Made from Scratch by Coleen O'Connell

I have lost three pair of mittens these past two months. Middle age forgetfulness I conclude. Thanking my grandmother for her tutelage when I was young, each time I simply make another pair instead of going to the mall to buy new ones. My grandmother would be proud of me. She, who taught me to sew, started me on simple things at age four. She mentored me into my high school years where I surpassed her skills and tailored a coat with the help of my Home Economics teacher, which won me “Future Homemaker of the Year.” Those were the days when it was called Home Economics instead of Consumer Science as it is now. As a consuming culture, we have moved beyond the practice of making necessary objects from scratch at home – whether it be biscuits or a crazy quilt made from scraps. Now days you learn to read Consumer Reports to find the best deal of the sexiest performing new unnecessary gadget and then spend your time searching for it online or driving around from store to store. Not me.

So in the spirit of Grandma where every discarded piece of clothing found its way to a quilt, a potholder, or some useful household item, I must make time to sew a new pair of mittens. What can be a better time than Saturday night? Once again I sort through my stash of wool sweaters and fleeces as I take out the mitten pattern a graduate student introduced me to last winter. I began to design yet another pair of mittens. Mixing and matching I choose carefully three different cast-offs for a combination of color and texture as I fall into the trance of my sewing project.

This time I use the Irish wool sweater I bought in 1995 while on my fabled trip to the ancestral homeland. That sweater has been a faithful companion all these years and then last summer it succumbed to those nasty wool moths. Rendered unwearable by the large gaping holes, I find there are plenty of good places for placing the mitten pattern and I boldly cut into the cable knitted beauty.

My discarded brown herringbone wool coat is my next choice. Worn at the edges, and now too small on my thickening body, I have relegated it to the reuse pile. This coat holds wonderful memories of my burgeoning professional life as I took Cambridge by storm each winter. PhD work, teaching courses, advising students, attending faculty meetings, designing new graduate programs... all those trips to Boston made in this one classy coat. I am so happy as I connect my past life with my present one – where I still travel to Cambridge, teach students, and advise them. Now I wear a fancy wool coat I bought for $5. at a church sale where they were raising money for a mission in Africa. Someday it too could become mittens.

My third choice for color and texture is the hard one. The beige Ireland sweater and the brown herringbone wool coat need some color. What shall I choose? The cornflower blue sweater with sunflowers peppered all over it that I bought in Heathrow airport on my return from teaching a semester in India? It too succumbed to the wool moths. Or maybe the Icelandic sweater my mother-in-law gave me years ago at the beginning of my now defunct marriage? Red, black and white. Hmmm...what color am I feeling like for this next pair? Or maybe the beautiful orange, salmon colored variegated wool shawl I knitted several years back and then mistakenly washed and felted? This part of the mitten making is my favorite – my creative juices are flowing as I sort through the possibilities.

I finally settle on the vibrant teal blue/green sweater whose color matches my new $5 coat exactly. Bought at Good Will, the wool is thick and rich. Won’t I look smart in matching coat and mittens? Again my Grandma would be proud. OK, it is cheesey but oh so warm. Now I must try not to lose them.

Schoolbook dilemma

Last week I realized that I was missing one of the required textbooks for my Environmental Leadership class. When I saw copies that some of my classmates already had purchased, I noticed it was a fairly small book and thought the price should be minimal. I immediately went to the regular sites where I normally purchase textbooks to see what sort of deal I could find on a used copy of the book. While I generally try to buy used books, sometimes when the price of shipping is added onto the price of the book, it ends up cheaper to buy the book new - as long as the shipping cost is waved. It seems likely to me that I will most likely get a better price for books when I go to resell them if I buy new. Then of course there is the fact that I have a tendency to highlight my textbooks as I read, to save the time of writing notes out separately as I go.

So I was in a bit of a conundrum about what would be the best plan for purchasing the book. I began to think of my options in relation to my citizenship class and our pledge to make as environmentally conscious buying decisions as possible. I wanted to be able to resell the book after the class and have it continue on its path of bringing useful knowledge to others. The chance for that would be better if I bought new, but I had pledged to not buy new unless absolutely necessary - nix that plan. So I was going to buy used and was looking for the location closest to me for its purchase to help save on the carbon footprint of shipping.

Alas, the ultimate solution came to me. I checked the catalog at the Sherrill Library at Lesley University and they had a copy in stock. I put the copy on hold through the website and walked to pick it up. No cost for the book or shipping and no carbon footprint. Yes, I will not be able to highlight in the book while I enjoying a free-for-all with my trusty highlighter pen, but I think the benefits outweigh the sacrifice!

"The Checklist"...in progress

We all acknowledge the importance of a good support system in our efforts as environmental leaders. For me, my support system includes my co-workers, friends, and family. I wrote the following email to them to explain my current efforts and justification, and to ask for their support and insight. I thought the beginnings of that correspondence might help others discern their own thoughts and beliefs…

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Hello, m’dears!

My Urban Ecological Citizenship class met for the first time last weekend, and I once again find myself inspired and energized by the projects and efforts we have underway. One of the most interesting (and perhaps challenging) efforts we have planned involves a “social experiment” of sorts. For the next several months, we have all vowed to be extremely conscious of our consumer habits in an effort to “walk the talk” with our dollars. How do we consider ecological benefits with our purchases? Well, that’s a really great question…and that’s part of what we’re going to collectively (try to) figure out and document with this blog.

We discussed many aspects of the ecological impacts of consumerism as a class (e.g., geographic origin, materials, packaging, etc.). The challenge in all of this, from my perspective, is that these decisions are never cut and dry. In many instances, you can’t have an “all or nothing” approach (“I want to get a reused cookie sheet originally produced within 100 miles of my home and made of 100% recycled aluminum!”), or else you’ll go home with…nothing. Thus, I have considered my own values to create a prioritized checklist:

1. Need: Do I really need to buy this? Can I make do without it, or repurpose something I already own?
The most ecological thing to do is to refrain from using resources (energy, materials, etc.) in the first place.

2. Reused: Could I get this item reused (from a friend, at a consignment store or thrift shop, etc.)?
Someone else already made the decision to purchase this item, so I don’t personally use any virgin resources AND I keep something from going to the landfill.

3. Buy Local: Can I buy this from a local store or business (or of locally-sourced materials)?
These (often smaller) businesses have more control over their purchasing practices, and I am willing to use my (loud) voice to encourage them to offer ecologically sound options, while supporting the local economy. Also, local materials require less energy use in transport as they do not have as far to travel.

4. Business Practices: Can I buy this from a store or business with good ethics, regarding the planet/people?
If I give good companies my money, I’m encouraging them to continue making good choices as vendors/manufacturers. While there are lots of considerations in this regard, I am mostly looking to avoid companies with obvious warning signs (e.g., child labor, lack of appropriate certification, no regard for environmental protection).

5. Eco-friendly Materials: Can I buy this item made at least in part of recycled, recyclable, organic, compostable, or non-petroleum-based materials? This brings the rest of the supply chain into consideration and is where things can get messiest – because how can you prioritize recycled content over organic content? However, it might also be where an easy determination can be made – a product with NO environmental considerations versus a product with at least one. I will have to be extra careful of greenwashing with this one, though – I’m open to any recommendations anyone might have.

6. Minimize Waste. All other things considered, can I buy this item with less packaging? Of recycled or recyclable packaging?

Whew. OK. So, now I turn to all of YOU for a few things:

· Patience. As I hem and haw over what I will buy. As I become much less fun as a shopping buddy. As I whine in frustration at times.

· Insight. What do you think of my checklist? What would you do differently? Where do you think I should shop in Chicago?

· Support. You don’t have to take this project on yourself. You don’t have to understand why I’m doing it. But I ask you to not make my life any more difficult with cynicism or mocking. Thanks! J

And, if you’re interested, feel free to follow our blog – the rest of my cohort is posting there as well! urbanecologicalcitizen.blogspot.com

Much love,

Kristen

Recycling with the help of friends

This past weekend while sitting in my Ecological Citizenship class I commented on the fact that my backpack was falling apart and that I would need to find another one preferably on craigslist or ebay so I could find one second-hand. I did not mind paying a bit for a replacement backpack as I use them quite a bit when I walk and ride the T and buses around the Boston/Cambridge areas. I had found the pack that was falling apart in the basement of the cooperative where I live, and had already repaired it previously. It was time for a replacement.

Upon hearing my comments about needing to replace my all-important transporter of needed personal items and school materials, my friend Karyn offered to give me one of hers. She said she had a collection of them and would be happy to donate one to my current need. We settled on at least letting me pay for the postage to send it from Providence as I would pay more than that for anything else I acquired even second-hand. So now I will have a "nearly-new" backpack that has come from a friend without anything new being purchased! Thank you Karyn!