The Enid Blyton Society

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Thanks for letting us know about the videos, Courtenay. I enjoyed watching them. It's lovely that the man who repairs umbrellas gets to hear customers' stories about why a particular umbrella means so much to them. I also like the remark by the man at the Leeds Repair Café: "It's not just that people bring stuff and we fix it for them - it's that people come and learn with the fixer." Passing skills on is vital if we want to encourage people to mend damaged items rather than throwing them away.

Yes, I liked that too. Even when I was little (which wasn't THAT long ago... surely? ) it was still fairly common to have damaged items repaired rather than throw them away, but there were fewer and fewer people doing it for a living, so I'm always glad to see people reviving and encouraging that.

Because my dad is an electrician, and also a handy man, I've grown up used to the idea of 'don't throw that away - it could come in useful'.

As kids, it was completely normal to have everyone's second hand radios, TVs, irons, food mixers, etc. My mom often complained that she rarely had anything new! People would give them to dad to mend, knowing he was an electrician. Sometimes they would have them back afterwards, but often they would just buy a replacement and we would end up benefiting from the item. This was the reason we had an old top-loading video recorder before many people even had videos, and why we still used a reel-to-reel tape recorder right into the 1980's (much better quality than cassettes) and why as a kid I had my neighbours tricycles and bike, and rocking horse!

It doesn't happen quite as much as it used to, because my dad decided not to take on so much mending work, but he still enjoys making things and building his own cupboards, shelves, gadgets etc if he needs them, as well as mending stuff. If something goes wrong, chances are he can mend it. At one time we used to have several televisions, in case we needed spare parts - but the flat-screen TVs made them obsolete - although there are still plenty of other things that dad will mend so that we can continue using it. People have forgotten how to do this in many ways and we live in a throw-away society - which of course is why there's so much plastic pollution etc.

Actually people are discouraged to use things for a long period of time. Many smartphones become obsolete after two years because the manufacturer no longer cares to provide updates (Android), and newer versions of the OS slow the phones considerably down (or slowed down by the manufacturer on purpose).

Yes, that's the point as far as the manufacturers are concerned... because it means people are forced to keep buying new phones etc. and therefore spending more money.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

Fiona1986 wrote:A filter jug instead of buying bottled water...

I've always lived in places where the tap water is drinkable so I've never needed a filter jug or bottled water.

We filter our kettle-water as we live in a very hard-water area. In fact, it is so hard that it bounces. If we boil tap-water, you get a layer of chalk on top of a cup of tea. As Jame drinks it black, it doesn't look very nice! I also put filtered water in my cappuccino machine and steam iron.

Ah yes - the tap water is like that where my grandmother lives. She used to give us orange squash and it had flakes floating in it and foam on the top. We drank it just the same though!

Yes - the water at my Great-aunt's caravan near Stratford-on-Avon was like that. As a child/teenager, I quite liked it, lol!!

So did I! It gave the squash "body"!

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Ah yes - the tap water is like that where my grandmother lives. She used to give us orange squash and it had flakes floating in it and foam on the top. We drank it just the same though!

It was discovered many years ago that 'hard' water is good for the heart, so it is wise to drink it without filtration.

Rob Houghton wrote:Yes - the water at my Great-aunt's caravan near Stratford-on-Avon was like that.

Was your great-aunt a traveller?

No - a gypsy, lol!

Katharine wrote:Tut tut, not using washable ones?

I thought about it but our flat gets very damp as it is, and we are constantly running out of space to dry clothes/towels/bedding etc without adding nappies to the mix (and we're lucky Brodie is not a sicky baby, it'd be a lot worse otherwise!). We do buy more expensive nappies that contain a lot less plastic than regular ones. https://www.naty.com/uk/diapering/baby- ... 31501.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rob Houghton wrote: However, I dislike the fact that nearly everything in a supermarket is packaged in plastic - apples, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, salad, carrots etc often come in plastic - not to mention plastic wrapped swedes, cucumbers, etc.

I found out tonight that larger Tesco stores recycle carrier bags and any "stretchy" plastic bags like bread comes in. Never noticed this in-store so I'll have to look next time I'm in.

Excess packaging is frustrating as are 'Jiffy' bags as most from the UK don't break down into paper and plastics so when I order say a cd it can't be recycled and yet companies based in Switzerland and Germany use bags that can just by tearing them. Why can't our own suppliers use more ecological sensible packaging?

Completely agree! When I send my books to buyers, I always wrap them in bubble-wrap and then a bubble-wrap envelope - and I hate the fact - but there really aren't any alternatives. As always in this country, more environmental alternatives are way too expensive to be practical.