"Add Rant and Radical to the 3 R’s" by Marion Mutala
published in the Society (2012 St. Peter’s College Volume 9 pp. 59 - 60)
“If actually caring about Canada’s natural environment makes me a “radical,” sign me the hell
up!”, says Suzuki. (Planet S January 26-February 8, 2012 ,Volume 10,Issue 11)
When I began teaching over thirty years ago, I did not have many class room rules…
3 actually… Respect yourself, Respect others and Respect your environment …the 3 R’s…
As a problem occurred in class, I asked my students if they had respected the
3 “R’s”…inevitably… the problem was solved…
Today, I could add another “R” for Rant or Radical…
Perhaps a rant or two might save our planet…would that make me a radical?
David Suzuki words, that we become radicals in this environmental hell might actually cause
someone to hear or more importantly to listen… or would it?
I wonder….what is it going to take to save this planet or really go green?
My mother, Sophie, recycled before recycling was even talked about and became a buzz
word…a survivor of the Great Depression does that to you. She washed every plastic bag,
reused, saved every box, tin or plastic container and recycled them over and over and over
again… even washing our disposable plastic forks and spoons at large family gatherings. The
plastic cottage cheese containers were Ukrainian Tupperware …so we would joke …no fancy
Tupperware for our family.
My father, August walked daily and picked up every piece of garbage around town, every bottle
from beer or pop… broken or not, recycled, reused every bit of thread, wire, screw or nail; his
workshop full of treasures he had found. He repaired our shoes, the fine shoemaker he was and
when we grew out of them, we passed them on. Hand me downs were the norm in our family of
ten and our screen door was repaired with a white, thick thread dad reused…
No new clothes for me, number 9 out of 10 children, the 7th daughter out of 7 girls.
My sisters still pass me their hand me downs.
Reuse, recycle, repair, never wasting anything … that was the norm for the pioneers. Having
little, they appreciated everything. We enjoyed making paper doll cutout’s from the old Eaton’s
catalogue and my school Webster’s Dictionary had a comment and contained signatures from all
my older siblings… yes, all 8 of them …missing only my younger brother’s. I remember
drooling and longing for the new crayons, pencils and school supplies my peers had brought on
the first day of school…mine were reused and recycled….
Today, in this world of consumerism my own three, adult children laugh at me as I answer them
on my phone, a once slick, razor cell phone, the back lost on it (one can not get another
replacement for it as they are out of style) I thought it was so cool when I bought it. That lasted
maybe a month before the technology …something cooler evolved.
“Why don’t you just get a new phone? Throw it away my children say,”…
“This phone still works… I say… a phone rings and you answer it. It still works and does its
job.” …(not wanting to trash something before its time and fill our land fills , with extra waste
with all this slightly old, new, technology)
My kids roll their eyes at me…. my laptop is ancient too…..
Should we add another R and rant a little more or become radical like Suzuki?
4 R’s -What will it take to keep our planet green and safe and make a better world?
I am keen… for green…a green planet and care about Canada’s natural environment as well as
the entire world’s natural environment…call me a radical… but if Suzuki is ignored, Canada’s
scientific guru, who will hear my rant or my parent’s rant long after all those radicals are gone?
“Sign me the hell up!” make me a “radical” if it will really work????
up!”, says Suzuki. (Planet S January 26-February 8, 2012 ,Volume 10,Issue 11)
When I began teaching over thirty years ago, I did not have many class room rules…
3 actually… Respect yourself, Respect others and Respect your environment …the 3 R’s…
As a problem occurred in class, I asked my students if they had respected the
3 “R’s”…inevitably… the problem was solved…
Today, I could add another “R” for Rant or Radical…
Perhaps a rant or two might save our planet…would that make me a radical?
David Suzuki words, that we become radicals in this environmental hell might actually cause
someone to hear or more importantly to listen… or would it?
I wonder….what is it going to take to save this planet or really go green?
My mother, Sophie, recycled before recycling was even talked about and became a buzz
word…a survivor of the Great Depression does that to you. She washed every plastic bag,
reused, saved every box, tin or plastic container and recycled them over and over and over
again… even washing our disposable plastic forks and spoons at large family gatherings. The
plastic cottage cheese containers were Ukrainian Tupperware …so we would joke …no fancy
Tupperware for our family.
My father, August walked daily and picked up every piece of garbage around town, every bottle
from beer or pop… broken or not, recycled, reused every bit of thread, wire, screw or nail; his
workshop full of treasures he had found. He repaired our shoes, the fine shoemaker he was and
when we grew out of them, we passed them on. Hand me downs were the norm in our family of
ten and our screen door was repaired with a white, thick thread dad reused…
No new clothes for me, number 9 out of 10 children, the 7th daughter out of 7 girls.
My sisters still pass me their hand me downs.
Reuse, recycle, repair, never wasting anything … that was the norm for the pioneers. Having
little, they appreciated everything. We enjoyed making paper doll cutout’s from the old Eaton’s
catalogue and my school Webster’s Dictionary had a comment and contained signatures from all
my older siblings… yes, all 8 of them …missing only my younger brother’s. I remember
drooling and longing for the new crayons, pencils and school supplies my peers had brought on
the first day of school…mine were reused and recycled….
Today, in this world of consumerism my own three, adult children laugh at me as I answer them
on my phone, a once slick, razor cell phone, the back lost on it (one can not get another
replacement for it as they are out of style) I thought it was so cool when I bought it. That lasted
maybe a month before the technology …something cooler evolved.
“Why don’t you just get a new phone? Throw it away my children say,”…
“This phone still works… I say… a phone rings and you answer it. It still works and does its
job.” …(not wanting to trash something before its time and fill our land fills , with extra waste
with all this slightly old, new, technology)
My kids roll their eyes at me…. my laptop is ancient too…..
Should we add another R and rant a little more or become radical like Suzuki?
4 R’s -What will it take to keep our planet green and safe and make a better world?
I am keen… for green…a green planet and care about Canada’s natural environment as well as
the entire world’s natural environment…call me a radical… but if Suzuki is ignored, Canada’s
scientific guru, who will hear my rant or my parent’s rant long after all those radicals are gone?
“Sign me the hell up!” make me a “radical” if it will really work????
