Most people have a TV show or genre that is their comfort viewing; something that's entertaining and not too taxing or intense. In my case, it's antiques shows like Antiques Roadshow or the British Antiques Road Trip, which Nancy and I have been watching recently.
One thing that has struck me repeatedly is the utility of some very old antiques, for example a 17th century crib or a 19th century water pump. They're utilitarian items, not really beautiful, but they are hundreds of years old and still useful.
How many of our modern home items would still be useful sometime in the 22nd or 23rd centuries. Not many, I think. And how many of our homes would still be liveable?
Which leads to the real subject of this blog post; an article published by the New York Times* last October about how the Netherlands leads the world in recycling buildings. It's a long article that I saved to my Pocket feed for later reading. Usually I'm not that far behind, but I just spent a couple of months slogging my way through Arkady Martine's Hugo Award-winning duology.
It starts out describing why recycling building materials makes sense, explains the concepts behind what's now called a circular economy, and details the experiences of people in the Netherlands who are on the forefront of this new recycling economy. I found it fascinating and thought-provoking. Take the time to read it. You won't regret it.
*I have gifted the article from my subscription, so it's outside the paywall.
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