Got Ratty PJs?

Ratty, Ripped PJs and Earth Day

Toss ’Em? Ragbag Bound?

Mend Them?

I know you’re out there. You know who you are. You hide in those ratty ripped PJs and sweats. You wear them when nobody except those who love and accept you can see you. When you no longer can abide them or even embarrass yourself by wearing them, off they go into the give-away bag or even into the ragbag or trash.

My favorite PJ bottoms are thin white cotton. They are soft and cool against my skin. They are light, airy. They also are ripped at the waistband. Another tear has developed on one of the legs. I love these PJ pants. I love the way they feel. I don’t love that they are torn. I don’t love the idea of throwing them away.

Today is Earth Day—the day people plant trees and pick up trash and focus—if only for 24 hours—on what they can do to maintain and save this beautiful place we call home. I’m not sure today is the day we focus on ratty clothes, but that’s my focus.

Ripped PJs are just one part of a bigger problem on Earth Day and everyday. We use, use, use and consume, consume, consume. When we have used, used, used and consumed, consumed, consumed, whatever is left—those ripped PJs or sweats, and millions of other items—goes to the landfill, where it joins megatons of other refuse.

My Earth Day challenge, therefore, is to continue to love my ripped PJ bottoms. The action part of my challenge is to sit down and mend them with thread, needle, and time. These PJs—and probably hundreds of other items I own—have life left in them. It is not necessary for me—or anyone—to use, use, use and consume, consume, consume.

What can you mend today? What can you save from a landfill? How can you do less using, using, using and consuming, consuming, consuming?