Grannies Living Green

I just read Jenny Rose Ryan's post about her grandmother's rag bag. My own two grannies grew up poor in Oklahoma and they were scrimpers, what we would now call masters of frugal living. Granny Mallory, with an ever present thimble on her finger, sat sewing a quilt nearly every night and I still use potholders she made from my uncle's old jeans. My Granny B could bake like an angel but if there was a morsel left it was thrown over the fence to feed the chickens - no edible ever went into her trash. And because she grew up having to draw water from a well, she was an absolute water miser. Dishwater was thrown on the flowers by the door and rainwater collected to wash her hair (long after running water was a fixture in her house). I sort of dreaded when she stayed over to take care of my sister and me because our nighttime bath was only an inch deep. No room for rubber ducky entertainment in that tub!

My niece, who works at the EPA doing research on sustainable stormwater systems thinks Granny B's graywater usage and rainwater conservation passion might have influenced her career choice. And I know the saving ways of my grandmothers have influenced my artmaking career and my work at GladRags. Thanks, Grannies, for passing on your green livin' ways.

-Brenda