Green Bling

Artsy Fartsy earrings ~ $15

Susi DuPuis, took the saying,  "One man's (or woman's) trash, is another man's (or woman's) treasure", and allowed her imagination to soar.  She is the brainchild behind the creative jewelry collection called "Artsy Fartsy, recycled plastic jewelry", and her creations are inventive, colorful, and fun!

Artsy Fartsy bracelets ~ $20

She makes fun, funky, eye-catching jewelry from common household plastic containers, and if you look closely enough you may even spot a logo or two.

Susi is enthusiastic about sharing her art with others, and teaches classes and does demonstrations to help others consider using plastic as an art medium.  She's been featured in several shows on the West Coast for SCRAP Art, Trash to Treasure, and Salvage Art Exhibitions.

Artsy Fartsy necklaces featuring "stacked" disk beads $30-$90

Susi says, "I believe that what I am doing is merely scratching the surface of ideas for using recycled plastic containers.  What is most meaningful to me as an artist....is that my jewelry represents art and recycling with a functional element.  The plastic is recycled into a whole new functional life as jewelry....it's not recycled art just for art's sake."  I'm so impressed that Susi had the vision to take containers that many toss in the trash (yikes, why don't they toss them in the plastic recycle bins instead!?!), and creates such fun, funky, functional jewelry.  That's why I think Artsy Fartsy, recycled plastic jewelry is such a gem!

The earrings, bracelets, brooches, and gorgeous necklaces, are one of a kind pieces of functional art made by dissecting household containers, hand cutting the shapes, and fashioning them into jewelry.  Besides being beautiful, and unique, Susi says that the "green bling" is often a conversation starter and sends a loud and clearly beautiful message about the importance of recycling and reusing resources.   

Artsy Fartsy brooches ~ $20

I hope you'll stop by her website and browse her beautiful items, and next time you are looking for a unique green gift, consider purchasing one of her items.  I'm eye-ing a bracelet and necklace myself! ;)

http://www.artsyfartsyjewelry.com/index.html 

Great Green Gift

My eco-conscious sister always manages to find some really neat green gifts.  This Christmas she surprised me with a beautiful pair of earrings made from recycled forks.  The designer, Maude Lapierre, creates "unique pieces of jewelry out of discarded stainless steel cutlery, transforming the simple structure and patterns of a fork into something new and elegant."

http://www.galerie-co.com/catalog/personal-accessories/jewelry/fork-earings-motif

Ohh Brother!

After replacing my P-touch label cartridge, I looked at the old cartridge which is made of plastic and wondered if it could be recycled like printer cartridges.  So I wrote Brother an email to ask.  They got back to me right away to let me know that they do have a program to recycle consumables. http://www.brother-usa.com/environment/TonerInkDisposal.aspx

They subscribe to the 5R Concept:

Refuse:  Avoid purchase of environmentally burdensome materials whenever possible
Reduce:  Reduce waste material
Reuse:  Reuse waste material without processing
Reform:  Reuse materials in a different form
Recycle:  Reuse materials as resources

Their program to dispose of toner, ink, and used consumables is very easy.  You print out a free prepaid shipping label, and ship back the toner, ink, or P-touch cartridge.  According to their site, some of the components are remanufactured, some are reused, and unusable items are processed through WTE (waste to energy).

 

As I like to say, it never hurts to ask :)

J is for JUNK

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have JUNK.  And according to Marla Cilley, or  FlyLady as she is affectionately called, (www.flylady.net), you can't organize clutter, aka junk. As an on again, off again member of the Flylady website,  I've definitely learned some wonderful tidbits, you may want to check it out too!

But back to JUNK...we've all heard the saying, "One woman/man's junk is another woman/man's treasure"...so in order to keep "junk" out of the landfills, there are several options which basically feed into the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message. 

1.  If we REDUCE what we consume, or rethink what we think we need, we'd all have less junk in our homes and lives to begin with!  Of course this is very difficult for those of us that enjoy "retail therapy", but I'm trying to retrain my brain to think...."do I need it, or want it", and if I do want it, how badly do I want it...badly enough to get rid of something else to free up space?  I'm trying to ingrain the thought, "Simplify" into my brain..."Simplify to Create Serenity" (ie. less junk!).  If I do make new purchases, I want to donate something else to free up space....which leads to number 2...

2.  Commit to finding re-uses for things.  Most of us already "reuse" clothes by handing them down to friends or family, and some people have yard sales, which helps keep many things out of the landfill (to me, yard sales are too much time and energy for me to bother with for the minimal yield.)  My preferred mode of re-using things is to donate them, or as Flylady says, "blessing others".  We donate books, clothes, tools, household items, furniture, etc via www. freecycle.org, local charities, and through our church.  I have to admit, that I'm often astounded at the items that people toss out to the curb when there are others who need and could use them.  I'm not sure if it comes down to disposal laziness, or not knowing where, or how to donate items, but it really couldn't be easier!  There are donation bins in tons of locations, and organizations such as Big Brother Big Sister that pick-up from your house, and when you Freecycling items, people pick up items from your doorstep.  There are many options to keep massive amounts of things out of landfills, and it feels great to help out others :)   http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/04/recycle-reuse-reshare-with-big-bro-big.html   http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-cleaning-day-23-24.html
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/06/d-is-for-donate.html
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/05/closet-philanthropist.html


There are also young entrepreneurs, like those at TerraCycle who are thinking outside the box to reuse juice box pouches, corks, chip bags, cookie packaging, candy wrappers and much, much more.  I'm surprised that more companies have not followed in the green footsteps of TerraCycle to use waste to create products.  It's ingenious really, keeping waste out of the landfills; the waste becomes the raw material, and in the end, a product is made and sold.   TerraCycle also believes in number 3...

3.  Recycling - Hopefully by now everyone knows they should recycle their paper, glass, plastics, aluminum, etc.  And then there are those "15 Totally Recyclable Materials That Most of Us Keep Forgetting About"?
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/05/15-totally-recyclable-materials-that.html  
http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/05/so-i-got-to-thinking.html 

But what peaks my interest is learning about companies that have come up with creative ways to recycle materials, and there are examples near and far.  On a recent vacation to St. John, we learned about The Art  Center (of Recycling) at Maho Bay Camps.  What a treat! Check out the beautiful, creative ways they recycle glass into beautiful, useful objects at http://www.maho.org/.  They also recycle old bed sheets by batiking them, and making them into table cloths, coasters, bags, table runners, etc.  But to date, one of the most interesting innovative eco-entrepreneurial companies that has captured my attention is Terracycle, based out of NJ because they keep multiple waste streams out of the landfills, work cooperatively with schools, and design great products http://peaceloveplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/terracycle-on-tv.html .


Junk aka clutter can either weigh us down, or we can set it free by reducing, reusing, or recycling.  I'm working on simplifying.....and looking forward to serenity and at the same time watching for creative companies that keep junk out of the landfills and instead up-cycle it to the next level via innovation.   

Elementree recycled printer paper

Even though we recycle paper to use in the printer (we print on the backside of school papers, printouts, or other previously used paper for drafts, or copies of bills, etc.) which cuts down on buying new printer paper, on occasion we do need to buy paper for school reports, letters, etc. Well hubby, being the Green Knight that he is, brought home Recycled Multipurpose Paper from Printworks. It contains 30% post consumer fiber, and is elemental chlorine free. The remaining 70% is from sustainable wood fiber, and the product is sustainable forestry initiative certified. He made my day when he brought home this ream of paper. Hopefully it will last us awhile since we do reuse paper, and I even recycle some used paper from work and print on the opposite side before recycling it.

Reusable snack/sandwich bags - Day 20

Since lunchtime waste is a large part of the school waste stream, what kinds of things are being thrown out? Besides wasted food, juice boxes, brown paper bags, and packaging from single serve foods, about "380 billion plastic bags (that's about 1,200 plastic bags a person)" (50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth, 2009) are being thrown away.

Those numbers are staggering! And when I thought about wrapping my foods in petroleum-based plastic that ends up in the landfill, it turned my stomach even more. So, slowly but surely we are changing our ways at our house. We haven't bought ziplock baggies for some time now. Instead we are using Tupperware-type reusable containers, reusable fabric sandwich and snack bags, and aluminum foil. I've purchased several that I really like from SnackTaxi.com, Resnackit.com, and wrap-n-mat.com. Even though they cost between $5-$7 over the long haul they are well worth it, and I know we are not contributing to landfill waste. They are easy to clean, and come in cool patterns too. Although 4 of us use the bags without complaint, I'm still trying to convince Tiger-Lily and Rosebud that these are a great idea; in the meantime, much of their lunch is packed in the reusable plastic-ware, or recycled aluminum foil (that they return to our recycle bin).

Books - Day 6

I'm catching a bit of spring fever, and as a result things are getting cleaned out!  We've purged some books and movies, and instead of throwing them away, we donated them to our local library for reuse and re-enjoyment :)  Please don't ever throw out books or media, someone will happily reuse them whether it is the library, local doctor or dentist's office, or school.  Some libraries and schools do book swaps or book sales with donated books and media.  It feels good to give to others, and it feels good to declutter, it's a WIN-WIN!  Happy donating!

An Inconvenient Truth - Day 3

Today, Hubby, Rosebud, Sweet Pea and I watched An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. At first the girls grumped a bit, but by the end the movie seemed to have made an impression. The information about the melting glaciers and rising sea levels was eye opening. The girls were sad about the plight of the polar bears, and also found ice cube analogy interesting. Now to get the other 1/3 to watch it with me :) Babysteps, babysteps!

baby step #1 - Day 2

For better or for worse, my awesome family will be taking this green journey with me :) With their help, I think we will all learn and grow along the way. It seems like only yesterday that our 4 children came into our lives, but just like flowers, they are growing, and blooming before our eyes. Within my blog I will fondly refer to my always encouraging and witty husband as "hubby", and I've lovingly nicknamed each of the children with a flower name. My oldest daughter, "Tiger-Lily" is 14, my second daughter, "Rosebud" is 13, my third daughter, "Sweet Pea" is 11, and my son, "Rhody" (short for Rhododendron) is 9.

Today Tiger-Lily and I took baby step #1 when we defrosted and unplugged our extra freezer! I can't wait to see the positive impact it has on our electric bill :)

Green Snowballs? - Day1

For as long as I can remember, my favorite color has been GREEN. I remember being asked why I liked the color green, and the answer was a simple one, "because I like green trees and grass".

Today, green is still one of my favorite colors, but it is more than just a color to me now. Of course I still love green grass and trees, but now the word green means much more to me. It means Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling, it means Respecting the environment, and it means teaching my kids Responsibility for taking care of our planet.

It might be a little bit geeky, but if my family and I can take some green "baby steps" to reduce our carbon "footprint", and encourage our family and friends to do the same, and if they in turn encouraged their family and friends to be greener, what a wonderfully green snowball we'd have rolling!