Repair, Reuse, Make Do

Taking a few days off from posting, on the occasion of my upcoming birthday and my mother’s visit. Back again on Tuesday, or even Monday if I’m inspired.

Just after posting about my busted Birkenstocks, I ran “Birkenstock” and “repair” through Google, and lo, there’s a whole small industry devoted to repairing them. There I was, thinking I’d have to make a funeral pyre—or maybe a burning Viking-boat sort of thing—as the proper way to send off my Birkenstocks, but no. They can be rebuilt. We have the technology.

The flip-flops I bought on Bali, on the other hand, which I paid about 20,000 rupiah for, are shot and unrepairable for sure. Sounds exotic, no? Bali flip-flops. But they were ordinary green rubberish things, the sort Wal-Mart would sell. I just got them closer to the sweatshop that made them. They’ve been unwearable for a while now, but since they’re in the garage, I forget to dispose of them. (Burning would probably be an eco-unfriendly option, or at least a smelly one.)