It’s finally spring!…said no Mainer ever, as we had a snow storm the last two days. I think we are going on third winter now?
I know I shouldn’t let these circumstances affect my over all mood but every year I am more convinced seasonal depression is the real deal and my goodness has it been hitting hard this year. I’m contemplating chugging my daughter’s vitamin D drops at this point!
However, I am hopeful there is light at the end of this dreary, cold, snowy tunnel and soon we will shift into mud season, I mean spring*.
I have been trying to keep my mind and body busy recently to battle some of my not so great feelings and it has helped a little. I have been focusing on what spring means to me and I think for myself and many other people it represents new beginnings and new life.
This is the typically the time of year where we start to see budding trees, small growth popping up from beneath the melting snow, hear the birds start chirping again. My goal is to shift my attention to all of those things and away from how much mud is being tracked in from our dirt driveway onto freshly swept or mopped floors!
With all of the illnesses going around it gave me a jump start on spring cleaning. Since there was no other choice but to sanitize everything in our house I might as well do all of the nittygritty work in one full swing, right? Which in turn snowballed in to some deep cleaning, organizing, decluttering, and yet again realizing how ideal becoming more minimalist would be (we will save that for another post). This time I had a new epiphany.
After the umpteenth time of folding Mt. Laundry and shoving it into already over stuffed drawers, I filtered through and filled the donation box as I regularly do. Hauling the box downstairs I felt such conviction of not only of my attribution to consumerism but the waste that follows.
After the new year so many people, including myself, went through a decluttering phase thanks to some media influences. I binged watched shows, read articles, drank up every professional tip and it was great! It wasnt until after the show was over and you just see all of the boxes and bags piled up next to the door to either go to the trash or be donated that got me to think. What happens now, yes your house is clean and organized, you have decluttered your life which is so great…but that huge pile of stuff. If it’s not in good enough condition for someone to purchase, if donation facilities do not accept it, or if people just dont want to take the time to donate and decide to just dump it for someone else to take care of, into the landfills it goes.
I found this infographic while doing some research on textile waste and it was an eye opener for me.
Segwaying into my epiphany. I am absolutely guilty of throwing away a shirt with a hole or a sheet with a stain and contributing to these statistics, and as one person what difference can I make? Though it be small even so much as to reusing or upcycling a few items I otherwise would have trashed I’m still doing something. So, I am learning to sew. Random, maybe… hear me out.
When my daughter was born I was going through the nesting stage as previous posts have revealed. I was very conscious of not wanting to buy new, as cute as those baby outfits are. Her wardrobe consists mainly of handmedowns or thrifted items with a few exceptions of gifts from friends and family.
However, this little lady of mine has seriously turned me into the biggest girlygirl so I am constantly on pinterest scoping out cute baby girl outfits. I see the cutest little hat, I want so badly to purchase it… that is it. I call my mother in law and schedule a “class” so she can teach me her miraculous ways with a sewing machine. I show her the photo and she whips out a pattern like it is nothing and gives me a tutorial. Now I am a very impatient person, something I’m working on, so once I get home I’m ready to go, with nothing to work with that I like and no way I am taking all three kids to the craft store for material. My sister had gotten me some curtains for Millie’s room with a sweet floral print so I went all Giselle from Enchanted on them and had to find something to go with that so I pulled out a linen dress I had gotten in a bag of clothes from my moms coworker and an old sheet…
Short story long, once I got the basic idea how everything goes together it was actually very simple. Not only did I save money by not buying it online but it started a bit of a fire to see what else I could use as “material”. So far I’ve used pillow cases, curtains, mens shirts, all things that woud have just been boxed up and shipped off. I feel like not only does it help with the textile waste but it can bring new life to an item that would have been rendered useless and trashed.
I am hoping that once I learn a lot more I can branch out to take used/stained/torn textiles and make them new again in many different forms!
I’m excited to find all kinds of ways, in all areas of my life, to contribute less waste to world and I am sure you will hear all about it in the future! For now wish me luck honing my sewing skills and remember one person, no matter how small the act can still make a big difference!
Happy Spring and Cheers to New Beginnings!
♻️reduce.reuse.recycle♻️
wander & wildthings 