My mother used to use this phrase a lot. She was born of a generation that valued thriftiness, and it’s a mantra that I wish I’d taken up more seriously years ago.
My generation was, in contrast, one of consumption, and I shudder now as I think back to the waste I created without a second thought over the years.
I’ve always tried not to waste food, but it’s only really been in recent years that I’ve started really repurposing other things rather than just throwing them out.
Many of my seedlings are being grown on in yoghurt pots, old fruit juice cartons and mushroom trays that I would have previously discarded without a second thought.
Composting is taking care of most of our vegetable-based kitchen waste, and I’m repairing clothes now that I have time to do so rather than endlessly buying new. I feel better for it, I honestly do.
The langoustine feast left us with an enormous pile of empty shells, heads and claws. Janni, our neighbour, passed on a brilliant Icelandic recipe for langoustine bisque which she warned was smelly to cook, but quite delicious.
The stock making process was indeed stinky. I opened all the doors and windows in the caravan but the smell was still strong hours later!
The resulting bisque was gorgeous with a deep, richly intense flavour. There are no artistic Instagram swirls of cream here, I’m afraid, just bowls of soup with crusty homemade spelt sourdough bread given to us by another neighbour.
Janni made wild garlic aioli to go with hers, but I hadn’t been out harvesting yet.
As we sat eating our bisque watching another pink sunset over the mountains, I reflected that dinner tonight was largely made out of leftovers.
My mother would have been proud.
Ravencroft Skye 
Loving the drive towards sustainability, and the seafood looks amazing.
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Thanks guys. There are always excuses, mine was too busy working silly hours in a city and having not enough room to recycle properly, but I’m feeling so much better now that I can do this. I know it’s small fry, but every little helps, right? 😊
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It certainly does. Every bit helps. The bio food composting by itself has reduced a bag of rubbish a week. It’s just infuriating that our council doesn’t recycle soft plastics (wrappers and the like).
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I love the jeans repair, very snazzy. You probably already know that to help fight leftover odours light a (non- scented) candle or two. Scented candles with left over odors can be a bit overpowering!
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Great advice, thanks Linda. I did k ow that. I just forgot.. 😊
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You are doing amazing things with re-using! I have lived my life like this (coming from an extremely poor rural background) and I have wondered at times throughout my life, why people don’t re-use more. It always seems so wasteful to throw something out when it can do another job.
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It is wasteful. I’m ashamed that I spent many so many years of my younger life simply not thinking about it
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We were not encouraged to think about it growing up. I was only raised that way because it was the only way to survive.
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