When we think of 1950s housewives eco-friendly isn’t the first thing we think of but maybe it should be! Many of their skills and habits translate perfectly for the homemaker looking to be more sustainable.
Housewives in the ’50s wouldn’t have even known the term “go going green” or “eco-friendly living” but they still did many eco-friendly things. While consumerism was becoming a bigger thing post-war, housewives were still quite resourceful.
Their moms lived through the Great Depression and WWII, they learned how to make do or do without. Much of this was handed down to the next generation. And over time we have lost a lot of these skills and values.
I believe we can learn many valuable lessons from 1950s housewives and one of those is how to be eco-friendly. With this being Earth Month it’s the perfect time to add some of these vintage eco-friendly habits into your life. The best part is these things are also great for helping you save money.
Eco-Friendly from 1950s Housewives
They Reused Things
Clothes were repaired until they couldn’t be anymore and then were turned into other things, at some point often becoming rags. Jars and such were turned into storage containers. You didn’t just simply throw useful items away.
The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did just 50 years ago. All of that added waste is coming at a cost for our budgets and the planet.
Addition Reading: 9 Things My Grandma Never Threw Away
They Had Smaller Homes
Since the 1950s the average size of homes has more than doubled, even as the average family size has decreased. The average size home in the 1940s and 1950s was 1,100 square feet, in 2002 it was 2,340 square feet.
Bigger homes mean more resources for building and running the home. While a 1,100 square foot home may seem far too small for your family, many of us could do with much less space than we have. My husband and I live in a home built in 1963 and it’s 1,350 square feet. We wouldn’t mind having a bit more storage space but we are looking into adding some storage space in the attic to take care of it.
Overall having a smaller home has been great. It takes less time to clean, it takes less to heat and cool, and we actually use the space we have.
Additional Reading: Reasons to Consider a Smaller Home
They Drove less
While the ’50s did see more families buying cars and more roads being built, people did still walk more often than we do now. Second cars were very uncommon so housewives often walked their kids to school and for errands.
Now the average American family owns 2.28 vehicles. It is predicted by some that this trend will change but for now, it’s still the norm. My husband and I actually only have one car. We are able to have a nicer car and still save money over having two cheaper cars.
Waste Less and Buy Less
Overall, there was just less stuff consumed and fewer single-use items in the 1950s. Ironically the 1950s is when happiness also peaked. Our increased consumption hasn’t seemed to make us any happier and is doing a number on the planet.
Buying quality items, using less, and using things until they can not be used anymore would do us all a lot of good. Imagine what it could also do for your budget.
Being a retro housewife isn’t just about cute clothes, having a clean home, and all of that, it can also be about helping the planet.
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TerriC says
I often say that we have a small house. It’s 1100 square feet. The truth is it’s roughly the same size home I’ve lived in for the past 30 years but it’s small by today’s standards. There are just two of us in the home so it’s a nice fit for us. However, we raised FIVE kids in our 1100 sq. foot home, so we know what it’s like to be ‘at capacity’ and still fit a few more in. Funnily enough, friends with much larger homes have always loved coming to out little house, lol.
Karrie says
It’s crazy just looking back even 20 years how much more we consume in general. I’m only 45, but the pace of it all makes my stomach flip.
We need more balance, less waste. I almost feel guilt entering, but have hemmed and hawed over similar straws and know they’d be used.
blossawe says
I am doing this after getting married- savings and first using the stuff I have before buying anything new 🙂
Susan C. says
The clothes from the 1950’s were not the only thing that was repaired. Shoes were sent off to the shoe repair shop when they were in need of new soles.
Small appliances such as toasters were also sent to the fix-it shop for minor repairs.
Consumers used things up and wore them out before buying new things. Clothes were handed down from one child to the next.
Meals were cooked at home from scratch, because “tv dinners” were considered a convenience and even a luxury. America needs to return to the days before rampant disposable consumerism became the norm.
TJ says
Don’t forget, we also got milk in glass bottles that were washed and refilled. We didn’t have bottled water, at all. If we wanted water to go we refilled a glass soda bottle, jelly jar, mason jar, etc. Most of us bought or rented one or two phones that we kept for 50 years. We didn’t get a new one every 2 years and then dispose of toxic batteries. We re-wore clothing more than most people in this generation, and often line dried them. Like the article said, most families had one car so errands were run together, and you saw multiple people in cars back then which also created time to converse with family since people didn’t have their faves buried in their phones (like I do right now). We kept our home temperature pretty cool in winter and wore layers for warmth, and warm in summer, very few people had AC. We repaired appliances rather than replacing them. There weren’t new and improved models every year making us feel like ours were obsolete.
SCA says
That’s all great when women/wives didn’t work outside the home. Now, women have the majority of the housework, childcare and cooking. I sincerely wish I could implement all of the 50s techniques
Lisa Sharp says
I totally understand I run a full-time business. It’s not about being perfect or doing it all, it’s just learning from the past and using the tips that work for us. Every little bit helps.
BHM says
My children go nuts because i try to live like we did in the 50s. I had an iPhone ( my sons old one) never knew where it was or how ro really use it. Gave it away a d got a jitterbug. It is cheaper and really neat. I still don’t know where it is half the time. We didn’t have a phone at home until i went to work,for the phone company. We made outmfi e. Grew up hearing waste not want not and use it up wear it out, make it do, or do without. Still live by these rules. My children are finally getting it. My younger daughter wants to learn to sew, quilt and reuse everything. Older daughter and hubby have a garden and have taken up canning. There is a chance.
Holly Whiteside says
During WWII women were often working in factories to replace the shortage of labor. After WWII, the nation being able to transition to a peace time economy was of primary concern. Women were forced out of jobs to make places for men returning from war. People began to condemn women who did not stay at home as unfeminine and “bad mothers.” Many women were angry about this, or just… bored staying at home when they used to have work outside of the home.
Simultaneously, the factories started innovating new products, desperate for a piece of the market, since during WWII many factories were producing for the war effort and now that lucrative market was gone overnight. This started a HUGE surge in marketing and ads to encourage consumerism, a great portion of which was directed to stay-at-home women to feather their nest, and it really was the start of our throw-away culture. Prior to, and during WWII, people focused on getting only what they needed and making or growing a lot of what they needed, too. They bought less but bought quality items that would last and could be repaired, often by themselves. During the war, no one could buy a lot, and there was rationing. The 1950’s starts the “Keeping up with the Jones.” New motorized kitchen gadgets appear, t.v.s, hugely expanding clothing wardrobes (home sewn was now considered inferior), canning begins to decline as food products expand, they started marketing cars to women also and many households started to have two cars by the late 1950’s….and the focus shifts overall to “more is better,”
It is true houses were smaller than today. But part of that is because of the G.I. bill that provided for low cost mortgages to the G.I.s, and consequently there was a huge home building effort of small homes so that more G.I.s could afford homes. This was also part of the economic plan to transition to a post war economy, and prevent housing shortages and homelessness, but also to create jobs building homes.
It worked fabulously for the economy. It was crap for our culture and environment. Yes people had less in the 50’s, but that’s like saying, “once it was only a little avalanche.”
I love retro things and I think downsizing our homes and wardrobes and kitchens is a great thing! And in the 1950’s things like microwaves and food processors were new, so many homes didn’t have them or were just getting them. I like that food was still relatively simple in the 1950’s, but that was changing all too rapidly.
Personally, I take the 1950’s more as a cautionary tale. The thing I am most concerned about the 1950’s is the change in values! Prior to and during WWII the focus was always on buying little, but buying quality and products usually came with good service. The 1950’s values changed to more, newer, sometimes cheaply made (our restoration of the Japanese economy launched their imports to the U.S.), and their values shifted more and more to having luxuries (isn’t that just another word for what we don’t really need?)
Lisa Sharp says
I love that we live in a time where we can choose to pick the good parts of other times and leave the rest. I actually wrote about this a while ago- https://retrohousewifegoesgreen.com/why-im-not-a-time-warped-wife/
The 1950s weren’t perfect but just like with every decade we can learn from it and there are good things we can still enjoy.
Carla says
I was born in the early 50s, and remember the decade. My parents raised 3 children in a less than 1000 sq, ft, house. It was originally a 2 room house that my father built onto 2 bedrooms, garage and carport. It was one of the larger houses in our neighborhood (all pre-war). It’s a mistake to think that smaller houses were simply a result of the G.I Bill. Only in the swankier parts of town or out on farms were larger houses being built pre-war. With only a couple of notable exceptions (i.e. civil rights), values were much, much higher. Far less crime, less divorce, almost no violence in schools, fewer babies born out of wedlock, better manners; I could go on and on. I tell you truly, if I could swap time eras, I’d go back to the 1950s in a heartbeat.
Lisa Sharp says
There are good things and bad things about every decade. There was a lot that wasn’t so great about the 1950s, especially for minorities. Learning from the past and keeping the good and learning from the bad is the way to go.
Vanessa Anderson says
Now if only manufacturers would get on board. Packaging has become totally rediculous. A 18×18 inch plastic package for a dozen dry erase markers is so stupid and wasteful. If we could just go back to meat wrapped in paper, milk and soda in redeemable glass bottles, and just more overall sensible biodegradable packaging it would go a long way for the environment.