For a multitude of different reasons there comes a time when it is necessary to get rid of some clothes.  Maybe your kids hit a growth spurt.  Maybe you hit a growth spurt; wanted or not. It’s possible your style has changed, or that you just feel overwhelmed by the lack of space.  Whatever the reason it’s important that your old clothes steer clear of the dumpsters.  Here are 5 things to do with the clothes you don’t want to wear.

1. Donate them- If the clothes are still in good condition donate them so they can be worn by someone else.

2. Make accessories- Use the fabric to make headbands, hair ribbons and belts.

3. Make a quilt- Many of the heavy fabrics, such as jean, are great for quilting.  Combining several different types of jean also creates a nice checkered pattern.

4.Make a Bag- Cut long, wide strips of fabric that you can fold in half and then sew the sides creating a great bag. You can also add a handle for convenient carrying.

5.Make things for your pet-  Old fabric can be sewn together for pillows and bedding that are perfect for pets.

For more information please visit:

Using Clothes

How do you feel about spending a relaxing afternoon on the deck, basking in the sun, taking in the scenery and kicking back… on a bunch of milk jugs?  This afternoon might have sounded like it was headed in the right direction until the milk jugs, but don’t be deterred.  By the Yard is an innovative, fellow Minnesota-based company whose outdoor furniture is made out of recycled milk and water jugs.  If you aren’t sold on their innovative materials you might be swayed by their comfort, variety and product guarantees.

Their furniture is no joke. By the Yard boasts a 35 year warranty for their outdoor furniture, guaranteeing that it will not crack, rot, or peel within that time.  It is also offered in a variety of colors and styles to ensure it meets your decor. Perhaps the best part about the color you choose is that it’ll stay that way.  Their website states;

It will not fade more than 3% over a 10 year period; a color change that is generally not noticeable to the human eye. The color runs throughout each piece and has a UV-inhibitor incorporated into the material to minimize the chance of any discoloration.

The following is a sampling of a few of these colors and styles.

Now that’s cool!

For more information please visit:

By the Yard

Living a more sustainable lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight.  It’s unlikely that you go to bed a fossil fuel hog and wake up the next day with your hybrid car and carrying reusable grocery bags. It’s a continual learning process.  It’s also about recognizing the impact of your daily habits and understanding what it takes to change them.  For example, take a magazine and consider it’s impact on the environment.  You probably think that if you recycle them you are doing your part. To some extent this is true but did you ever think about the resources used to make the original magazine?  Do you know if you subscribe to a magazine that is made out of recycled paper or not?  Many magazines are in fact made out of recycled paper which significantly cuts down on the amount of resources needed to print them.   One such magazine is the popular Everyday With Rachel Ray.  For a list of more magazines go to better magazine list.

You may think now that you’ve subscribed to a magazine printed on recycled paper (which you of course plan to recycle when you’re done reading) you’ve really done your part. However, even this can be improved upon for the die hard green goers.  I’d like to introduce you to the electronic magazine subscription.  Available through your computer and involved in the destruction of zero trees.  Described by Barnes and Noble as

“…delivered to the recipient’s email address. Scores of titles available. An Eco-Friendly gift because these subscriptions are paperless and are delivered electronically- not by mail carrier.”

It’s everything the environment ever wanted.

For more information visit:

Grist

Barnes and Noble

The average American throws away 4 pounds of trash daily.   Considering the fact that there are over 300,000,000 people living within the United States it is easy to see how the trash situation can get out of hand.  In fact, it’s estimated that the US generates around 230 million tons of trash a year.  The good news is that with that much trash there is a lot of room for improvement.  Here are some statistics from The Clean Air Council that demonstrate how much room for improvement there really is.

• Only about 1/10 of solid garbage in the U.S. gets recycled.
• Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.



• In the U.S., an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays.  Four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags.
• Americans throw away enough aluminum cans to rebuild our commercial air fleet every three months.

The good news is that a little recycling can go a long way.

• For every ton of plastic bottles that are recycled, 3.8 barrels of oil are saved.
• Aluminum has a quick turn-around as a recycled material. It can be back on the shelf as a new can in as little as six weeks.

For more information visit:

Learner

Popular mechanics

As discussed in earlier blogs, new packaging can lead to an increase in sales.  However, sometimes it’s hard to know what path to take in terms of innovation.  Here are a few tips from Peter Renton’s article in Packaging Digest that discuss different innovative options along with some real world examples.

Create a Reusable Package

Pom tea is unique in design, and exceptionally eye-catching.  Renton’s article discusses the truly original design:

“The boutique beverage market is mature and extremely competitive, so you might think there are few really new ideas when it comes to packaging. You would be wrong. POM Tea has created something truly different. For a start the product itself is different – it is tea infused with pomegranate juice. But it is the packaging that is remarkable; the drink is packaged in a regular tall drinking glass with a lid and a clear shrink wrap label. It says on the label: Remove the label, keep the glass.”

Add a Little Extra to Your Packaging

Renton’s article points out Amy’s pasta sauces, specifically that “it looks like the way your grandmother would package it, and you can’t go down the aisle of pasta sauces without noticing it.” Fans of Amy’s products would agree.  All of their packaging is simple, usually with appetizing pictures. And their products for a gluten or wheat-free diet are exceptional.

Merge Two Packaging Concepts
Renton also discusses the Anheuser Busch bottles.  Wow – what a great idea  to make a beer bottle out of recyclable aluminum!  From being a brand that is known for being less exotic than others, they have certainly stepped it up in the class and style factor!  It would not be surprising if these bottles lead to new customer sales.

For more innovative packaging tips visit:

Packaging Digest

Holiday lights decorate the house.  They decorate they yard. They wrap around street posts and store fronts. They may be festive but they also are notorious for upping the ever dreaded energy bill.  However, this year can be different with solar powered string lights.  They are described by Christmas Solar Lights as,

“…LEDs – which rely on a really tiny amount of electric current to make them work. They work with both electricity and solar power and light up, but don’t get hot. They also last for years and years, further cutting your maintenance bills. In fact a single LED should last for at least 25 years. Another thing to remember is that solar powered Christmas lights aren’t only used to decorate Christmas trees. Unlike tinsel and baubles, ceramic stars and plastic angels, these lights can be used to create fun and effective lighting at any other time of the year as well.”

Here are some of the pros and cons of switching over to the more efficient version of the holiday light.

Pros

• They save lots of money on your energy bill.
• They are easy to install since you won’t need to run power cords to them.
• They are eco-friendly.
• They last for years.

Cons

• They are powered by the sun so inorder for them to charge properly they have to get ample amounts of sunlight.  Daylight savings can affect how charged the lights are.
• They are more expensive that non solar powered lights.

Although there are a few drawback in switching to solar powered lights there are more advantages in the long run.

Solar String Lights

Christmas Solar Lights

Companies are always looking for ways to better market and revamp their products.  However, the answer isn’t always in altering the product itself.  This can be especially true if your customer base is extremely loyal to your current product.  A perfect example of this is when Coke tried to edge out Pepsi by reformulating it’s Classic Coca-Cola into its “New Coke.”  The result was a complete marketing failure as loyal Coke followers were outraged by the decision ultimately leading to the reintroduction of the original recipe.  So where do companies gain a marketing edge if they aren’t altering the product? It comes from new and innovative packaging.  Many companies have turned to this approach to give their classic products a new edge on the competition.  Here are a few recent examples.

Heinz worked extensively to redesign it’s ketchup bottle so that it would stand upside down.  This made for easy use as the ketchup was always near the opening.  It’s vacuum seal also helped eliminate mess.

Kraft was another company that benefited from redesigning its packaging for Chips Ahoy.  It’s old packaging opened from the side and lead to stale cookies.  The new packaging  allows for a resealable top flap that eliminates staleness and increases the ease of use.

For more information visit:

CNN

Many look at cardboard and see it as a simple packaging material.  To often it finds its way to the trash instead of being recycled.  But as the cliche goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”  This is the case for Mark Langan, who is an artist based out of Ohio that has made his life’s work out of corrugated boxes.

As his website states;

…I see it as an endless supply source that I purge from my trash and neighborhoods, reusing it towards my creations.  Artwork that is intriguing to the viewer whereas one might ponder quite some time over. A form of green art, that makes a definitive statement with its contribution to the recycling movement.

With a touch of brilliance Mark takes “reuse” to a new level.  Revamping simple cardboard into breath taking works of art.  Here are a few samples of his work.

http://keetsa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/langan3.jpghttp://cwoca.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Salutation-Mark-Langan1.jpg

For more information visit:

Langa Art

Google Images

As always, with news trends come new terminology. When researching products and companies its important to understand the meaning of common green phrases.  From Green Living Tips, here are a few words and acronyms used within the industry that will help broaden our vocabulary.

• The 3R’s -Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

• Carbon Footprint - This measures your impact on the environment based on how much carbon dioxide you produce to support your daily activities.

• Alternative Energy- Energy that is considered clean because it isn’t taken from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.  Wind is an alternative energy.

• Renewable Energy-Energy that is generated from resources that are naturally renewed.  Common examples of these are wind and solar.

• Greenhouse Effect-Greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun resulting in warmer global temperatures.

• Greenhouse Gas- Any gas that contributes the the greenhouse effect of our atmosphere.

• LEED- This acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  This is a green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.  Buildings can be varying levels of LEED certified.  The levels from most efficient to least are platinum, gold, silver, and certified.

These are some of the common terms and phrases but there are many more out there.  If you are interested in further familiarizing yourself with these terms visit:

USGBC

Live Science

Green Living Tips

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner, but ready or not, they are fast approaching.  The following are a few ways to reuse and recycle with one of the biggest holiday trash culprits; wrapping paper.  Following a few of these tips will help ensure that this holiday season the gift of giving also gives back to the environment.

There are several different ways that you can make sure that your wrapping paper is environmentally friendly.  If you’re choosing to use standard wrapping paper you have a couple of eco-friendly options. The first is to reuse it, and although it may be difficult at times, with some careful opening this is possible.  However, if you or your loved ones are in more of a hurry when opening your presents, you can always simply recycle it.

You could also choose to be environmentally conscious from the start by purchasing wrapping paper that consists of 100% recycled paper.  Additionally, after this paper has been used, it to can be reused or recycled.

Another environmentally friendly option is the use of fabric wrap.  This gift wrap comes in a variety of options.  Like any fabric it can be reused over and over again.

So if you are hoping to make this season an eco-friendly one, remember the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. And have a Happy Holiday Season!