Saving Stuff...

A friend recently wrote a blog about saving bits of string.  That's probably the one thing I don't save. We have lots of bits of paper to write shopping lists or notes on. My husband saves coffee cans and mayonnaise jars in which we keep our dry staples on the pantry shelf. I save bits of info about ancestors that I scribble on those saved bits of paper. (I even save, in my head, old phone numbers and  the birthdates and death dates of friends long gone. That, at least, doesn't take up any room in the drawers!)

I am prone to be the subject of family jokes because I salvage things that have use left in them. At every gift giving event, I race to save a large piece of wrapping paper, so that it can be used on another large, or several small, gifts in the future. I like to save ribbons and bows.  I cannot see the point of buying more of the same, when there's good use left in the item, just because somebody thinks I'm cheap or silly.

My parents were children of the Depression era. They learned early how to recycle, but of course they didn't call it that in those days.  It was a wise way to stretch a dollar, and in my opinion, it still is.  I tend to buy classic clothing so that I can wear it for many more seasons (or years, or maybe decades!) than if I choose to buy fad styles.  Call me cheap. Call me thrifty.  Call me a saver. Call me a recycler. Call me what you will, I will not be swayed from my mode of operation.

The landfills have less stuff in them because of this household.  The pocketbook has more dollars. I happen to be a huge fan of both!  Do you recycle? How do you feel about the subject? Do you think that most people are wasteful, or are more people doing good things for the future generations?

As for me, I think I'm doing my part to save one other thing...our beautiful Earth.