All that said, I don’t think that all thrift store finds make the best gifts in my opinion.

Goods to avoid for sure include…

• Many toys – be careful about toys. It’s not always safe to give toys because without a warranty card parents won’t know about recalls. Also many thrift store toys are plastic or may contain lead. Although in good news, plenty of thrift stores are now watching out for toxic suspect toys. Before you buy toys used read how to find toxic free toys.
• Baby items. Many baby items are no bargain and can be very dangerious. Before buying used baby items make sure you know what’s safe and what’s not when it comes to reused baby goods.
• Electronics – most newer electronics use less energy and will actually work. I haven’t had great luck with many tech thrift store items. The same goes for appliances.
• Stuffed animals – don’t wash well and are a little too germ ridden for me.

Be very careful when buying…

• DVDs, CDs and records – any you buy should be scratch free and in really great condition.
• Dishes – may contain lead and if cracked can harbor germs. IF you have a pal who collects old dishes or teacups or what have you for visuals not edibles you’re good to go though.

Great thrift store holiday gifts…

• Books! My boyfriend just came home from the thrift store yesterday with the last three Harry Potter books – hardcover, perfect condition, and they look like new. Guess how much he paid for all three? $8. Oh yeah. Books are a super duper gift at the thrift store.
• Puzzles.
• Baskets for holding other gifts.
• Flower vases.
• Picture frames – you can put family photos in these for a great gift.
• Kids costumes (such as dress up clothing, costume jewelry, and so on). See how to make a DIY kid’s dress up kit.
• Wooden toys – which breaks my above toy rule, but wood is much safer. Just make sure toys are smooth, unpainted, and in one piece. Blocks are often a nice thrift store find.
• Kid’s clothing is often very nice because kids outgrow stuff so fast. Holiday dresses are an especially nice find.
• Stocking stuffers like marbles, costume jewelry, and sometimes even art supplies.
• Bikes – IF you look it over.
• Sports equipment.

PS – If you’re having issues about giving used gifts maybe you just need to consider how much happier the planet is when you give a reuse gift OR change your wording – recycled or reclaimed is oh so much nicer and less blunt than used.

Do you give thrift store gifts? What sorts?

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Best Thrift Store Gifts

According to a piece in The Desert Sun, Phish, a band who draws major crowds is aiming to cut down on some of that waste.

Some perks for the environment that have been implemented at Phish shows include…

• Phish water bottles you can refill for free and which cut down on plastic waste.
• Festival 8 aims to up the recycling efforts from a previous tour (50%) to 90%. Recycling is also better organized now, with 300 sets of recycling bins in total on the grounds that are separated – black for real trash, green for paper and food, and blue for plastics and other recyclables. The organic matter is going to California Bio-Mass, where they will be composted and turned into organic fertilizers.
• Food booths that use recyclable napkins, plates, forks and bags.
• An eco-shuttle with bio-diesel powered vans and hybrids to ferry fans to and from Los Angeles and Palm Springs airports and area hotels.

Of course this is not the first time musicians have jumped into green. Cake installed solar panels on their studio so that their albums can be recorded with 100% solar energy.  Rock the Earth, is rocking and green; a non-profit, “Dedicated to bringing about positive and beneficial environmental consequences on behalf of members of the music industry through the means of active litigation and negotiation.” Musicians are even recycling their old guitar strings for jewelry. And more…

• Extreme green musicians: The Top 10
• Cake goes eco-friendly with solar energy!
• The Top 5 Buzzworthy Green Musicians of the Moment
• Green Musicians and Green(er) Music Festivals

You can do your part by taking a reusable bottle to shows and by recycling your goods.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Are eco-friendly concerts the new wave

Image: Jason Permenter

1. As a cold compress to soothe tired, puffy eyes.
2. As a cold compress to ease sun burnt skin or insect bites.
3. As a booster for your garden plants and blooms. Remove the leaves from the bag before mixing it with your potting soil.
4. As a bath scent. Place leftover tea bags in a pouch and let it float in your bath water.
5. As an artistic tool. Dunk the leftover tea bag in hot water again and use the tea water as your ink or dye.
6. As a deodorizer. Place used black tea bags in your refrigerator to keep odors under control.
7. As an aroma booster. Dry out used tea bags and add some drops of essential oil. Place in a pouch and in your closet or shelves.

What else do you do with your used tea bags?

Post from: Blisstree

7 Uses for Used Tea Bags

Photo: SXC

That’s right. There’s actually a market for used electronics and games. You can check Amazon.com or your local DVD/game seller for the value of game systems, game cartridges and DVDs. For computers, check the manufacturer websites or resellers like Tiger Direct. For cell phones, you can try Amazon or reseller sites.

Now, don’t expect to get rich off of reselling your old electronics! I had offers of just a few dollars for old phones, but it isn’t like I’m using any of this stuff anyway, so why not sell it all and get a gift card at the DVD/game store or an Amazon gift card to stick in someone’s stocking?

Post from: Blisstree

Recycle Your Stuff for Christmas Cash

• Each day we fill up around 63,000 garbage trucks which means in a year we toss so much trash that if we piled it all up in garbage trucks it would form a line of trucks that will stretch from the earth, halfway to the moon.
• A huge amount of waste generated in the U.S. is packaging (one-third).
• We throw away 570 diapers per second. That’s insane.
• Each hour we toss (not recycle) 2.5 million plastic bottles.
• We make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the state of Texas. Which is a funny thought to picture a shrink-wrapped state, but not so hilarious to the planet.
• If we kept all the aluminum cans that we actually toss out we could rebuild our commercial air fleet every three months.
• Throwing away one aluminum can wastes as much energy as if that can were 1/2 full of gasoline.
• Four million tons of extra wrapping paper and shopping bag waste is created during each holiday season.
• Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year. Most of it winds up in landfills.
• We trash enough office paper annually to build a 12-foot wall from Los Angeles to New York City.
• The paper & plastic cups, forks and spoons we throw away every year could circle the equator 300 times.
• The average American office worker goes through around 500 disposable cups every year.
• We’ve got so much hazardous waste being generated that in just one year we could take that waste and fill the New Orleans Superdome 1,500 times over.
• Forty-three thousand tons of food is thrown out each day.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We create so much waste that it’s a surprise to me that we still fit on the darn planet. Paper products alone are so used and abused that it’s been noted that the average American kills 7 trees a year due to paper product use. 7!

What to do – it’s not that hard to keep things a little cleaner. In fact you can boil it down to three easy points.

1. Buy less junk.
2. Recycle.
3. Use reusable products over disposables.

Even if you do just one of the above you’ll make a huge dent in your own trash impact and if you do all three it’s even more awesome. It’s not so hard to make a difference and you sure don’t want to be part of the above equations.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

How much waste is your fault?

I first tested the Biokleen Liquid Detergent, but didn’t like the plastic bottle issue so I switched to powder which comes in an unbleached corrugated box. The powder works much like the liquid, which I gave a full review on at Tree Hugging Family, but we’ll look at some general perks here.

Use and Eco-Perks:

• No fillers, made with all natural 100% active ingredients, free of borine, chlorine, metasilicates, borax, or caustics. Contains color-safe oxygen bleach and grapefruit seed extract.
• Safe for front loading washers.
• No animal testing.
• This stuff works great – gets out small stains, makes clothes smell fresh, and does all the other tasks you’d expect from your detergent.
• Vegan.
• Non-toxic to humans and aquatic life.
• No carcinogens.
• No teratogens.
• No mutagens.
• No neurotoxins.
• Non-corrosive to skin or eyes.
• No respiratory irritants.
• No skin sensitizers.
• Biodegradable.
• No 2-butoxyethanol.
• No toxic metals.
• 0% phosphates
• Full disclosure of ingredients to third parties.

And the best issue – PRICE. Per load this is the least expensive store bought green laundry soap I’ve found. It’s always less expensive than other green brands. The powder notes that it’s concentrated and that there are 54 loads per 5-lb. box but I get more uses than 54. I’ve used a little less soap per load and the wash gets just as clean. So this soap is a killer deal. It lasts forever.

Bad stuff? I can’t stand the Biokleen website. It’s not totally user friendly, you can’t find the MSDS forms there, although you can get them at Green Home, and I can’t find a recycling how-to page or an ingredients page, which is in my opinion shoddy for an eco-company.

Note: As noted, the liquid form of this detergent comes in a plastic bottle, which is recyclable, but has a cap that may not be. However, the one perk of the liquid is that it makes a great pre-soak stain fighter – which the powder doesn’t. We don’t get many stains at my place, so I stick with the powder.

Overall though, if you ignore their website this is a great and economical detergent.

Post from: Blisstree

Best Green Laundry Detergent

What’s It Like, Living Green? Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live. In this non-fiction book for ages 9 and up, you’ll read about a teenage girl who began a recycling business, with 100 clients, when she was five. Learn about a boy who started a foundation to bring fresh water to an entire village, at age seven. You will see how kids, like you can make a difference for the environment, help others and even earn some money.

IMG: Jill Vanderwood

Jill Ammon Vanderwood is the author of four childrens books. She is a mother and grandmother who wants to make a difference for the next generation. She makes her home in the state of Utah with her husband, Bill.

Prize: 2 lucky winners will receive “What’s It Like, Living Green? Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live.”

GIVEAWAY TIME:

Rules: Answer the following: What is one thing you can do to make a difference for the planet?

Extra entries for those that stumble, twitter or blog this post.

Deadline:  May 23, 2009.

GOOD LUCK!!

Post from: Blisstree

Giveaway: What It’s Like, Living Green?

IMG: Sxc.hu

Bathroom Basket- With a basket in the bathroom you can now minimize the mess and make the bathroom look a bit more organized. I placed one on top of the toilet (small sink) and added a small hand towel to line the bottom, toothpaste, extra roll of toilet paper. I could’ve added this off to the side of the bathtub and filled it up with the bath toys to make it a little easier to dump the toys for bathtime in the tub. One may also want to add some rose petals to make a bathroom smell a little better.

Crayon holder- My kids always lose the crayon boxes but have tons of crayons laying around in different spots of the house, plus the designated drawer. Tomorrow they’ll be placed inside the basket so I have an easy way of finding them for arts and crafts time.

Hair Accessory Basket- I’ve bought the girls over 300 hair ties/clips/brushes/etc however once they’ve been placed in their hair they disappear and never are seen again. By placing them in the basket on their dressers, hopefully they’ll be found again in a week.

Mail holder- Baskets without the big hoop would work great to place in a certain area of the house to place the bills/mail/package/etc. Plus it makes your mail pile look that much nicer.

Dining Room Centerpiece A basket in the center of the dining room table is perfect for this time, plus a few desserts in it wouldn’t hurt. My kids always want to place one of my wicker baskets in the center of the table and put things in them, so now they can add their own creativity.

What are some ways you’ll recyle the Easter Baskets? Happy Easter everyone I hope ya’ll are having a ton of fun!

Post from: Blisstree

5 Ways to Recycle Your Easter Basket

When shopping, look for the following materials which can be recycled in most areas…

• Paper and cardboard.
• Aluminum and steel, both in can form and other products.
• Most plastic bottles IF you remove the lids.
• Glass of any type so long as it’s clean.
• Batteries.
• Computers and other appliances. Sometimes you can’t recycle whole appliances, but you can usually find a recycling center that will take care of the entire appliance for you (they’ll save the usable and recyclable parts).
• Clothing and shoes (that aren’t beyond repair). Give used items to non-profits or thrift stores. If clothing is beyond repair or too dingy for words, cut up those shirts and use them to clean with. Score two for you because you get to ditch paper towels.
• CDs, DVDs, and computer discs.
• Paint.
• Your whole darn car – seriously.
• Some juice boxes (look for the recycle symbol before you buy).
• Sometimes you can even recycle aerosol products.
• Hangers – of the wire variety.
• Cell phones.
• Eye glasses.
• Prescription bottles

What you often CANNOT recycle:

• Dirty, greasy paper and cardboard (pizza boxes).
• Many aerosol cans.
• Squeezable plastics like ketchup bottles have not been deemed totally recyclable, so buy glass if you have a choice.
• Paper or cardboard with lots of glue or adhesive stuck on.
• Styrofoam – it’s rare to find a recycling center that takes Styrofoam or foam, but that doesn’t mean you can recycle it – use it for mailing packages – but don’t buy it unless absolutely necessary.

Not sure how to get started? If you’ve got products and packaging to recycle, first learn about the local recycling center in your area. Figure out what they take, and how they like it (for example, some centers hate dirty boxes while others don’t care.) After navigating your local recycling center, find places to recycle those harder to recycle items. You can check Earth 911 for a center that takes specific items.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

What you can and can’t recycle

It is now time to recycle. That is what the Best Buy Company is telling you. After all, it has now joined the world of recycling just recently.

So what happens? Well, see, starting on the 15th next month, those customers of Best Buy who would like to do some recycling can actually do so. And that means anybody who is a customer of any Best Buy store anywhere in the country. It is best to keep in mind though that what Best Buy will be accepting will be those electronic items which you want to dispose of already.

Peter Muscanelli is the head of Waste Management and Recycling Products Inc. which is based in Scotia. On the new recycling competition which is Best Buy, he said, “If they would like to go into this, that’s OK. We have a pretty loyal clientele.” Yes. Even in recycling, competition is certainly getting tough.

Source: TimesUnion.com
Image source: FreeFotos.com

Post from: Blisstree

Best Buy Is Into Recycling