News, Tips and Resources for Living an Eco Friendly Life

Ok, this is a bit of a rant dressed up as a Recycle This style question – it’s a genuine question but I feel the need to rant too!

So many people in my (geeky) world are going nuts for these at the moment and it makes me want to cry — all the packaging, all the waste.

Graze boxes are designed to lure people away from vending machines and sugary snacks at work and get them eating more natural, healthier alternative instead. For £3.29 a pop, you get a box of snacks delivered to your desk instead – four different snacks (such as dried fruit, nuts, seeds, olives or crackers) inside little film-covered plastic tubs and encased in a cardboard box. The idea is to have them delivered regularly – several times a week – so you’re never tempted by that Mars bar or long-life vacuum-sealed muffin.

Graze’s claim to have thought carefully about the packaging – the cardboard is from a sustainable forest, is designed to be use as little material as possible & can easily be recycled again, and Mrs G from My Zero Waste asked about the plastic of the pots and it’s apparently PETE (resin code 1) which is widely recyclable where plastics are recycled.

Yes, it’s good news that the plastic is widely recyclable plastic – but getting a pack of it delivered to your door is hardly reducing waste (the first and most important of the 3Rs) and it’s not obviously reusable either. Where plastics aren’t kerbside recyclable, that PETE is likely to end up in the bin – and even the cardboard might too since offices don’t always have full recycling facilities.

(I’ll try to remain on topic with my rant here and not get into: i. how much energy is wasted transporting these light but bulky items around the country; ii. how much more expensive they are than buying the items directly; iii. how it’s easier to buy something than make a genuine lifestyle change.)

Anyway, I think you probably get the gist of my annoyance so let’s get constructive instead: the packaging can be recycled where facilities are available, any reuse suggestions though?

And what about reducing people’s use of them? Do you have any tips or suggestions how people could have the same healthy snacking experience without so much packaging?

(PS. sorry for the ranting )

(CCA Photo by philcampbell)

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Walking around my neighborhood I’ve noticed that it must be moving season. Old couches, tables, and chairs are strewn about the alleys making a DIY paradise. With a little love and elbow grease, you can give these discarded pieces a fresh start!

• Over at Popular Mechanics, they show you how to fix little problems on an otherwise great piece of furniture.
• This great video shows you the process of refinishing a discarded desk.
• Reupholstering a dining room or sitting chairs is probably one of the easiest projects to undertake. Over on the Dummies site, they show you just how easy it is!
• I love the look of antique doors turned into headboards. On Self Sufficient Urbanite you’re given a step-by-step process of how to do just that.
• Finally, Threadbanger has a great video of doing a simple refinish on an end table. This process would work for many pieces of wood furniture and it shows you that even if you live in an apartment you can still do some furniture face lifts.

Giving old furniture a face lift can be a fun and rewarding project. Most pieces just need a little TLC to make them new again.  Have you done any furniture face lifts or transformations? I’d love to see some pictures and get some great ideas. Feel free to leave them in the comments!

[Image by Patrick Q via Flickr Creative Commons]

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I regularly get emails from people involved with small charities asking how to set up recycling programs that will help them raise money for their cause.

Collection/recycling programs have been part of charity fundraising for a long time, but recently most seem to have moved from collecting large amounts of low value items (such as stamps or milk bottle tops) to collecting more valuable items (such as broken jewellery, mobile phones or toner cartridges). There is a lot of competition now for those type of items – not only between the charities but because it’s so easy for people to sell them online themselves – but it’s still a good income stream for certain charities.

So how can smaller charities set up their own recycling schemes?

First, you need to identify an item or items to collect. While lots of charities do well selling random items – whatever is donated to them – through shops, jumble sales or eBay, if you want to run a dedicated recycling scheme for waste materials, it’s better to focus your time and attention on no more than a couple of items to start with.

When picking the item/s, you need to think about a few things:

• where will the item come from (individuals? workplace/organisation collections? businesses?)
• who else is collecting the item (ie, who will be your competition?)
• who will buy the item from you (ie, how will you turn the collected items into money? You might just be able to use existing consumer-facing service, for example, selling collected phones through one of the many phone recycling websites. Other items might involve liaison with usual business-to-business waste management companies. There is no point collecting something that you can not sell on in one way or another.)
• how much will they pay you for each item/set of items (and is that amount worth it for the amount of time/effort you had to put into collecting it)
• could your group add value to the collected items using their skills or resources (eg, upcycling old textiles into new items or pre-sorting bulk matter).

The specific logistics of the scheme will be determined by the item chosen – and in a circular way, also need to be considered when choosing the item in the first place.

• how will it be collected (at a shop/specific location? through drop bins? through the post? via individual collection? will these collection methods have any associated costs?)
• where will the items be stored before they’re sold on (if going to be collecting a large volume of small value items, then you’ll need a lot of space; if you’re going for a higher value items, it needs to be more secure)
• if the collection/storage will have additional safety or insurance implications that will cost your charity money (public liability insurance, employers’ liability insurance, premises insurance…)
• how the item will be delivered to the buyer (some b2b companies might collect but others might require you to deliver or pay for postage)
• who will manage the collection, storage and delivery of the items.

Once you’ve thought about all the above and decided to collect a particular item or items, you need to think about how you’re going to promote the scheme. Some of the questions above might lead to obvious promotion ideas, eg, well signposted drop bins are a promotion as well as a collection spot, you just have to get those bins somewhere public. If you’re collecting something niche, or something that isn’t often collected post-consumer, definitely put something on the web about it – and email me so I can do a post about it on here

Have you set up a recycling scheme for a charity? Do you have any advice to pass on? Is there anything else that needs to be considered? Got any suggestions for items that charities should collect? Or should avoid collecting? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

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Altoids tins are one of those icons of upcycling. Even folks who aren’t into crafting often reuse these handy containers for things like storing change or organizing small knick knacks. With a little bit of crafty love, you can turn that humble container into all sorts of fun creations!

1. To Go Candle

If you’ve got a bunch of old candles that have seen better days, you can recycle that old wax into a new one! Just get a couple of new tealight-sized wicks, place them in your Altoids tin, and melt and pour the remaining wax right in. Green Upgrader shows you more on recycling old candles.

[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by akanekal]

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We’ve had an email from Josie:

My council (Suffolk) say they’ll only recycle glass bottles not other glass like windows. I’ve got an old glass coffee table to get rid of, what can I do with it?

That’s a pretty standard glass recycling policy – only bottles and jars, not plate glass (like windows or photo frames) or cooking glass items (pyrex or other dishes) – so it’s probably better to look for reuse rather than recycling ideas.

Firstly, as with all furniture, try to pass it on to someone else who might still use it — even if you think it’s rather old fashioned or outdated, someone might appreciate having any table at all or love having it if they’re going for a retro thing If it’s a nice piece that’s damaged, someone else might be willing to repair it. Offer it on Freecycle/Freegle, or to a furniture-accepting charity shop (not all charity shops have the space to accept furniture but some specialise in it).

If it’s not suitable for passing along, the glass might be reusable (either by yourself or someone else via Freecycle/Freegle) for a project around the home or garden – on top of another table/desk as a surface protector, to make a cold frame/as part of a greenhouse (although be careful about cutting out too much light if it’s smoked or frosted) or maybe mounted on the wall as a dry erase board?

Any other ideas?

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We’ve talked about banana cloth and spider silk, and this week we’ve got another unusual fabric for you: fiber grown from sugary green tea!

Designer Suzanne Lee has come up with a way to grow her own fabric by feeding bacteria with a sugary green tea solution. The base sounds a lot like the tea you’d make to brew a batch of kombucha: sugar to feed the bacteria and caffeinated tea as a catalyst.

Using “less tea and sugar than a family might consume at home in two weeks,” Lee grew enough fabric to create an entire dress!

Not only is BioCouture innovative, it absorbs dye readily, meaning it takes less dye to color the fabric. As we’ve discussed here before, fabric dyes are not always environmentally sound, so this property could make a big impact!

The fabric does have some problems with water resistance right now. And by “some problems” I mean you can’t get the stuff wet. According to a report from New Scientist, the fabric is very absorbent, so it would first swell when in contact with water. Then, it would dissolve into a sugary liquid.

Scientists are working now on how to augment Lee’s recipe to make a water resistant version of BioCouture. You can learn more about this cutting edge new fabric and read an interview with the designer over at New Scientist.

[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by mahiskali]

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With their semi-rigid sides & strong handle, plastic milk bottles are very easily reusable – which is useful since there are bajillions generated every day.

We’ve had loads of great suggestions about them over the years but here are some of my favourites:

1. Pencil sorter
Mentioned as a featured link a few weeks ago, I love how neat and practical these containers are for coloured pencils/pens. Stored on a shelf, the lids could be painted the colour of the pencils to make for easy identification.

2. Paint caddy
One close to my heart at the moment because we’re decorating – plastic milk jugs make great paint caddies. 4 pint/half-gallon/2ltr bottles are best for this – cut out the panel of plastic opposite the handle, leave the neck intact for strength and cut down to about half way. The handle is easy to hold (or you could loop some wire/string around it to hang it from a ladder rung) and the caddy holds about 2 pints/1ltr of paint at a time – enough to do a fair amount of painting.

3. Foraging container
SandyM’s family use gallon milk bottles as foraging containers – widen the neck and add a loop of rope or a strong belt through the handle holds it up, leaving both hands free for collecting fruit. In the UK, our bottles tend to be long & thin, so possibly the wrong shape for this – but a great idea if you can get hold of those bigger square bottles.

4. Bird feeder
One of the original ideas for reusing them – make them into bird feeders. The how-to uses gallon jugs but the same theory can be applied to smaller ones too – I’ve made mini ones for our mini-tree from 1ltr/2pint bottles.

(I’ve also used a plastic milk bottle as a grit hopper for our chickens – same principle as the bird feeder but with stones/shells instead of food. It would be a cruel joke if they didn’t need the grit for digestion.)

5. Scoops
Cut away a wedge from the bottom to make it into a scoop – for scooping flour/grain/animal feed or other dry goods, or at the other end, as a pet poop scoop. Leave the lid on to avoid spills from the other end.

• How can I reuse or recycle plastic milk bottles?
• How can I reduce my use of plastic milk bottles?
• How can I reuse or recycle milk bottle tops?

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 There are many ways to re-use and enjoy vintage papers. For example, you can decoupage a built-in bookshelf with vintage wallpaper samples, alter antique books, and mail out a vintage greeting card.

I’m fondest of re-using my vintage papers to transform modern or trendy projects. I scrapbook with my vintage papers, and let my girls collage with them. I also use them in decorative elements around my home.

This particular bunting made from vintage wallpaper samples (although any vintage paper will do) is an excellent way to add interest to a space, and the vintage beads that separate each banner encourage a detail-level examination of the work in its entirety.

You will need:

• Beautiful vintage papers: wallpaper samples, stationery, wrapping paper, origami paper, etc.
• Scissors
• Adhesive-backed archival cardstock, or archival cardstock and spray-mount adhesive. I use adhesive-backed cardstock as a less messy and less fussy alternative, but if you have a particular color scheme or pattern in mind, you will likely find a closer match in the wider selection of non-adhesive cardstocks.
• Twine or ribbon
• Hole punch with a diameter only slightly larger than the diameter of the twine or ribbon
• Vintage beads whose holes are wide enough to accomodate the twine or ribbon. My beads come from loosely-strung necklaces found at one very memorable garage sale years ago.

1. The banners that make up a bunting are typically elongated triangles, all the same length. However, an attractive bunting can be made from banners that are of different sizes, or in any of a variety of shapes. Choose the size and shape of the banner(s) that will make up your bunting, and cut out a template from cardboard.

2. If you’re working with adhesive-backed cardstock, cut out all your cardstock banners first, then stick the cardstock to the back of your vintage paper, then cut out the paper around the cardstock banners.

If you’re working with regular cardstock and spray-mount, cut out the vintage paper banners first, then spray them with adhesive, then stick them to the back of the cardstock and cut out the cardstock around the vintage paper banners.

Each way is designed to give maximum protection to the fragile vintage papers, so think carefully and figure out which method you’ll use before you begin.

3. Using your hole punch, punch a hole in the top right and left corners of each banner.

4. Measure out a length of twine or ribbon equal to the width of all your banners, plus an inch or so on the side of each banner where the beads will sit.

5. Knot one end of the ribbon or twine.

6. Thread one bead onto the ribbon or twine, then thread on a banner, passing the ribbon or twine across the front of the banner, not the back. Follow the banner with two beads, then repeat the pattern.

7. After the last bead has been threaded, knot your ribbon or twine snugly against that last bead.

Now your bunting is ready to be pinned against a wall, or tied to more ribbon and hung from pillar to pillar. Either way, it’s gorgeous, isn’t it?

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I love my magazines. I hate to part with them.

My Time magazine subscription, along with Wired and Entertainment Weekly, I read once and then use them for collage or I donate them to our recycling center’s reuse sidewalk.

Others however, such as, Vegetarian Times, Martha Stewart Living, Family Fun, or Make Magazine, I simply can never part with. A featured recipe that didn’t appeal to me then will appeal to me now, or a craft project that doesn’t appeal to me now will perhaps appeal to me later. I regularly flip through back issues of my favorites as a pleasurable source of inspiration.

Here’s an easy project that I use to keep my magazines organized in a safe an attractive manner. All you need to do is eat a lot of cereal first!

You will need:

• Several cereal boxes of the same size. These boxes can be family-sized mammoth boxes of cornflakes or those much smaller fancy boxes of granola just as long as they’re all the same size.
• Hot glue and gun
• Permanent marker and sturdy scissors
• Mod Podge, or glue of similar consistency and quality
• Papers to decoupage, such as magazine pages, junk mail, scrapbook paper, last year’s calendar, children’s artwork, etc.

To make:

1. Turn each box sideways. One narrow side of the cereal box will be the bottom of the organizer, and the other narrow side will be cut away for an open top. By using the cereal boxes across their length, you’ll have the room to accomodate even your large-format magazines.

2. The bottom of each cereal box will be the front of the organizer. Typical magazine organizers have a cut-out front that displays more of each magazine’s spine. To do this, mark a spot about three-quarters along the length of the bottom of the cereal box, then a spot about three-quarters along the length of one narrow side of the box. Connect these dots to form a diagonal line, then do the same on the back side of the box.

3. Cut away the entire narrow side of the box where the diagonal line connects, then cut along the diagonal line on the front side of the box, across the bottom of the box to meet the matching diagonal line on the back side of the box, then along that diagonal line until you’re back at the narrow side of the box that you’ve cut away.

4. Use the box that you’ve cut as a pattern to cut all your other cereal boxes identically, so that the partitions on the organizer will be identical. If you mess up a little, however, don’t panic, you can cover over those flaws later with your decoupage.

5. With hot glue, glue closed the tops of all the cereal boxes.

6. With the cut-away fronts facing out and all boxes lined up, hot glue together as many cereal boxes as you want partitions in your organizer. Depending on the width of your boxes, you’ll need at least three or four partitions glued together so that your organizer will stand up on its own, but you can add as many boxes as you’d like.

7. Your box is basically finished now, but it still looks like a bunch of cereal boxes glued together. You can always gesso and paint the organizer, but decoupage works really well to hide the underlying structure of the organizer and to stabilize the connections between the boxes. With decoupage, the organizer will look all of one piece, and you’ll never be able to tell that it’s made of cereal boxes.

With the Mod Podge, decoupage the front, back, and sides of the organizer, using your materials to hide the seams between the boxes. Overlap the materials over the top of the organizer’s sides, and over the top of all the partitions, to even hide that the organizer is made of simple cardboard.

This organizer also works well with children’s magazines and their easy reader books. My girls made a cereal box magazine organizer to keep in their room, and although I can’t say that it doesn’t look like a bunch of cereal boxes stood sideways and glued together, it does keep their books and magazines neat and together, and the girls are very proud of it.

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