Wombling
Who remembers The Wombles? I constantly borrowed these books from the library when I was a child. Cute furry creatures in burrows who lived on what careless humans threw away? Irresistible! My favourite feature of the books were the lists of the things that the Wombles found on their collecting expeditions, which they popped into collecting bags and took back to the burrow, where the wonderfully taciturn and practical Tobermory stacked them all on shelves in his workshop and made them into whatever the Wombles needed. Lists, DIY, making-do-and mending... so many of my favourite things all in one book!
Essentially, the Wombles were 'making good use of the things that we find, things that the everyday folks leave behind'. In other words, they were a freeganist, dumpster-diving salvage society. I think that what drew me to them as a child was partly this idea of living on the fringes, in the spaces between the uncompromising and very boring structures of society. These were creatures who lived on what fell through the gaps, and lived a rip-roaring life of fun and adventures right under the noses of the unseeing humans above, who went about their lives not realising what was going on just below.
It is fascinating (and terrifying) to contemplate our growth-obsessed society, and the sheer volume of stuff that is produced every day. I mean, it is almost impossible to imagine where it all goes. Baby clothes, for example. How is it that there is still a market for new baby clothes? New babies outgrow their first clothes in about two months. Every time I have had a new baby I have been given bags of hand-me-down baby clothes, and after every baby I've given bags of clothes away that are hardly worn. If there was a moratorium on the manufacture of new baby clothes tomorrow there would be enough to go round for years to come. But people buy new baby clothes all the time. Where does the old stuff go? (I have just thought of the answer - clearly the Wombles snaffle it for the baby Wombles..)
The dominant paradigm of our society is buying and selling, and any transaction that does not result in outright ownership is seen as a poor cousin. But just think of the possibilities beyond a culture where owning stuff is important. Rent, barter, trade, lending, borrowing, sharing, foraging, re-using, creating, up-cycling. Most of these are fairly unattractive concepts to the average middle-class consumer.
But just imagine the possibilities for an alternative economy. Most of us here on the interweb are reasonably well-endowed with worldly goods. What if we were to open up our hearts and lives and call our family and ten of our best friends and say, 'Everything I have is yours! Let's share stuff!' Actually, I imagine many of us do that already, especially among family. I have four or five friends who I count as family and we all freely borrow, lend and share all our stuff, but I think I will expand that network. Because I want more friends who are like family:) And sometimes the best way for friends to become like family is to ask them for help. Most people (especially those who are already friends) LOVE to help when you are in trouble, and are honoured to be asked. And then you help right back, and suddenly you have a mutually dependent relationship, and every time you are there with emotional support, practical help, garden produce or the lending of 'stuff' for a friend, and they are there for you, then that relationship becomes stronger and more vital..
Then there is all that excess stuff that floats around the universe, unwanted and unloved because most folks prefer new stuff from Target. I must say, I am getting more and more intrigued by the possibilities of all the lovely old, beautiful, well-made objects out there, sitting around in junk shops, at car-boot sales, on gumtree and at school fairs.
Here is my latest:
1950s Fowler Ware electric jug
My stainless steel kettle was leaking from the spout after all the hard work it has had to do over the years. I was pretty sure it could be fixed, but hadn't gotten around to sorting it when the switch started to malfunction. Not wanting to burn the house down I started looking for a 'new' kettle and found this in my favourite second-hand homewares shop (Tassie Old Wares on Hobart Rd for all you locals). Last time The Man was home he kindly made sure that the cord was safe and put a new plug on for me. Its only drawback is that you have to fill it up above the element otherwise the element blows up. So each time you have to boil half a jug of water. Two options occurred to me - invite six friends over every time I have a cup of tea, OR fill up the thermos with all that boiling water. I went with option two, although option one is also attractive. Now I have several cups of tea a day without even boiling the jug, so I think that on the whole I am using less electricity. And it is blue. And so beautiful. And now I can see why these were called 'electric jugs' when they were invented, because they are clearly an actual jug, with electricity and a lid attached.
And as for wombling, I have already started. The other day Posy and I were walking the dog, and someone had left a charming chair at the end of their driveway with a 'Please take me, I'm free' sign on it. Now I hear this is a common practice in other localities, but not so much in our conservative town. So what could I do but encourage such initiative? I handed the dog-lead to Posy and carried the chair home. Posy has declared she is never walking the dog with me again. And the chair needs repainting, and recovering, and I have to admit that there have been other times in my life when I have brought chairs home from op-shops and such places and not renovated them... and finally given them away again, but then that is how the great chair re-cycle of life goes anyway, isn't it?
So please do tell me about your own wombling adventures and your ideas for living in an economy based on fun and sharing rather than buying and selling..
PS Between finishing this post and taking photos for it I came upon this lovely man who is actually doing it - he is living the life of a Womble. What an extraordinary and wonderful human being. I want to be just like him when I grow up..
Comments
Tempted to get a beach recliner except I don't go to the beach that often. Helped my elderly neighbour carry a clothes rack from another neighbour.
Fly up here and you could get enough stuff to open your own store in Tassie. Oh, except you don't fly!
What did I put out you ask? A suitcase over 25 years old whose wheels have come off stuffed with cushion stuffing from our first lounge as a married couple which I had reused for floor cushions for the kids but after 23,years is too smelly. A broken fan (which someone rescued the motor part - it was the plastic neck that broke. Stupid to have the whole weight of s fan dependent on a plastic neck. I saw several of the same models out today. They must have been knocked over as my son did to ours.) And a bag of stuff like old cords and doo-dads from kids' toys.
Oh and I love the blue jug. I want one.
Top work with the chair (I do the same thing here too for good finds). Chance finds always add an element of excitement and uncertainty to our lives: How is it going to work out? Will we achieve our vision for that item? How will it look? Why did the person throw out that perfectly good chair?
We were at a house wrecking yard on Saturday morning in Bendigo picking up steel sheets for the new wood shed and there were so many interesting and useful items in there! All good fun, but the place here is kept very neat so...
By the way, is that a real espresso machine in the background of that photo? Hmmm, if so then my respect for you has risen. hehe! I'm so far from real coffee (20km return trip) that it is a proper espresso machine (Gaggia Classic) or not at all. They haven’t changed the design of the machine for over 30 years – and that says something.
Speaking of which: You know what is a useful second hand purchase? Fowlers Vacola bottles. Those bottles are awesome for bottling fresh fruit over summer and I have a year’s supply of bottled apricots here. YUM! They are so well made it is a shame. I use number 27 bottles here (900ml) and the youngest of them is over 40 years old.
Hope that you are getting some serious rain in your part of the world too.
Cheers
Chris
Yes, I was asked to select steaks today.. you are right. I think they are all having a big laugh at Blogger HQ..
Chris, lovely to see you here. Yes, I love the serendipitous nature of treasure hunting at junk shops and op shops. That lightbulb moment when you find exactly the right thing, that you didn't even know you needed yet!
I am afraid I deserve no kudos re coffee. I don't drink it, and have never learnt how to use the coffee machine, because if I did, people would expect me to make coffee for them. Outrageous!
I am pretty sure this is a quite ordinary coffee machine. Although it does make proper coffee, not one of those pod things. Ex-hub took the good one recently (with my blessings) when he moved into a new apartment. He replaced it with this one, which was his work one, because the girls like to make frothy milk for their hot chocolate, and the 19yo makes a coffee about every six weeks or so. So I am sorry people, if you visit me for coffee, you will have to make it yourself.. but I will graciously get the coffee cup out of the drawer for you:)
And yes, Fowlers Vacola bottles - have been filling them with pears and apples all autumn - my first whirl at preserving. Too much fun!
My daughter lives in Wimbledon - last visit we ate in the Fox&Grapes pub on the common. No Wombles in sight tho!!blessings x
I'm really enjoying ready about your thrifty & minimal ways. I remember you stripping extraneous stuff out of your house many years ago now and it's lovely seeing where that impetuous has led you.
Kris
Fran, I may need your expert advice when I get to crocheting all my granny squares together. I'll be on your doorstep! I may just pass on your generous offer of white fly as I have enough of my own at present.. but you know, thanks..
Mimi, I cannot believe that response from your 'friends'. I hope you have since found some truly kind and supportive people to share your life with..
I maintain that finding goof friends and working hard to keep them is one of the most important forms of self-care.. especially challenging for those of us introverts who love to lurk at home reading a book, but I have been very blessed in the calibre of people who keep turning up in my life anyway..
Kris, how marvellous to hear from you!! I have been thinking recently about calling you and arranging to walk our dogs together.. And now I discover you have moved to Adelaide. Outrageous! Hope it was a good move for you. I spent my later teenage years in Adelaide, and went to uni there at Flinders (because Adelaide didn't have a sociology department then, and I really wanted to study sociology!). Are you lecturing there?
I am so glad your visitors are so polite as to not mention the outdoor setting. When I have visited family in Adelaide I have frequently been very upset at seeing something on the side of the road that I couldn't fit in my suit case to take home..
Please email me if you get a chance, I'd love to catch up:)
I have a friend with whom I have developed a "share and share alike" relationship after many years. The funny thing is, that although for various reasons I have a lot more "stuff" than she does, she never would borrow from me, despite my frequently offering. But once I "imposed" on her for the use of her rototiller, and later a pasta machine, she finally felt OK to ask. So I agree that sometimes asking is a good way to break the ice. It does take some nerve though, to be the "vulnerable" one. Aren't people funny?
--Chicken Heather
Anyway, I advised The Boy to ask around at work if anybody wanted to sell him some old furniture, knowing what would happen, and sure enough, he was rapidly given all the old furniture people wanted to get out of their sheds. It is a wonderful cycle of life!
Chicken Heather (that title always makes me laugh xx) I just loved The Borrowers - I must go back and do the math! And yes, I think that sometimes that willingness to be vulnerable is the key to taking that relationship past the place where you don't want to impose on each other. People mostly prefer to be the giver rather than the receiver - it is the position of power after all.. and it takes a special kind of courage to be perceived as needy:)
And no TV for me as a kid either - which is why I am a book worm I guess:) Of course, the Womble books are better than the TV series, but that goes without saying..
I love the chair, what a find! And thanks for the link to the lovely man.
I nearly pulled an old bath out of a skip this week, for water storage or maybe a pond, but my big old car has died and I wasn't sure it would fit in our small one. This week I have had free manure from a horsey friend, chicken poo from another friend and have asked neighbours for mushroom crates and grass clippings. Everyone seems so pleased to oblige, even helping me dig/ carry/ deliver the "goods".
When I took down my sons home-made pirate ship bed 8 years ago, I used the wood to build some shelves in the garage. I took them down at the weekend because they had been hopelessly overloaded and were listing like the titanic, but the wood looks perfect for making a coldframe. I found an old tow rope on the shelves, that has now been reused to attach a trapeze to our tree. I just need to find someone who want several tins of half used paint now.......
Our garbage collectors will pick up practically everything that is left at the curb on trash day.
What folk have stared to do though, is put out items that could be reused, a couple of days ahead and people can just help themselves.
In fact there are a few pick up trucks that cruise the streets on Tuesday evening looking for stuff. I assume these people would be resellers or scrap collectors.
I've found quite a few goodies myself.
Most of the stuff will be taken to the landfill but at least some of it gets saved to live again.
Marieann
And I love the bunk bed to cold frame story. It has me looking thoughtfully at Posy's bunk bed. I would really like a cold frame..
Marianne, your local community sounds sensible and brilliant. Our garbage trucks are all automated, so everything has to fit into the wheelie bin. And no hard rubbish pick ups:( So people have to be a bit creative to share the stuff they don't want any more.
But it sounds like you have a brilliant system of sharing around your treasures..
And I am glad to have introduced you to the Wombles, they are our kind of folks, completely:)
no one ever puts stuff out on the curb around my neighbourhood. I suspect people either sell their stuff on gumtree or just chuck it :-(
Go Wombles!