Linda from Grandparents climate action

I am a 1946-type, grandmother of seven and mother of three sons. It feels both like a privilege and a responsibility of having grandchildren. We would very much like them to live good and meaningful lives like we have done ourselves.

When I grew up in the 1950s in the United States, it was a time of optimism and innovations such as television, refrigerator (which we continued to refer to as the "icebox") and car. My family with Mother, Father and 4 children (it came exctly in 1960) did not have particularly good economy, I have realized it afterwards. But we had what weneeded and some more.
Every Easter we received a new garment. Then we had to parade with in Grandma's driveway and be photographed. Getting new clothes was great, perhaps precisely because we didn't get them that often.

Our boys grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. We were lucky to know another family with three boys.
So every year we inheroted a huge bag of used clothes. When the boys got a little bigger, they threw themselves over the bag to see what they liked best and what fit. In between it obviously had to be supplemented with new items, and then it was about wishing a certain garment in this and that color for birthday or Christmas.

Some of these clothes continued their way with our grandchildren, not least wool sweaters, wool socks and
outer jackets and suits. Our sons smiled when they saw clothes on their childrenthat had been used by themselves. There can be a lot of "soul" in a piece of clothing.

Fortunately, reuse and redesign are tendy now. And imagine being able to rent clothes for the smallest children who quickly outgrow what they need. That's what I call progress, that.

The responsibility we have towards grandchildren requires us grandparents to think about reuse and a circular economy.

Linda from the Grandparen Climate Action (Besteforeldrenes Klimaaksjon)