My grandfather was a pioneer of circular economy. Then again, everyone was after the wars. The people in Finland excelled in fixing and re-using old stuff.
For this table, however, my grandfather does deserve a special mention. He worked as a manager at the Nokia mill where most of the machinery was renewed at the beginning of the 50's.
One of the new machines was delivered in a fine wooden box. In the material, Grandpa saw a new living room table for his villa. He drew the form on the side of the box, and asked for it to be sawn accordingly to make a table top.
With time, the legs of the table have unfortunately been broken. Once as I was moving, I decided to screw in a set of legs, that had remained unused from an IKEA table. The solution was meant to be temporary. They are not exactly classy but they are recycled. The old table top has a few cracks these days, but to me they are not a problem. This 70 year-old recycled table is still in good use.
When my Grandpa was young, fixing and recycling was not a trend, but a part of everyday life. Going back to that is a question of attitude. No need to fear that it would immediately take us back to the era of black and white television. Quite the contrary. Circular economy can help curb the consuming hysteria, that makes us short of breath, and thus increase the quality of life. All it takes is small change in the way we think. Should we give it a try?