We (my husband and me) try to educate our son on that when something is broken, first we try to repair it, if it is not possible, then we try to give it a second life, etc. We (broke* and) repaired together clothes, toys, books, computers... We have used broken things to make new toys, created costumes... When we want to do something we look first at the materials we have at home.

( * sometimes things break accidentally, other times, when trying to figure out new ways of playing or trying to open them to see their parts. Toys are for playing and learning, and that includes a bit hacking too, isn't it?).

I don't buy a different type of biscuits or flakes or whatever until he finishes the last one he chose. If he's bored, we play with combinations or decorations to make them more fun.

When we go to do the shopping, first we make a list at home. If there are temptations in the mall, then I can say "we didn't come here to buy that, it's not in the list. If you want it, next week, when we make the list, we talk about it".

We borrow books and films from the library, handle them with care (no hacking allowed with those ones!), and return them back, almost every week. I wish there were similar places as libraries, but for toys! (well, we have the park, where everybody must share the toys he/she brings, but it's not the same).

These may look like small things, but it's incredible the pressure of our culture: "is it broken? Throw it and buy a new one" or "We need to buy this in order to make that", or "I don't like this anymore, let's buy a different thing". You don't realize until you try to follow a different path! Or until you have a son/daughter and he/she comes with those ideas, and you wonder "from where did he/she learned that?".

We'll see for how long we can resist. Anyway, every day I give thanks, because our son means a daily opportunity for rethinking our world, and trying to do my best at explaining it, and making it more similar to the world that we would like to live in!