Yankee Come Home

With Yankee Homecoming starting tomorrow, its impending arrival started a conversation among several of us ACES folks about what the historic Yankee culture that existed here in New England for hundreds of years might teach us about our environment and its care. Looking around on the web, we found an article in the December 2007 issue of Utne magazine, in which its staff outlined five tenets of Yankee thrift that caught our attention. Here they are verbatim:

First: “You shouldn’t buy stuff you don’t need. The old farmers couldn’t buy frivolous things, so they didn’t.”

Second: “Everybody needs some stuff… If you’ve got to buy something, make it as cheap as possible by amortizing its cost over a score of years.”

Third: “Heavily research your major acquisitions: Know exactly what you’re buying.”

Fourth: "Buy things that are serviceable... We always ask: Is it serviceable? If it is, it means we can buy parts and fix it.”

Fifth: “Take the same conservationist approach to non-mechanical items that don’t break so much as wear out.”

Preserving and perpetuating those values today can be a major benefit to our environment and offset the tremendous impacts of our throw-away economy. Our historic New England culture and unique desire for independence, thrift, and minimalism have served us well throughout the years. These values have been kept alive in greater Newburyport by our institutions like Historical Society of Old Newbury, the Custom House Maritime Museum, various preservationist groups, the ‘If This House Could Talk’ tours, and the annual celebration of Yankee Homecoming itself. From ACES’ point of view, civic and social groups like the motorcycle club which picks up trash while riding, Repair Cafe’, Tinkerhaus, and Time Trade, as well as shops like Oldies Marketplace and New England Sketch Book, embody this kind of thinking. Even our composting efforts in schools and via Black Earth pickups ‘reuse’ the last remnants of last night’s potato peelings. 

What the list of five things above doesn’t include and we think needs to be included are #6: “Eat locally grown and prepared foods” and #7: “Walk and bike more and don’t waste money on more gas than you need to.”

Many of us greater Newburyport “newcomers” don’t have the same deep roots that some local families do, but we can still share in the culture, a culture of thrift, stewardship of land and ocean, and preservation of what’s truly valuable to our lives. There are some people who believe that being less wasteful is a sign of being less prosperous than their income would indicate. They are concerned that their attempt to save gives the appearance of need rather than a reflection of a personal choice to be a responsible citizen. Additionally, there is a mind-set that no matter what they might do to help the environment, it won’t matter because ecology is a global problem which their behavior can’t possibly impact. And then, there are those who think “Why bother? It’s too late to change the way things are.” But we cannot see the future. We can only deal with the present. The present asks that we do what we can, when we can, where we are. Let’s act on the butterfly effect, a metaphor that suggests that even small actions, like a butterfly flapping its wings, can create unexpected results on complex systems. ACES team members commend Yankee Homecoming and its hardworking committees for working tirelessly since its inception in 1958 and we recognize them as fellow environmental stewards and conservationists. See you all at the YHC Parade.

ACES and its Youth Corps invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Join Our List” link on this page. Please consider joining our community of stewards who commit to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting us at acesnewburyport@gmail.com. We can make a big difference together.

This educational column first appeared in The Daily News of Newburyport on July 26, 2024.