I have always had an affinity with things from the past. I can recall, as a young boy, a friend of mine and I were exploring an old chicken coop we should have never been in in the first place, and coming upon these stacks of vintage newspapers that were teeming with front-page headlines and photos from the years during World War II. There was a spirit about them (and the old chicken coop) that had us returning to this newfound hideaway, daily for a while, fueling our young imaginations. We brought other friends and we sat there for hours, imagining and discussing that pinnacle era where our country was engaged in global war. As young boys, we played out those original battles, which were only just a short, 15-year space of time from when they had been current news. We became detectives of those front-page headlines, decoding what seemed like some secret script from our ancestors. Those newspapers were like ghosts, providing us with messages that subconsciously planted a firmer grasp of our own DNA.

There’s a simple idea behind this simple story – that our lives are inextricably tied to the past. It’s part of our human nature and there is an inherent value to those connections.

Today, we live in very reflective times. We are disposing everyday tools, appliances and goods at a break-neck pace. Do we now live solely for the purpose of convenience? Is there not joy in making something old (like myself), new again? Here’s a quick look at some very interesting takes on reusing (a reincarnation) of things and creating a wonderfully new spirit about them and their connection to the past. It might just be the (unique) holiday gift you’re looking for.

 

The other day my son alerted me to the fact that the stopper on his bathroom sink “didn’t work anymore.”

“Didn’t work anymore?” I asked.

It was then and there that I realized that, within a relatively short time – less than a generation – the idea of repairing things was no longer a part of our cultural mindset; that household objects are no longer designed to be repaired; and that when something doesn’t work anymore, we now just throw it away.

But wait . . . what my son knew as something that “didn’t work anymore,” was in fact repairable. The stopper’s horizontal pivot arm just needed to be tightened. And what’s more, I could actually show him how to repair it himself.

It was an empowering moment for us both, but it caused me to reflect back to a time when I was his age – how much my father repaired things, and how much he taught me about the use of tools and the idea of repair.

Today we are of a different world with a much different product mindset, but that can change – and should. There are wonderful ghosts that reside in our old objects. Resurrecting them, making them useful, adds a new spirit to them, along with a sense of pride and accomplishment of resurrecting something that would have been destined to the landfill.

Here’s a notion to repair with a link to the young and courageous Platform21 and their “Repair Manifesto”. Also check out their “Remarkable Repair” Contest. There’s some very creative perspectives to making old things new again.

Enjoy.

 

At Blik we continue to align our professional design services with organizations that practice sustainable business methods, not just for environmental marketing chic, but with the idea that their methods, their business practices, are based on long-term, cradle to cradle solutions. We are continually searching for those individuals, those firms, those ideas that are pursued with integrity, while defining the spirit of our new marketplace and the way in which we live within it.

Here’s a quick look a some that are truly making a difference.

NON-CO2 POLLUTANTS, Scripps Institute of Oceanography

TWIST LIGHT, by Herman Miller