Talking about old hammers

17-08-2014

Did I ever to you mention that I've never bought a hammer? I possess three of the things; two ball-peen and a cross-peen, for all you hammer-buffs out there. They belonged to my father, and possibly to his father. It means that the 'Essence of Hammer’ transcends the generations. But why these musings on nail-smackings of long gone?

To help regain our connection with the land, and grow some 'free' food, we've just taken on an allotment. There's a clutch of leeks, waiting to be planted, sitting across the table from me as I tap away here. But leaving the farmhouse and moving to town last year also meant a clear-out of the garden shed, and now we need a few replacements. A friend gave us the heads-up about a place specialising in second-hand garden tools. People, let me introduce you to the Wells Trading Post. It’s in Wells, as you might expect, and you really need to pay a visit. Because its an absolute joy. If I reincarnated as Aladdin, my treasure cave would be filled with stuff made from wood and iron, even if I don't know what half the things do.

And because I've been chuntering on here and elsewhere about re-using light fittings, heat-sinks and LED modules to anyone prepared to listen, I'd like to share this thought with you. The Wells Trading Post is The Circular Economy on legs. Long before William McDonough wrote about The Upcycle, these guys were doing it - they just didn't have a trendy name for it. And we, the UK lighting industry, need to capture this principle of re-use for the generations to come

It may be simpler to pick up an old hammer and knock in a nail, but the principle of re-using aluminium components or entire LED modules with a good portion of their lives left still holds. We just need to embrace the idea and make it happen.

As the man said, we can't throw anything away, because there is no Away. 'Away' has gone away. (McDonough: ‘Cradle to Cradle’ – what do you mean, you haven’t read it?)