Having Clothes And Shoes Repaired And Recycling And Reuse

     
     In this day and age almost everything is geared to comfort and convenience. Use it once and throw it away. Everything is disposable. This should create a boon for recycling. Unfortunately the majority of things just get buried in a landfill somewhere. No one really cares where. Just so they do not have to look at it. A very comprehensive recycling program could really cut down on such waste. Create a lot of jobs. Help keep consumer prices down.
      The other day when I was off work I was going through the closet. The work pants that I have found working best for me over the years are Dickies. They are durable and stain resistant. The only problem is a seam starts to come apart in the butt section. I have thrown out many pairs just because of this. Going through the closet I found four pairs with this problem. Nothing else wrong with them. No stains, tears, bad pockets, nothing. So I got out the $1 sewing kit from the dollar store. I sewed the first pair up. It stated together. Not such a neat job though. By the third pair I sort of had it figured out. The last two pairs turned out really good. Making me wanting to kick myself for throwing away two pair a short while ago. So in theory I saved myself about $100 right now. As they run about $25 a pair with tax. How many pairs have I throw away? Many. How long will they last? don't know. What I do know is that this action prevented me form going out that day and spending $25 on something I do not really need after all. Plus whatever else I would have spent buying the trousers. Win, win. A day without spending money. 
     Today it is hard to find a pair of shoes or boots that are reparable. however good footwear may be next to impossible to find and not within your budget when you can find them. You buy a pair of shoes and throw them out. I do have several pairs of dress shoes that were made before the throw away age. Still classic looking shoes. Still very wearable. And repairable. In the late 1980's I heard they were going to stop making Bass shoes in the United States. I bought several pairs. A few of which have never been worn. And the pairs I did use have been resoled a time or two. Coming out as good or better as new. Consider yourself lucky if you still have a good shoe repair shop in your town. And support them with your business. It is getting to be a lost art and when they are all gone who is gong to repair your great old shoes and boots? 
     Have you ever heard of a tailor? Yes, they made clothes to fit you. I used to wear suits at work every day. Nothing made you feel better than a nice tailored suit. Everybody dresses so shabby today. Their used to be a tailor shop next to where I used to work. And i would actually buy clothes from him. Cool huh? Now all the stores are filled with cheap junk. Most of it is ugly too. 
     There was a day when your milk, soda, and beer bottles were returnable. Meaning that you paid a deposit on the bottles when you purchased the product. Upon return you got your deposit back. Another great system that reused the container, created jobs, and did not create as much waste. A good system. But it did require work and effort. Things that most people want to avoid these days. But those jobs are how people got by. Kids would even collect and find the lost bottles and turn them in for the deposit. At 5 cents a bottle and candy bars costs 5 to ten cents, go figure, it adds up. You could even make a pay phone call for 10 cents. This system also created jobs for people making the glass bottles. Now we even buy water in plastic bottles when you used to simply get it from a kitchen sink or a water fountain. Same water, no waste. 
      Take shaving. I shave every day with one of the Gillette Speed shavers I have. I have a 1952, 1956 and 1960 model. Obviously these were built to last. The only thing that you have to replace is the blades themselves. Which were still pretty much available till of late. I do not see them at my store or Walmart either. So I bought two hundred of them on ebay. I get about a month out of each blade. So I guess I have enough for a while. You shave with a two sided blade. Which does speed things up (guess those old folks knew what they were doing), you rinse the shaver. Pat it dry and good to go. Every few days you take the blade out and clean the shaver. No big deal. No $12 shaver to buy every week. Just think how much money you could save. Just think of how much landfill waste that never gets recycled here. They also made lady shavers too. You may be able to find them on ebay. They work great and do not shave too deep to create irritation. There are many other brands out there. Merker is a good German brand. 
     Think of all the things that used to be mechanical. Not electric. Everything is now elelectric or electronic. Which makes it even better! But the same thing, it just sounds better. Watches and clocks used to be mechanical. Which meant they run of power generated by a spring. You opened cans with a mechanical can opener (which I still do) if you even open cans at all. You probably just eat junk food or fast food anyway. At one point in time everything was mechanical. No electricity needed. 
     The latest generation is so accustomed to the throw away, no effort needed, just throw away, create waste, push a button, check it out on my phone and you know what I mean that this is the new normal. But as a society we think this is alright. Just use it, throw it away and save a lot of time and effort so we can hang out with our mobile phone. Our only true friend.