Ed,

Many thanks to John Edwards for his timely piece “Throwing Money Away” in Voices for the Earth in this week’s Independent.

Just have a look at the huge amount of stuff your children have to lug around in their backpacks to and from school every day. No wonder so many children have to be ferried to and from school in huge SUV’s rather than walking or riding their bikes to school- “battery-reared” or “free-range” kids? 

How much stuff did you have to lug to school every day when you were a kid who walked or rode your bike to school? Not very much in the old days, that’s for sure.

Now if you’re an older reader of your Independent, when do you think this change in behaviour started to happen?

Did the arrival of commercial television have anything to do with the changes you see today? With so many adverts on television telling you that you need or want more stuff, the days of “make do and mend” or “get it repaired” seem to be over.

In the old days bottles were refilled, products were repaired, and saws were resharpened. Waste Minimisation was the way to go.

Very durable materials were used to make reliable, reusable and repairable products so you had less demand for waste management.

So, if you refuse to be conned by the CONvenience of single-use products, start once again to choose to REUSE; for the future is what you choose, while you still have time.

And the change won’t cost you the Earth.

Harry Johnson, Iluka