Keep the old girl going

Where we once used a plastic straw, we now use a reusable straw as even the paper “single-use” straw is now taboo.

This all makes sense as we multiply like roaches while strangling the Earth.

The less we use and the less made is all better for the Earth and our environment.

Now before you think I have gone mad and am going to live in the mountains foraging for natural mushrooms dressed in an old hessian sack, think about the car world – specifically here at home.

We are all starting to rebel against single use and limited use materials, either as they cannot bio-degrade and are harmful to everything or as they create vast amounts of pollution in manufacturing and or recycling.

I think we can all agree that we need to adopt this approach in our lives, and many are already doing so in simple ways, like your shopping bag, toothbrush, household power or little drinking straw.

So why are we not applying this same approach in our automotive choices?

I am not naive enough to try solve public transport in South Africa, and I am not suggesting an alternative to our cars as we are many years and many “Commissions” away from making any national progress whatsoever.

The question I am asking is why do we not hold onto our cars longer and avoid the harmful manufacturing processes for a few years more.

Instead of having ten new cars in your driving life, it could be four rather.

The result would be that we do not end up making the six other cars, rather reusing or recycling some older ones…

There are of course a few reasons for upgrading including personal safety as design improve, reliability as breaking down in SA is a sure way to get robbed, and the cool factor.

The first “safety” no one can argue with, especially on our rather lawless roads, the second usually can be dealt with by maintaining your vehicle properly and a good vehicle choice in the beginning.

The final cool factor is really where we have the problem.

On the North Coast I see many new vehicles, and in many cases simply an upgrade to a better vehicle when the previous one would have done the job.

How is a new big-engined Jeep better for the environment than your five-year-old diesel Hilux?

Maybe that curb-side swagger that you need so badly is trying to make up for another deficiency?

Like a walnut in a bird’s nest as they say? I doubt I could plant enough Spekboom in my lifetime to offset the damage done in making a new car.

I am not suggesting you drive around in a 1975 Reliant Robin, just that we should be proud of our older vehicles and avoid that next trade-in for a few more years.

The car I drive daily is now nine years old, and to be honest I cannot find a reason to replace it just yet.

I am not as cool as my mates and do not have the new model, however it must have reduced the amount of pollution pumped into the atmosphere as the new car was not made for me?

Vegans often would receive the same criticism; how can one person’s actions make a difference? Well unless you are Greta Thunberg or Sir David Attenborough, you probably can’t.

However, if we as a province, or as the North Coast decided to push back on the latest and greatest, we could all really make a difference.

The true capitalists may not like the idea much, but let’s try save our hard-earned money and invest it rather, and while doing so, we may help the world a bit!

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