Wednesday, July 21, 2010

What if....

What if you had to cut down every tree you need to build your house...
Would you build a 3000 SQ FT house plus a bonus and great room?

What if you had to carry all the water you needed in buckets...
Would you take a 30 minute shower?

What if you had to grow all your own food, every single morsel....
Would you throw any of it out?

What if you had to dig for every single drop of oil then refine it....
Would you drive 100 feet to the store 10 times a day?

What if you had to sew everything you wore....
Would you still need all the clothes you have?

What if an animal had to give up it's life...
And what if you had to kill that animal....
Would you still need 20 pairs of shoes and handbags to match?
Would you only eat the choice cuts of meat?

What if we all consumed as if we had to procure and manufacture everything we need ourselves?
Would you consume, use and throw out less?

I don't want to go back in time. I believe in progress but....not at the expense of my fellow humans, future humans and the planet.

Every time you get in your car or buy something or throw something out think about it. Can you do without it? Can you recycle it? Can you make it yourself?

6 comments:

The Hobbit said...

I try to live my life with all those what if's in my head.I have often heard the comment"what if everyone lived the way you do,don't you think the malls would suffer?" Hm perish the thought!

Margaret said...

I don't understand complicated and complex economics. For me I either have the money or I don't, easy. And I've heard about malls closing down, the economy going down the tube ect. if we all don't buy, buy, buy... But there must be a better way. I know I can't make everything I need but what if the malls were full of stores and people making high quality things that last? And what if the mall was full of stores and people that could fix all those well made things when they broke instead of throwing them out? Would that not creat a new economy?

July 21, 2010 9:12 AM

Anonymous said...

Great post, Margaret.

Sue G said...

Excellent Margaret, I totally agree. In our household virtually nothing gets wasted. I even bring home the used teabags and coffee grounds and left over salads etc from where I work, for the compost heap. I am shocked at the amount of wastage and consumerism everywhere. It's all about money isn't it....I'd love to say I don't need that too but unfortunately I have to pay the bills!

Scrappy quilter said...

Great post!!

Rhianna said...

Hi Margaret, I just found your blog yesterday and loved this post so much, I copied and pasted it on my blog with a link back to you. I hope you don't mind, it sums up perfectly my way of thinking and I wanted to share that with my readers. Thank you for the very insightful words. Rhianna www.wyldestonecottage.blogspot.com