The Catholic Peace Weekly in its Faith Platform Column, reminds the readers of another time in Korea not that many years ago, experienced by a child now a housewife.
She mentions the days when her parents were poor and were entertaining guests at the noon meal the guests would leave food in their bowls for the hosts who they knew were not eating. The starving hosts were giving up their food for the guests. When she tells her child these stories about a time when food was rare, he frowns and says: “Why?”
She recently raised a family of three at her parents' home. Her parents, who had precious memories and were thrifty and didn't know how to throw away things, had every corner of their house filled with memorable items. For three generations to live together in one space, we had to throw away a lot, and every time we tried to throw it away, there was friction with her parents.
My mother, who has experienced poverty and abundance, is still thrifty. She recycles bags of coffee mix to store salt. We always recycle disposables, fold leaflets into pot holders, and make wallets out of stretched socks. Shopping bags are stuck in every crevice of the furniture, waiting to be used again. Sometimes you are creative, and sometimes desperate.
“Today, the school told me to throw away my textbooks, so I threw them away.”
“Hey, that’s strange, why are you throwing away your textbooks?”
“I’ve learned everything now.”
As she writes this, she recalls the conversation between her daughter and grandfather. Who said he didn't have money to buy books, and wonders why they throw away good textbooks when the children haven't even graduated yet.
We live in an age where convenience is greatly esteemed. When she sees advertisements for quick delivery of online services, or to buy goods at prices much lower than the market price, she is living a life where she can consume more, more quickly, and throw it away more easily. She worries that she'll get used to this way of living. This is because the more widespread the perception that ‘it’s cheap, use it, and if you don’t like it, return it, the more the earth will inevitably suffer. These days, as irresponsible consumption and disposal become easier the Earth will suffer. We need to learn to wisely coexist with the Earth.
She thinks we need to creatively incorporate the frugality that is ingrained in us from our parents, a lifestyle to which we were not attracted. It's best to carefully consider whether you really need it and whether it's durable and well-made before purchasing it, using it for a long time, and passing it on to someone who needs it rather than throwing it away or returning it.
“In the old days, everything would have been considered a treasure.” My father said something while looking at the gorgeous gift-wrapping paper. I think he’s saying: ‘If it were me, I wouldn’t throw it away, but since you guys want to live a clean life, you’ll throw it away.’ As the person in charge of throwing things away in my house, I also wonder, ‘Would it be harmful to convey my feelings if I reuse these precious packaging boxes when giving them as gifts instead of throwing them away?’
Nowadays, we have long passed the days when we looked at a guest's leftover bowl of rice and thanked him for it. Nowadays, we exchange gifts in recycled packaging, consume carefully, share and reuse items, and show our gratitude to the earth that we generously share. We have lived without serious shortcomings thanks to the Earth, so now she hopes we can live using less and lacking nothing, a way of living in which we can all come to see its charm for the sake of the Earth.
