(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"What is your favorite tool?" Was the question I got from a newspaper once. They had a number of standard questions asked by leaders of various organizations. "My father," I answered quickly. If I need to have something repaired in the home, it is most often the one I turn to. He has about eight inches less than I have, and is a master of maintenance, fixing and taking care of what the family has.
Maybe he has it from his father, my grandfather. He was a bundler and sewed and patched the hiking gear for the family. Certainly with some extra leather patches that reinforced the equipment where it was most prone to wear. Halfway through the Easter holidays he always sat in front of the stove and greased in all the ski boots with shoe polish. No one should get any moisture into the shoe other than the toe-kick they themselves produced on the long ski runs.
The Conservation Association received an invitation a few years ago to participate in an advertising competition. We should create an advertisement and get the opportunity to show it for free if we win. Where most advertisements encourage you to buy more, we went the opposite way and encouraged you to buy less: Instead, take care of what you have. We didn't win the competition, but the idea was so good that we launched the "Take care of what you have" campaign.
We started the website www.tavarepadetduhar.no, where you will find useful tips on how to easily fix your things: how to repair your headphones, how to get a good glide on the old skis without the use of environmental toxins, and how worn LPs can be get a new life with some wood glue. Lately, I haven't dared to try my own record collection yet – but am eagerly awaiting report from those who have done so.
Each year, on average, 15 kilos of new clothes are imported per Norwegian. This equates to 30-45 new garments for each of us.
Reuse. Norwegians' clothing consumption has exploded over the last couple of decades. Each year, on average, 15 kilos of new clothes are imported per Norwegian. This equates to 30-45 new garments for each of us. About one kilo of chemicals is used to produce each of these garments. If all Norwegians reduced their purchases with three new garments each year, it would give the same saving for the climate as if we all left the car parked for five days. It would also save nature for 14 thousand tons of chemicals.
Instead of constantly buying new clothes, we could trade some of the nice and useful ones we have, but no longer wear.
April 16 we arrange a change of clothes day in many places in the country. Then you can come up with clothes you no longer use, and exchange them for some that others no longer use. The chance of finding something nice is great. In Sweden, they have run such days with great success for a number of years. This is how we ensure the clothes a longer life. Last year, the Swedes' change of clothes on this day led to 44 garments changing owners – a saving of 500 tonnes of chemicals and 29 tonnes of CO165 emissions.
VAT-free maintenance. At the same time as we give people tips on how they can take care of what they have, we will work to make politicians cheaper to repair instead of throwing away. They can remove the VAT on the work the tailor and TV repairman do. In addition, all municipalities as part of their waste plan must facilitate repairs and recycling. They can create repair and recycling squares where people can come and get help with repairs or handing in items that others can benefit from. This must be done in collaboration with non-profit organizations.
My dad repairs first and foremost because he finds joy in making things that don't work work again. My grandparents took care of what they had most because they could not afford to buy something new all the time. It paid off to take care of things. Although it may be cheaper for us to buy new, it still pays for the planet to take care of what we have. Then the need for constant new extraction of the planet's resources will be less.
Haltbrekken is the leader of the Nature Conservation Association. lh@naturvernforbundet.no
