Insights and Inner Tubes

Krater

Guest Post by Alasdair Munn

http://claremunn.com and www.twitter/ajmunn

The moral justification for changing the way we consume and use resources is fast being overshadowed by economic reasons. The “credit crunch” has us all looking for ways in which we can cut our consumption and reuse or repurpose resources we already have. Purists of sustainability and environmentalist might despair that we are approaching sustainability from the wrong angle—that the motivation is mostly inward facing. It is all about “me” not the environment, not the planet and certainly not about the poor children who sews your shirts.

Yet most of us do see the world in relation to who we are. Any journey has to start with the individual and travel through their community and then beyond. Even if we understand that we are all connected, we still have to take that personal step to allow the connection to flow. The simple step of recognising that resources are scarce and that we can make significant savings just through altering the way we view, use and reuse those resources is a huge step in the right direction.

This post came about because I responded to a tweet by Richard on Twitter regarding his leaking dishwasher. I suggested using strips of inner bicycle tube to stop the leak. I suggested strips 2cm by 15cm; however, the exact width and length really depends on the specific job. This works really well as the inner tube is thin, stretches and creates a tight overlap. I am no plumber and I am certainly not the handiest person when it comes to DIY. This idea is courtesy of my growing up in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, this is how you fix a leak.

Zimbabwe has had a turbulent 100 or so years. Colonialism followed by UDI, followed by isolation leading up to “Independence.”  Now, after a few golden years we are seeing Zimbabwe back in the news due to an all-powerful, self imposed political elite. The country has been through some tough times. There has always been a scarcity of resources, be it water through drought, or commodities through political unrest. The Zimbabwean people, however, are resilient. One of my favourite Zimbabwean sayings is, “We’ll make a plan”. And, when faced with adversity this is what Zimbabweans do.  

I grew up with a brick placed in my toilet cistern so we would use less water when it flushed. We collected our rainwater. When our washing machine broke down we had it repaired, buying a new one was not an option. If you could not fix it you bought second hand. If a tap leaked, you fixed it using a bicycle inner tube. We switched off lights and absolutely nothing was thrown away that could not be reused. We had 10 acres of land, a swimming pool and tennis court and lived a good life. We did these things not because we lacked money, were environmentally conscious or trying to save the planet. We did them because resources were scarce.

Yet Zimbabweans understand sustainability. They understand the fragile relationships between resources and consumption. Whole communities are built around these principles. People collaborate. They pool resources and skills. They are a lot closer to the earth.

As we in the West start to tighten our belts and strive to maintain our standard of living it will do us a lot of good to take a long hard look at how we consume and what we throw away. We look towards technology and commercial initiatives to make this transition easier when sometimes it just takes common sense. The motivation behind why we start to conserve resources is not as important to where this will inevitably lead us. As we begin to understand the relationships between our limited resources and our consumption we will be more open to gaining the understanding we need to make the leap from blind consumerism to considered resource planning, and to understanding the difference between want and need.