Change the World Wednesday – 6th Aug

My goiaba (guava tree) is guavaring like crazy. Two, three or four fruit are ready for the plucking daily.

Guava in my kitchen at the moment

Unfortunately, they’re nearly at an end, but spring is coming.

In my Monday post Monday Moaning I complained about the insidious invasion of whiteware that is spying on you.  In comments Lois mentioned washboards.

I use a type of washboard typical in areas de servico (laundry) in Brazil. O tanque (washing tub) with a built in wash board.

Tanque de lavar roupas

I don’t have a washing machine. As I said to Lois, washboards don’t tell tales.

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On with this week’s CTWW.

 

This week take a look at your clothing and fix anything which needs repair. This might include darning a sock, sewing up a rip, or replacing a lost button. Perhaps a shoe’s sole needs to be glued or a shoe lace needs to be replaced. The idea, this week, is to repair an item of clothing to extend its life.

 

OR …

If this is something which you regularly do, please offer tips and ideas for extending the life of clothing. This can include mending, laundering, or even buying for longevity.

 

Yes, this is something I already do.

I have posted about this myself, sometime back. Actually, it was more recent than I thought. Check out this Monday Moaning on consumerism.

Here’s my tip:

A few months ago one of my flip flops flopped. It was a left, which left me with a right. I had done the right thing some time back and saved a left, so I had a good left and a good right, although they were odd… Are you still with me?

Any way, I used my odd pair for more than four months, even after the odd left lost a bit at the heel.  Finally the right took a dive as well and they eventually looked like this…

Ready to meet their maker

Yes, I finally realised that the left and right had gone, the right thing to do was buy a new pair with a good left and right and behave like a normal person again.

The story doesn’t end there. I put them out with my recycle rubbish; hopefully at the recycle depot the material can be recycled; I don’t know.

The long winded point I am making, and the statement I made to my neighbours, who all know I am an eccentric foreigner, is that you can extend the life of two pairs of flip flops by almost the life of a single pair. Just by hanging on to an old flopped flip flop.

If you have two lefts or two rights, sorry, have to wait for next time.

I wore the odd pair locally, to the supermarket, to town… Pride? I don’t give a shit, I was doing my little bit.

The best part about the exercise was they were a talking point, they got noticed, they got people talking and discussing about my green ideas and efforts. They were a teaching aid.