Resourcefulness: A Lost Art

One could argue that I’ve overused the phrase “key to sustainability” by this point. An accurate accounting yields the following keys to sustainability: durability, resilience; one non-key; and a missing link. In that vein, I offer my latest addition to the seemingly ever expanding keychain: resourcefulness. In what seems like a trait that holds little value in society these days, resourcefulness may play a large role in helping to reduce resource consumption.

Here’s an example to illustrate my point: the other day we received two packages from two different members of our family. Just one generation apart, I noticed the lack of resourcefulness by a member of the younger generation. The box was one of the US Postal Service’s, the kind you can pick up at the post office, free of charge, never been used, and in all likelihood never to be recycled, let alone used again. The other one was two old Xerox box lids taped together that probably had an intermediate life between topping a box of copy paper and serving on its transcontinental journey as a package.

Recycling and reusing are not really the issue. Rather, it is a matter of mindset and behavior. Speaking of the three Rs, the term resource can be thought of as another addition to this list. Much of what we consume is sourced from raw, virgin materials, instead of re-sourced from preexisting materials. In thinking about the two boxes that arrived at our doorstep, the first was sourced from old boxes, while the other highlighted the one and done mentality that pervades our current patterns of consumption. There is no disincentive to use the new box from the post office. Admittedly an aside, it may be little wonder why that organization is struggling financially. If customers were made to pay the true cost of the box (in addition to postage), maybe customers would reuse existing boxes.

Get resourceful and don’t just go for the most expedient route. There is a time and a place for that, but always relying on this way of thinking will only serve to exploit and eventually diminish resources.