I’m Done with Gillette

Another step toward living sustainably, I’m done with disposable razors.

Here’s why . . . .

• having seen the enormous amount of money poured into persuading guys to upgrade their shaving experience, “have you tried the new Quattro experience“
• having even tried this 4-blade extravaganza and finding it didn’t make me look any more like David Beckham than when I started
• having clocked that the whole plastic-and-metal thing is certainly not recyclable
• knowing that the manufacturers are using the principle of planned obsolescence, making blades that will dull instead of longer-lasting alternatives
• knowing its up to me to vote with my dollar . . . .

I decided it was time to change, out went the old razors, in came a cut-throat razor and a good deal of careful learning.

OK, it isn’t as quick (I’m not trying this in the shower!!), and it requires a bit more gubbins (figure on a brush, strop and maybe even a block to keep the blade sharp).  And I am still at the stage where I’m nicking myself a little each time I shave but the satisfaction can’t be beaten and the shave is smooth and lovely (my gorgeous wife Sand says so).

Chalk another one up for the simple life.

The Great Recycle

When Sand and I moved to the USA we set ourselves a Challenge: to equip our new home without using the transaction of money and for ALL ‘gifts’ to be given to us with intention and love.

Could it be done?

The answer was – for sure

We built a wonderful new home together in our rented apartment, a haven of love and peace, a grand experiment in recycling and all for $0.00. We proved that there is enough spare and unwanted “stuff” out there already to equip a home, many times over, and enough love and generosity to supply everything we needed.  What’s more we learned invaluable lessons about simplicity, the differnce between our wants and our needs, and about what really counts in a home, and in a life.

As we left the  UK  to move to the States we  were  able to  recycle the largest part of all our worldy goods (2 homes full of ’stuff’ which had been collected for over 40 years) to a variety of good causes;
Oxfam got around 1000 books to sell, the Salvation Army were able to help a bunch of families with hundreds of items of kitchen equipment and household goods – they even got a beautiful full range of office furniture – for their new offices! A lovely young family down on their luck got a pair of bunk beds, bedding and boxes of ’stuff’, Save the Children are selling pictures, dozens of ornaments, lamps, clothes, coats, jackets, jewellery, 60 neckties no longer required and a dozen or more pairs of shoes which were hardly worn, the Shelter for the Homeless received duvets, bedding, sheets, towels and a whole pile of coats, shirts and trousers to keep their customers warm through the winter.  Our local Youth Club received a garden table and benches and a dozen boxes of household ’stuff’ to sell and raise funds for the wonderful work they do for their young people. The family that moved into our UK home even got a new vacuum – it was the very last thing we had to give away – and theirs had broken that very morning!

And then according to the universal law of flow we acquired beds and sheets, dishes and pots and pans, bikes and books and rugs and tables and chairs – everything we needed and more.  The Great Recycle Experiment was a complete success, a great joy and a deep learning.