The Spirit of 'Mottainai' ~ Don't waste what we have!

The spirit of Mottainai ~ Don’t waste what we have

Mottainai is a Japanese expression which loosely means 'wasteful’ and a term conveying a sense of regret concerning waste.

The re-emergence of repair shops specializing in repairing household appliances, the recycling of materials, and more generally the efforts to stop the trend of throwing away everything that can no longer be used is reviving the spirit of mottainai (which translates to ‘don’t waste what we have’).

Being confined at home, especially because we are taking care of an elderly parent, has really brought out my own spirit of mottainai - the vegetables I wanted were not at my finger tips so I though it would be fun to start a scrap garden. Then my sons got into it too and have started an elaborate roof-top garden. Masks were and still are scarce, so I found some old scraps of material and cut up old stockings for the elastic ear piece. I’m even putting my many furoshiki wrapping cloths to good use by nicely wrapping up  food we bring to elderly parents in nursing homes!

Have you been re-purposing old items in your home too? If yes, I’d love to hear what you did!