old things. And I agree that a backstory is important. Great jeans.
I always enjoy reading your posts. “Old and tired” is starting to describe my home too. Regarding the fridge decision – this article was an eye-opener for me. “According to Energy Star, a fridge purchased in 2008 and used for about 10 years (close to the lifespan of my broken fridge) uses about twice the energy per year as one purchased today.” https://archive.curbed.com/2020/2/18/21133768/how-to-choose-new-fridge-eco-friendly
Celia, I’m so with you—we just recently replaced our 30-year-old refrigerator, about a year after we replaced our 30-year-old washer. I always take good care of everything and try to make them last as long as possible. The trouble with throwing things away is THERE IS NO AWAY.
So true!
Your jeans are awesome! Thanks for the inspiration as always 😀
I love your jeans! When I was in my teens (back in the mid 1970s) I had a much loved pair of jeans which had worn out knees and were too tight. I cut of the legs, cut out the zip and replaced it with a placket front, put in some buttonholes and pinched my Dad’s old army brass buttons. Hemmed the bottom of the legs and had myself a pair of button fly shorts which I wore for several more years! I couldn’t sew (and didn’t have a machine) but somehow managed to do this by hand.
I agree with many of the points made by other commenters. Firstly, I do like to keep appliances as long as possible but find that these days things just aren’t made well, in fact they have ‘built in obsolescence’, which is disgraceful – except that it does keep people employed. I’ve also found that just a few years after I’ve bought something, replacement parts are no longer available. There is an idea floating about at the moment that manafacturers will have to state ‘a right to repair’ on products so we don’t have to keep replacing large and small appliances. The fact that old worn out appliances use more electricity is an interesting point too – we have an ancient fridge in the garage – I wonder how much power that is using.
We currently have a 20 year old car which is finally becoming unreliable but when we replace it we won’t buy new but hopefully a low mileage secondhand vehicle which will give us another 20 years service – and more than likely see us out.