Repairing our possessions when they crap out on us has become such an archaic thought. Clothes get torn or lose a button? Toss it. Cloth diapers lose their elasticity? Give them away and buy more. Soles on dress shoes get worn down? Give to Salvation Army and buy new. It’s so easy to just donate and buy another that we have forgotten how to repair to give a new life. If we put the grunt work in, we can repair our things and maybe even add more skill sets to our resumes. Recently for me, it was our poor patio set that had endured 24 seasons unprotected from the elements and was in really rough shape. I thought about going the easy route and putting it out in front of the house to be hauled away and buying another on Craigslist but then I decided that repairing it would be so much better for the environment so I set forth.

You all, this project was awful. I’m not even going to pretend that it wasn’t that bad. Every second of it was miserable. It’s about a thousand degrees here in the Midwest and the humidity is at 2000%. These chairs have so many nooks and crannies. I’m not super comfortable with woodworking and usually leave it to Andrew but as it’s summer, he has his own laundry list of projects he’s working on. Mosquitoes are out in force. I had to work at night after the kids were down. Each step took longer than the step before.

This is what taking care of our Earth looks like. It’s not always easy. It’s not always fun. Sometimes it’s just plain work. Hard, hot, miserable work.

I borrowed an upgraded sander from our friends (thanks, Ben and Anna!), used some leftover wood stain from a previous project, and bought some sealant. For me, the whole project cost $20 and 3 evenings. PLUS my time, effort and tears. But a whole patio set was saved. I’m glad I did it but it was still a terrible process.

I will now answer some questions you might have:

Did I realize I forgot to stain some of the pieces and continue with the next step anyway? Yes

Did I seal multiple spots of bird poop into the chairs because I just didn’t care anymore? Yes

Did I apply 2 coats of sealant only to certain parts of the set because I was running out and didn’t want to buy more? Yes

Did I not sand in between the slats because I just wanted to be done and it was good enough? Yes

My point is this, it wasn’t done perfectly but it was the right thing to do. I finished it and saved the set for many more seasons. Living less waste can be as easy as a simple straw switch but then there are often times, like this, where it’s miserable and sacrificial but we do it to care for our planet and to show the generations after us that we gave a damn. That we did our best to take care of the world that was created for us.

*You may be thinking that you don’t possess the skills to resole shoes or sew holes in pant knees. True, but there are folks who can and that’s when when it’s worth to put the money into letting someone else do it. Find a cobbler, and a tailor, or someone in your neighborhood who has the skills. It’s worth the investment.