Get With The Program
Aug 29th, 2008 by Lauri
“Do what you can with what you have where you are.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
When we opened for business, lots of people were surprised to hear about our unusual concept of reusing, recycling and redecorating with existing furnishings. It was 1981 and our affordable approach, “one day decorating and redesign,” was a novel idea. Back then, without realizing there would be a global climate crisis ahead, we at Use What You Have began encouraging our clients from the East Coast to the West Coast to think “green” by redecorating with what they already owned. Our methods conserved trees,
lowered carbon emissions and preserved resources, unlike conventional interior designers who encouraged expensive new purchases which depleted the earth’s natural elements. It also saved folks a lot of money.
Cut to the present: Today, twenty-seven years later, our country is, of course, confronted by a dire situation and all of us at Use What You Have are working harder than ever to help educate and encourage our clients about the simple ways they can protect and conserve the raw materials on our over-taxed planet that have been taken for granted.
Just in case you haven’t started, here are a few of those feel-good-about-what-you-are-doing tips:
• Shut off the lights in every room that is unoccupied.
• Do not run water, unnecessarily, when brushing teeth, shaving, showering, or at any other time.
• Take showers instead of baths.
• Recycle all newspapers, magazines, cardboard, glass, cans, and plastic bottles.
• Wash only full loads of laundry. Do not use dryer unless fully loaded.
And, if possible, line dry clothing (for that wonderful fresh fragrance).
• Use dishwasher when full only. Lock it each night; continue filling, until ready.
• Be sure all new appliances are rated “Energy Star.”
• Buy recycled paper products. Use “select-a-size” paper towels and not full size
toweling (saves tons of paper!). Use only plain white, not patterned or colored
paper goods.
• Keep A/C and heating use to a minimum. Open the windows; enjoy fresh air more.
• Be sure to close the fridge door as quickly as possible whenever it has been opened.
• Keep dry cleaning to a minimum.
• Bike and walk instead of driving, whenever possible.
Someone sent me this email and it’s so appropriate to what you do:
A Keeper
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer’s night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away….never to return. So… While we have it… it’s best we love it… And care for it…. And fix it when it’s broken…. And heal it when it’s sick.
This is true.. For marriage…. And old cars…. And children with bad report cards….. Dogs and cats with bad hips…. And aging parents…. And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep.. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.
There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special…. And so, we keep them close!