Roofing a colonial revival house and the Easter Island tree mystery

Last week, I was replacing cedar shakes on an old house. It struck me how much wood we use just for cover. That led me down a rabbit hole about Easter Island's vanished forests. I mean, those folks cut down every last tree to move statues, and here I am ordering more timber for a gable. There's something absurd about modern construction facing similar resource questions. It's a quiet reminder that some history mysteries are just about poor planning.

4 comments

4 Comments

susan3611d ago

That's a sharp point about history repeating itself with resources. But do you think our modern systems just hide the cost better? Easter Island ran out of trees on one island, but now we pull wood from all over the planet. So is the real problem still the same, just on a bigger map? It feels like we're counting on technology to bail us out forever. What happens if that faith is just another kind of poor planning?

wendy_henderson2118h ago

Really makes you wonder if we're just pushing the problem farther away. Like when we order stuff online, it's easy to forget the ships and trucks burning fuel to bring it here. Are we counting on some new invention to fix all this later? Kinda scary to think our kids might pay the price for our convenience.

ninasanchez23h ago

My grandpa had a shed where he repaired everything from chairs to lawnmowers. He kept jars of nails and bits of wood because replacing things was hard back then. Now I just use my phone to get new stuff delivered tomorrow. This ease makes it simple to forget how much waste we create. We don't see the chainsaw cutting trees or the ship burning fuel to bring it here. That disconnect reminds me of your worry about hiding costs until it's too late.

craig.viola23h ago

Exactly what @ninasanchez is getting at. My dad fixed our toaster three times with parts from an old radio. Now my first move is to check a review video online and just order a new one. All the cardboard and plastic wrap it comes in goes straight to the bin. I never picture the factory making the box or the truck bringing it to me. The real work is all hidden.