Today was the second half of our organizational project at the 80-student K-12 school here in Mendenhall. The school didn’t ask us to do it, but we saw two rooms – the Arts & Crafts Supply Room and the Teacher Resource Room – and knew those were where we wanted to work. Both rooms were overrun with stuff, with virtually no visible floors. There were boxes, bins and piles everywhere, falling and tipping over other boxes, bins and piles. The principal was horrified that we had even seen these rooms, but we convinced her that we could make a difference here.

After two days’ work, these rooms are now useable. The Arts & Crafts Supply Room even has enough room for a full suite of office supplies (previously mixed in elsewhere). The Teacher Resource Room actually has useable resources in it – outdated books removed, materials organized by subject, and a clear floor by which to reach them.

It is clear that, like in the neighborhood homes here, the school has a strong aversion to throwing anything away. It seems every square inch has something in it – sometimes treasure, sometimes trash – but no one wants to toss any of it.

In the afternoon, we searched, in vain, for tools that would make the job easier – a hand truck, shelving units, some labels. Each time, we were met with an alternate cost-neutral suggestion: ‘we got boys from the basketball team, they’ll help.’ Or ‘You don’t need to buy shelves, Mr. Jackson over here can build some for you.’ 

Then it dawned on me: The people here consider very carefully ANY money they spend. Of course they don’t throw away possessions  lightly – whatever it is, it was once a perfectly good one! It took money and/ or sweat to bring it here, so surely we can find a use for it. Somewhere. 

This realization hit me all at once, in stark contrast to my everyday life. In my world, everything is disposable. Don’t like this? Too old? Get a new one. Even as I write this, it sounds cliché… But it really is a fundamentally different mentality.  

Here in Mendenhall, each item is truly the owner’s possession, no matter its condition. Broken items are used until every last bit of utility is worn away. (To make repairs, we often have to fix the tools themselves first.)
The idea of buying new tools is silly – these here still work… mostly. 

I wonder about the so-called Digital Divide. With forces like Moore’s Law, how will a society like this one manage? Their world does not accommodate new models every X months… They are looking for their property to last generations.  Their whole society assumes that this is possible. And yet, technology marches, faster and faster, with no intention of providing products to meet this town’s needs.

At the same time, ‘green’ is an utterly foreign concept here. While I’m working hard to reduce-reuse-recycle in my own life, this community already uses the bare minimum and reuses to a fault. How can I fault them for not recycling?  Again, completely different mindset.

I can’t help but think that the world rushing onward, with Mendenhall catching its dust. How can the families avoid falling so far behind that their children won’t be able to make a living? What responsibility do we, as individuals and companies, have to bridge the gap? 

If we do nothing, it seems that we are contributing to the delinquency of a society. If we do something, what exactly would that be?