Many little things, by many little people... a Challenge

This is one of my numerous Fair Trade jute bags. I use it to carry all my school books and folders, so it's pretty important to me.

Here's the message:

Many little things,
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by many little people,

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in many little places,

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can turn around the face of the earth.

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Over the couse of last year, the handles got very worn, but the rest of the bag is in reasonable nick. Time for some Make Do and Mend, with canvas I bought about 17 years ago. Never been sure about the colour, but beggars can't be choosers...

So, what's inside? My French teacher's record book - very useful,

and a new (to me) 50 cents folder with a RECUP THEME!!!

There I was at Veti Relais, and they were having a Rentree special, and I got this recup' file with recup' pictures and recup' messages - I was very content. If you need to know what recup' means, do pop over to my definitions post. Look at the buttons! They called to me...

Something else that has called to me recently, but took a bit more thinking about, was dottie angel's challenge to herself and others.

Tif at dottie angel has challenged herself (being one birthday ahead of me) to a 42nd year of thrifty living and creativity. Here are the basic details:
I immediately identified with the idea, but like Tif, wondered if I could pull it off. Or if my husband would find it annoying. Or if my mother would worry about me depriving myself (note to mother - no chance, don't worry!)

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However, the following day was my big tidy-up day (which readers know about). I found myself tidying much used, much cherished things, and also sorting some slightly depressing clutter which it might have been a mistake to buy. The cherishable, useful stuff was all second hand, handmade, fair trade or recup', and the few depressing things were new - bought last year but somehow not having quite worked out the way I'd hoped.

This seemed to be a pointer in the direction of Tif's challenge, and I decided to follow up on the other bloggers who've taken up the challenge. My sweet friends Pomona and Denise have gone for it (in fact, I first found it on Denise's 'other' blog). By reading through their blogs, familiar or new to me, I was inspired by the varied ways that people are interpreting this challenge, and realised that I could make Tif's challenge my own, too.So my challenge to myself is that for one year, from Tif's birthday of 20th September onwards (phew, I never went shopping this week...), all my non-food, non-hygiene, non-stationery (I'm an independent teacher - I have to provide myself with stationery) shopping for myself and the house will be thrifted, hand made or fairly traded, and that I'll recup' anything that's wearing out or has no more use in its current form.

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In some ways this isn't going to change much - most of us, or all of us, who have accepted the challege, already work like that anyway. But there will be little things - I will save time and money by avoiding my 'guilty pleasure' shops Gifi and Casa - these are the French 'cheap but surprisingly nice' homestores, which can surely only achieve their prices by being quite the opposite of Fair Trade. I will delight in my mother's birthday gift of a Country Living Magazine subscription, and not go out and buy others... (except that the French often sell their back copies of good mags second hand by the bundle, woo-hoo!)Our TV, washing machine and a good amount of furniture have already come second hand or free from Toulouse's transient population of overseas inhabitants (often from people sharing out the goodies when they go 'home'). Our dishwasher and cooker were second hand and I recently was given an old glass jug to replace the broken one in our coffee machine. Thus, the essentials of French life can be achieved without going out and buying new. We have a computer crisis looming which may require a bit of new shopping by Ben, but we are also investigating the possibilities of our small town's 'green' computer rehab shop. In an emergency we will buy electrical goods new, but now we've lived here nearly five years we know enough to live almost completely without the highstreet.

This is not meant to be a depressing year. The aim is for a certain shedding of non-essentials, but for a lot of fun and challenge and celebration of all things long-lived and handmade! I think it could be a great year... Will anyone else join us as we have a go at changing the face of the world, one little thing at a time?