Being a girl who likes a good concert or two (ok, MANY) in my lifetime, one thing that’s always bothered me is all the waste. Even at small venue concerts there’s tons of plastic beer and water bottles, paper decor, all that energy needed to power the show, and so on.

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 …read more

Healthy for the planet anyhow. While playing in the trash isn’t as fun as say Cranium, you should go through your trash and see what’s in there. Take a few hours on a weekend and do a trash check as follows…

You should not see the following in your trash:

Leftover food items, like old bread, eggshells, and so on
Cans
Aluminum products
Glass (broken or whole)
Paper anything
Steel
Tin
Plastics that can be recycled (not all plastics are easily recyclable)
Batteries
Cardboard tubes and other cardboard
Non-messy foil
Household items like books, not so broken toys, cell phones, clothing, and …read more

Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “Why should I recycle? It TAKES energy to recycle, but zero energy to toss things away.” Well, not in those exact words, but it’s a common against recycling argument I hear. It’s also bunk.

Recycling does actually save energy, which is a huge perk of recycling because reduced energy of course cuts down on our reliance on non-renewable resources. Not to mention that energy we use to make new products (and to recycle) creates emissions of numerous air and water pollutants – so why not choose the one that makes less.
Recycling does use energy to collect, …read more

All paper comes from some sort of fiber. Currently, according to the EPA, the two most common fibers used for making paper include wood from trees or from recycled paper products. The recycled content paper is a good deal, but paper made from wood is not eco-friendly. In fact, the EPA notes that about half of the trees cut down each year are directly used for paper products. What’s worse is that while paper products account for 33% of all materials in the municipal waste stream Americans are only recycling about 55% of that paper.

Basically – tree made paper is …read more

In the creative world, we now have “altered couture” instead of recycled or remade clothing.  I like the term though. 
It implies high fashion and enables people to take pride in using their creativity to make use of worn and worn out items in their closet…or ones they find at rummage sales and second hand shops.

In addition to altering used clothing, these new designers (whether it’s someone who does this for a living or you simply stretching the clothing budget) use embellishments and embroidery in creative ways.
Some of the pieces of altered couture I’ve seen are:

An apron made by cutting away jeans except for the front with …read more

As I wrote about my reader Anitra’s unique CD Photo Coasters, I wondered, “Why not use inspirational pictures and quotes or sayings on CD collages, coasters, hangings?”
This idea of recycling (or upcycling, as some call it when you use a discarded material for art) CDs can go in many directions.  CD collages might consist of:

Family photos, as Anitra described
Inspirational sayings
 Scenic and still life photos
Reproductions of one’s paintings
Found objects and memorabilia
Flower petals and leaves
Fabric to give a quilted effect
CDs attached to form a multi collage
Any combination of these

Have you recycled CDs for art?  For coasters, wall hangings, photo frames, and more?
(Image: sxc.hu)

Technically if you’re looking to go green, plastic in your kitchen won’t help the cause. However, going cold turkey is not for everyone, so just for those folks, one decent plastic kitchenware option is Preserve.

Preserve Kitchen features easy to use and useful kitchen products made from 100% recycled #5 plastic (just like their toothbrushes, razors and tableware). They also offer cutting boards made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper – but let’s focus on the plastics. They also keep growing the goods, with four new kitchen items recently introduced, including a smaller colander, square storage containers, and liquid + dry measuring …read more

Utilizing scraps and old garments for quilts and even for clothing was a popular practice among the pioneers.  In the early days of our country, homemakers usually either made their own fabric or recycled what they had on hand.  Rarely did they have the money to purchase new fabric from the general store.
Nowadays, in our stressed economy,  recycling garments has become popular once again.  Not because fabric is scarce, but because people can’t afford to purchase new.
I used fabric from old garments for quilts and for my daughter’s clothing many years ago.  It was fun to pour over the quilts …read more

Recycling is not always so cut and dry. I’ve lived in many states and the recycling processes in each area have differed. Here’s how you can figure out the perfect recycling plan for your own area.

1. Find out what is recyclable everywhere. For example, even though we didn’t have curbside pickup for plastics in my area of New Mexico, we all know plastics are still recyclable. Make a list. If you’re not sure what’s recyclable and what’s trash, read Commonly Recycled Materials.
2. Perform a trash audit at your house. If you’re tossing recyclables, a well done (and easy) trash audit …read more

Jason and Faye, of Rag & Bone, posted about this gorgeous wall piece that they made from book pages.  Now that’s what I call creative recycling!  There’s always something wonderful being posted or discussed on the  Rag & Bone blog, and don’t miss their Bindery either!