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

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

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!

With the growing concern for sustainable packaging, Greener Package decided to recognize the green efforts of companies moving in the right direction with environmentally-friendly innovations.  The winners come from a range of different industries, including food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household care.  Here is the list they came up with:

Greener Package Award

• Entropy Solutions–Greenbox thermal management (Winner of Innovator of the Year)
• Estee Lauder–Aveda Vintage Clove Shampoo & cap collection program
• Bryce Corporation–SunChips bag from 33% PLA
• Robbie Mfg.–Hot N Handy Bio-Pouch
• ConAgra-rPET in CPET trays for Healthy Choice
• Ampac–Patch Perfect
• Rexam PLC–rPET in APET drug ovals
• Unisource Worldwide–recycled toys with 100% recyclable packaging

Retail Leadership Award

• Marks and Spencer

Clean Manufacturing Award

• J.L. Clark

All of these companies are setting the mark for their competition.  If they want to stay in the game, they must follow suit with their green efforts, or go above and beyond, because eco-friendly packaging is here to stay.

If you’re like most people, you keep hearing about companies going green to both please customers and help the environment.  It can be overwhelming to try to manage your company’s green efforts if you don’t have much experience, but even small steps towards becoming more environmentally-friendly can help.  That is why it is important to set goals for yourself and your company that you can achieve.

I found some tips and goals to benchmark your environmental progress from the marketing magazine, Deliver, that can help your company in its start to become more eco-friendly:

Paper Procurement & Use

• Increase wood/paper purchases from recognized forest certification programs (by X percent by X year).
• Indicate use of suppliers affiliated with sustainable forestry practices that protect forest ecosystems and biodiversity as well as provide the wood and paper products our company needs.
• Increase purchase of environmentally preferable paper used for marketing pieces, product packaging, and/or internal consumption (by X percent by X year).