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COLUMN: Don’t be a chicken — recycle

Fabric with chicken pattern was reused and recycled many times over the years
11456487_web1_Chicken-fabric

The other day when I headed to the grocery store, I grabbed my cloth bags as I was going out the door. (I’ve tried to train myself to take them every time I go out.)

As I pulled the stack of bags from the shelf, one fell to the floor that I hadn’t seen for a while. I picked it up and a flood of memories came pouring into my head.

My parents immigrated to Canada in the early 1950s. My Dad worked in a processing plant while Mom stayed at home with us kids.

There wasn’t much money so every single thing got used until it wore out or broke. It wasn’t unusual for things to have several useful lives.

When my parents bought their first home, mom sewed all the curtains. She was handy like that and could always make something out of practically nothing. (my sister called her the original recycler.)

Our first pair of living room drapes was a lively homespun with a colourful chick and egg pattern.

When mom had saved enough for a more sophisticated fabric, the “chicken curtains” (as I called them) were resized to the kitchen window.

And so they lived a long life until I was gifted with them when I moved into my first apartment. I hung them on my own living room window. How I loved those curtains!

Over the years, they got used, packed away and repurposed until that fateful day when my husband said, “No more chickens!”

At that point (you guessed it) I made those curtains into many, wonderful grocery bags. We got to enjoy the ‘chicken charm’ every time we got groceries.

Well, that was many years ago and I thought all the ‘chicken bags’ had met a tired end. (after all, that fabric had been in almost constant use for 60 years!)

Until, the other day when to my delight, one fell right at my feet — Aha! My chickens live another day.

Earth Day is coming up and you may ask, “What can I do?”

You can do like Mom did and practice the 3 Rs – Recycle, Reuse and Reduce.

You can come to the library and share the wealth of materials at your leisure. A few titles to get you going include Ten Technologies to Save the Planet, by Chris Goodall, Grow Great Grub, by Gayla Trail and Planet Home, by Jeffrey Hollender.

Don’t forget that growing your own food is a great way to reduce your consumer footprint. (even if it’s just a few pots of tomatoes) Saturday, April 21 bring the family to the library to Fill Your Boots from 1 to 4 p.m. Plant a boot or shoe with the Friends of the gardens, play, and hear some great stories.

Help us dedicate our Readers Terrace to the Friends of the Library at 2 p.m. Refreshments served, everyone welcome.

Sue Kline is the community librarian at the Summerland Branch of the Okanagan Regional Library.