Earth Day Q&A with The Reuser

#EarthDay2016

Yesterday, I got the hare brained idea to do a FB Live video about Earth Day! Yay!

Here is the video with some show notes:



1st Question:
What would you tell a green-newbie about where to start? What are a few easy ways to begin reducing waste?

My answer: start with a durable bottle and bags to start, then you can attempt other habits, like durable/reusable to-go container, napkins, utensils, etc.
DO NOT do it all at once! It takes me years sometimes to fully create/solidify a habit.
2:00: I mention Liberty Bottleworks (my favorite bottles!-the link will take you to the Amazon listing for the bottle shown in the video and is an affiliate link*.)
3:00 I mention collapsible to-go containers. Here is an affiliate link* to an Amazon listing for a collapsible bento box.

2nd Question:
6:30 I often get asked "But I'm only one person, are my efforts going to make a difference?", I'd love to hear your answer to that!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

My TEDx talk

3rd Question:
Can you give the group some suggestions how they can encourage change in others without coming off condescending and like a jerk? I struggle with this I've made many changes for the better in my own life and would like to see those changes in others around me.
A: Starting with yourself is great! People won’t change unless they’re ready. You do you and let that influence those around you!

At 9:00 I talk about "hidden benefits" and mention Glass Dharma straws.*

Final Question: Who are you wearing?
11:30 My haulternative video with Little Did You Know.

If you like what Andrea got, you should consider my ProThrifting services!















*Affiliate links help me to make a small percentage of your purchases for helping you to find great products. This in turn helps me to serve you more fresh content!

#Green2016 Challenge!

Take 1 of 5 pledges and reduce your waste. Do something sweet for the planet for Valentine's Day.

If you are on Facebook and don't follow The Reuser; Go. Do it. This is primarily where I post stuff these days, but I realized I should probably let you know about the #Green2016 Challenge. I'll post all the pledges here as well, but the basic premise is: you pick 1 of 5 pledges, post it to your favorite social media site (social media is how we communicate our norms to people these days so posting about waste reduction behaviors can be really powerful and can inspire others!) and then spend the first 2 weeks of February doing your best to stick to your commitment. We don't expect perfection (The Reuser has tried and failed many times before she tries and succeeds!) but we do expect you to do your best! 

Four-minute, no-sew modesty skirt

Spandex may be a privilege but everyone has the right to be comfortable.

So, some of you know that I quit my "day job" back in November and have started my own business promoting sustainable consumption. Some of you also know that I've been working a part time job to help make ends meet in the mean time. That position consists of organizing and running clothing collection events. What's appropriate attire for this position? I should probably wear jeans, but then I have to unload the clothing (sometimes 10,000+ lbs!) later that day. My compromise has been to wear spandex/yoga pants but then also wear one of my 2 Sweet Spot Skirts over the top. It makes me more comfortable (and probably everyone else at the event) while still giving me enough flexibility for the unloading workout that is entailed at the end of the event.

Fast forward to last Friday when I hadn't done my laundry in awhile. What to do? I had a somewhat brilliant (if I do say so myself...) idea. I cut the bottom of a too-big t-shirt off, flipped it upside down and added some elastic. Voila!

While it's true this wasn't nearly as cute or well made as a Sweet Spot Skirt, it served the purpose well and was super quick/easy. I might even make a few more.

It's easy to reuse the original hem by
slicing a small hole and threading
the elastic through there. The new "bottom"
 of the skirt will roll and doesn't need hemming.

After I wore it for the event, I went ahead and replaced the safety pin that was holding the elastic with actual sewing (this could be done by hand, but of course my sewing machine was much faster.)

Here's the original T.
I simply cut it off under the armpits,
flipped it over, and threaded some elastic
 through the original hem.

Reusable bag tips

I was chatting with some of my favorite people from Glass Dharma this morning and realized that I've never really done a post about how I taught myself the habit of taking reusable bags into the store with me. Maybe these will be helpful to you, too!

Young Reusers

This morning, I got a text from my sister in law saying my nephew had creatively reused a gum package and then said, "{Aunt Reuser} would be so proud of me. I reused it!" 

I really am. 

Artist/Vendor Profile: Michael Barley

Name: Michael Barley
Location: St. John's neighborhood of Portland, Oregon
Website
Your products/projects:

All of my products are made from recycled windows that I collect from construction sites. Since this type of glass is not normally recycled and most of it ends up in the landfill, I feel good rescuing this glass and giving it another life as a beautiful piece of art to be enjoyed for years. I create my work by first cutting the glass into the size and shape I need then decorating it with glass paints and glass powders. It is then fired in a kiln to 1500 degrees, permanently fusing the colors and designs into the glass. I make an assortment of items including Night Lights, Coasters, Dishes, Ornaments and Jewelry.

Green "Cred"

Creative reuse, Handmade, Durable, Made in the USA, Recycled content product, Reused materials

Your origin story?

I grew up in air force bases in Japan and the U.S. and my favorite thing to do was making things in the Hobby shops. I spent time in the photo darkroom, lapidary shop, metal shop and ceramics studio. My professional career started as a potter when I was twenty. In 1988 I saw some glass beads that friends in Bellingham, Washington were making and in 1990, I tried it for the first time and fell in love with the process. A few years later, I was making beads full time and not working in clay. About ten years ago I built a house and wanted to make the tiles for the kitchen as well as glass panels for the fence I built. I first used Bullseye glass, the standard glass used in glass fusing, but found the cost prohibitive for the fence project so I started researching. I discovered sources for glass supplies using window glass and started working with it and exploring various techniques and built my fence and have been working with it since. At first I bought the glass from glass companies but quickly switched to recycled windows and now work exclusively with recycled glass for my fused work.

Recycled Glass coasters

Recycled glass light switch cover

Nightlight

Chicken coop made from reused materials

front of the coop, with the back
shown in inset

Pre-weathered wood makes for a great-looking home for some backyard chickens

I've been bringing you creative reuses from my colleagues lately and here's another one. A lovely woman I work with, Cathy, sent me these pics and description: 

My husband made this chicken house from mostly reused materials. The outside wood is from an old cedar fence. The rest of the wood & hardware came from the Rebuild Center and scraps he had on hand. The only exception is the hardware cloth, it was purchased new. I love the end result!  

I do, too, Cathy-that's a classy coop for your cluckers!

Those are some happy hens!

back of coop-showing egg and hen access

Creatively Reuse a Canoe as a Duck Pond

What do you do when you have new ducks that need some H2O to play in? You build them a pond, of course. Might as well use some things you have sitting around, taking up space..

Earlier, I wrote about one of my colleagues that sends me his creative reuse projects and I also mentioned that I liked this one even more. One of the things I really like about the way in which I got this email was that I got to read the whole thing and then click on the picture. I was more impressed than I even thought I was going to be. Now, I've already told you in the title of this post what he used for the pond, but here are his words, straight from the email I got. It should properly set the scene for you:

My new ducks LOVE water.. in fact they need it ... they are waterfowl after all...
Two of these birds (the females) are supposed to lay about 300 eggs a year.... that's better than some chickens!
And the Drakes here quack a little.. but they don't go cock-a-doodle-do all day long.. so they are legal in the city... so I can make baby ducks next year too!
Anyway... I needed a quick pond... so I improvised with an obsolete item that has been sitting for a few years..
Then I found these cute little boardwalks in the woodpile out behind {Name of business redacted, just in case}... they make the perfect poop deck for hanging out next to the new pond...
Then I went to the restore and got all the plumbing (CHEAP!) to put a drain in... and it works!  So I water plants with the dirty water (nutrient rich water that is, for plants)...
So there's my reuse project from last weekend...beats buying a cheap Chinese kiddie pool... which just cracks eventually anyway...
B

Heh heh heh...Poop decks, indeed

I hope I didn't ruin the surprise too much for you. So cool... 

Why won't you guys take my rigid plastics anymore?

A primer on China's "green fence" and reducing consumption.

Q: Why won't recyclers take rigid plastics anymore?
A: No market for the material. All recycling decisions are based on whether or not there is a market for the material. If you, as a recycling processor, don't have anyone buying the stuff from you, you'll quickly be swimming in it. Ewww...

Q: Why isn't there a market anymore?
A: China's Green Fence Policy. In February, China erected a virtual "Green Fence" and became more stringent with enforcing regulations governing contamination in bales of recycling.

Q: How long will this last?
A: Hard to say. Some are speculating at least until the end of the year, others are saying the changes are here to stay.

Q: So, then, what do I do with this stuff?
A: Put it in the garbage. Until new recycling markets open up, these materials are "true trash." (See above about recycling decisions being based on markets.) All of the answers here are for our market (Clark County, WA) and I would urge you to always check with your own local hauler for questions about recycling. 

Q: But, isn't it bad for the planet to throw stuff in landfills?
A: Not really. Landfills, while not perfect, are the best disposal option we have at our, well, disposal (pardon the pun) at this time, given how much waste we create.

Q: I don't love these answers.
A: We don't either. But, without a market for these materials, these are the best, truthful answers we have for you at this point in time.

Q: What can I do about this? Who has control over these decisions?
A: Honestly, the best, most expedient thing you can do is to REDUCE your consumption. Everyone likes to focus on recycling (we've been taught to) but recycling, even at its best, is not a silver bullet for all our waste woes. You, as a consumer, have immediate control over one thing: how much (and what) you buy. Need to take cookies to a meeting and don't want to have to throw away the clamshell? Make them yourself or buy them in bulk from your local bakery. 

Clamshell packaging does not
have a strong market currently.

Beyond reducing consumption, an investment in domestic markets is also, arguably, needed. Perhaps writing letters to local and/or federal decision makers, urging them to invest in green jobs would be a worthwhile use of your time? The other way to help is to vote with your dollars-make sure that what you do buy has post-consumer recycled content. If you are buying stuff made from recycled content, you're signaling to the markets that the cost and effort of recycling will be worth it. (But, again-only what you need!) Finally, Thurston County (our neighbors to the north) have a great page all about what can be done (in general) about waste.

Q: Any silver linings to all of this?
A: Absolutely! 

1. There is evidence that when recycling is readily available, consumption increases. So, when we find ourselves in a situation like this one, it's reasonable to extrapolate that consumption may decrease and that's certainly a good thing. 
2. The end of readily available markets that weren't too stringent about contamination may mean that domestic recycling infrastructure investment (that doesn't get to take shortcuts) becomes more economically viable. 
3. This article addresses some of the pros/cons of Operation Green Fence for domestic recyclers.

Bottom line: if you aren't buying the stuff, you don't have to worry about the end-of-life of the stuff. 

Modeling the norm on the show Arrow

Felicity uses a reusable water bottle while working out.

TV show Arrow does it right when drinking water.

Recently, Not-hubby and I watched the first season of Arrow.

I noticed this moment where Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Dig (David Ramsey) are training. (Felicity's character had gotten into a few scrapes in earlier episodes and she's starting to get her badass on...) When they've finished, Dig picks up a pink reusable water bottle and hands it to Felicity. The show could have easily used a disposable water bottle but someone (production, props, actors?) decided to use a reusable water bottle instead. Nice job, Arrow!

Lonely shoe reuse

What do you do with a bunch of single shoes? Connect with an amputee organization, that's what!

I stumbled across this post from 211 info and thought it was a cool and creative fix to what could have been a "waste" problem.

Worst infographic I've seen in a long time

Yesterday, I was working on a new presentation and I was looking for an old infographic that I had seen awhile ago about plastic bags vs. paper bags. As I love infographics in general, I ended up clicking on a bunch that weren't the one I was looking for, but stumbled across this one that is truly hideous. It's things like this that make me realize why people find recycling so confusing. I've dissected the infographic for you below, as I don't want anyone to mistake the original for something that could be used in its entirety. Content managers-PLEASE-if you're going to write about something that is not your normal area of expertise, find someone whose area it is and have them review it!

*Some people may think I'm being overly pedantic when it comes to calling out this infographic on the basis
of using a drawing of a full water bottle. The thing is, though, that we've found time and time again
that when you use a picture like this, people will then assume that liquids are fine to throw in to curbside carts.
Let me assure you right now, liquids are never acceptable in curbside recycling carts. I also think it's irresponsible to try to have a list of "recyclable items" and use only a few pictures. This is not an exhaustive list and the lists vary by area, widely. (I've written about this extensively.) It just seems arbitrary and therefore unnecessary, to me.

You can *reuse* trophies, but I don't know anyone that recycles them. Moreover, they've just broken the cardinal rule of recycling outreach and that is to say that something is "recyclable" without qualifying how/where to recycle it. Trust me, if you don't specifically say how/where, these items are going to end up in recycling carts. There are very specific items that your curbside carts can accept (with good reasons) and if you start throwing in random items, those items are likely going to be a taking a long trip to the landfill. Also, juice boxes are acceptable in our recycling carts (but not many...) See why it's a bad idea to make generalized lists of what's recyclable and what isn't?

Ok, here's where the author *really* lost me. I believe what happened is that she read somewhere that paper can be recycled into the items listed (kitty litter, greeting cards and egg cartons.) But, then, in the translation, it became that these things can be recycled into paper.
PLEASE do NOT stick your kitty litter in your recycling cart. We CANNOT make paper out of it. We're not magicians.

I believe this table is an oversimplification of this info. The problem with any resin code info dump is that it perpetuates the myth that the resin codes tell you something useful about the type of plastic and its recyclability in your system. I've written before (a couple different times) about why this is an erroneous approach to take.

Bottom line? If you're wondering what is acceptable in YOUR curbside carts, seek out localized info. Your city or county governments should have some good info (and/or try your hauler-the company you pay to pick up these materials.) Please read infographics like the one mentioned above with a heavy dose of skepticism...

*The Reuser grumbles, "Paper from kitty litter...geez..."*

Get your glass straw!

Last year, I posted about how much I LOVE my glass straw. I love it so much so, in fact, that I asked for some more for Xmas this year and got them!

If you'd like to give a glass straw a try, Glass Dharma is giving away more this year.

As I've discussed before, it takes some time to create a new habit. I definitely have my bag habit down and I'm really close to having my take away container habit. Last night (and frequently lately) I've been noticing when I order water in a restaurant, they automatically put a plastic straw in the drink. My next habit to work on is to ask for water with no straw.

Green gifts-what my family got this year

First of all, yes, I know this post is ridiculously late. I hope to some day write for a living (and thus, you can expect regular content updates) but that day is not today. If you think this post is late, you should know I've been sitting on a post since August of this year and I'm thoroughly embarrassed by it, because it's a virtual home tour and the lovely people that let me in to their home were so excited about it. But...I'll get to all of these things eventually!!!

I blog fairly frequently about lessening your environmental impact around the holidays. I wanted to share with you the gifts that my family got this holiday. Everyone got at least one gift from me that had some kind of green "cred." It might have been handmade by me or by someone else or it might have been reused-come from a thrift store. Here they are:

Mom: My mom loves blue. She loves lapis, so gifts for her often are pieces of lapis jewelry. This year, when I was in Spokane on business, I stayed an extra day (had a fabulous day!) and found an artist's cooperative shop. I bought handmade lapis earrings and a blue glass pendant for Mom.

Not-husband: NH and I invested in a new bed this year as our Xmas present to each other. So, we didn't do much else in the way of gifts. I did, however, make him some handwarmers (he's always too cold and me too warm.) out of some of the fleece left over from the scarf I made (see below.)

Brother 1: I found these nerd propaganda posters from a local artist for NH and decided to get my bro one, too. He also works on cars fairly frequently, so I made him a citrus scrub as well.

The carriage that transported us around the
Wade House-a living history site in Wisconsin.

SIL 1: I found green beaded earrings that made me think of L when I was on vacation in August, in Wisconsin at a little local handmade vendor fair. She also got a scented candle that she admired while we were shopping at Check 'Em Off, Green

Brother 2: J got a handmade wooden bottle opener, purchased at Check 'Em Off, Green and some handmade seasoning blends (made by a colleague and I-we made enough for secret santa gifts and some for my bro, too.)

SIL 2: V loves foxes and I often find things for her that are fox themed. (a handmade custom hat from Etsy one year, framed fox prints the next.) Earlier this year, in one of my favorite local thrift shops, I found a fox T-shirt that I thought she might like but it was not her size. I went ahead and bought it anyway and then used a fleece sweatshirt that I gathered at the clothing swap to make the pictured scarf.

cut t-shirt panels. Was trying to decide
white vs. brown fleece.

went with the white fleece in the end.
Finished scarf

Nephew 1: C often asks for video games, so I helped buy a game but also found one of Matt Groening's books for him at a local book shop.

I decided to give the potions some names.

Nephew 2: Since my youngest nephew and niece are a bit younger, I was able to create some things for them. J got a handmade Harry Potter wand (inspired by this, but I decided to use large gauge knitting needles instead of chopsticks-bought them from aforementioned thrift shop) and also made him some "potions" in reused bottles. (I glued the lids shut, so J&L wouldn't have to worry about the bottles ever spilling.) These potions are much more interesting in real life and I was pleasantly surprised by how much J seemed to enjoy them.

J loved this hat when he saw
it at Check 'Em Off, Green

J also got a handmade alien hat made from old sweaters, purchased at Check 'Em Off, Green and some honey sticks from a local beekeeper (he loves those-also purchased at Check 'Em Off, Green.)

The wig in-process

Niece: Earlier in the year, J had received a handmade Rapunzel wig from me (for her birthday) and I also made her a tutu in pink and purple. I also had an extra "potion" on hand for her in pink and it was a good idea, since J&J are thick as thieves and when he was "mixing potions" and "saying spells" on them, she wanted in on the action.














Cousin's kid: I also made hair bows for all the little girls in my life. They were inspired by this post. R got some of these, as did 4 other little girls.

some of my first hair bows (and some
rosettes I made out of scraps)

more hair clips-the pic on the right shows them all ready to go. I used some vellum map material
to cut out tag shapes and then wrote on them with Sharpie.

So, there you have it. I bought some of these items as early as this time last year. I use an iPhone application to keep track of my Xmas list and this helps me save money by not only buying things when I see them but also by buying me time to prepare thrifted items for gift-giving.

I'm very lucky to have a family that not only accepts reused/thrifted gifts, but who also buys them for me. We also use fabric bags in our family to cut down on wrapping paper waste and it's become somewhat of a "thing" to have the bags reused year after year.

Here's hoping you had a fantastic holiday season and you got some fun gifts this year. Anything you're particularly excited about? Leave a little note in the comments-I'd love to hear what you and your family do to save money or reduce waste in the holiday season.

Doggy poo-Are you being "green" by paying extra for so-called "biodegradable" plastic poo bags?

The very short answer is, "No. Don't waste your money." Use whatever you have on hand (pardon the pun) to clean up after your dog when you take her out for a walk.

I've mentioned before some of the worst things that a recycling specialist can hear. (I should do a separate post on that!) but one that crops up fairly regularly for me is, "I buy those special biodegradable doggy poo bags!" I added the exclamation point because people are usually so proud of themselves for this purchase. The truth of the matter is that the doggy poo is likely going to the landfill, correct? If it goes to the landfill, not a lot is going to happen. Landfills are created specifically for safety first and that means not a lot gets in or out of them. In other words, the conditions you need for decomposition (light, moisture, oxygen) are simply not present in landfills. So, what is Fido's poo doing in the landfill in that special bag? Much the same thing it would be doing in a plastic sack. Or a paper one. Or a plastic glove. Or grandma's china. It's just sitting there.

So, don't waste your money on biodegradable doggy poo bags. Or anything that has a claim of biodegradability that will ultimately end up in a landfill, for that matter.

Reuse Conex wrap-up

I wanted to give you a run-down of my experience at Reuse Conex. I met lots of great people and learned about some amazing programs and businesses out there. Here's just a smattering: 

I met the lovely (and breathy!*) Nicole McGee from Plenty Underfoot. Of course, I had no idea at the time what her art was like, so I was pleasantly surprised to find her Etsy shop this morning and instantly fall in love with her items!

*She made a joke about being breathy in her presentation. I had just assumed it was because she was excited about her topic, (it happens to me-don't judge...) but I think (and she said) that it had something to do with being pregnant and due soon!

I also met John Littler from GovDeals.com and later found out we're actually neighbors! 

I learned about some great projects/businesses such as UsedCardboardBoxes.com, (just what the name suggests) ReRack (a reuse store dedicated to car bike racks) and I also met one of the GLEAN artists, Jen LaMastra. I bought a pair of earrings from her that spoke to me. (They said, quite simply, "Buy us.") I saw quite a few ladies wearing her beautiful creations at the conference. The jewelry shown at left are not the pair I bought, but I'm hoping to post a video of my presentation at some point and I did wear them for that.


I heard about a wonderful design competition called Respace by listening to Joel's presentation. I met Diane Cohen of Finger Lakes Reuse and Jenny of SCRAP in San Francisco. I was a little blown away by some of the facts presented by Scott Hamlin of Looptworks. (The one that is sticking with me is this: there is 70 times as much pre-consumer excess (waste) than there is post-consumer.) My brain is still trying to digest that information. 

I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. It was a great conference! 

Refashioning: XS skirt to XL

There are 3 blogs that I follow that aim to take old, ripped, torn, stained, unfashionable and/or thrifted clothes and "refashion" them into new wardrobe pieces. I've been creating a number of headbands for myself (another post...I'll get to it...eventually...) but this skirt project was one of my first forays into refashioning an actual item of clothing.

Most of the headbands I've been creating are made from t-shirts. I stopped at a rummage sale a few months ago and the clothes were a buck a bag. (My favorite find was a vintage apron. I LOVE aprons, but I digress...) They didn't have a ton of fun t-shirts, but I found enough shirts to make a dollar bag of clothes totally worth it. A lot of the other items I picked were much too small for me. I picked up 2-3 shirts that I loved the fabric and figured if they didn't fit my colleague, I would make headbands out of them. (They fit Melissa, so she kept them-yay!) This skirt was originally an Extra Small. There's no way it was ever going to fit me, but it was a little long and I hoped that I would be able to chop off the top panel and make it fit. After some false starts, I'm happy to say I have successfully refashioned my first garment.

Enjoy the progression:

To see if this project might work and to gauge where to cut the small skirt, I used a skirt that currently fit and laid them together. After much fretting, I basically decided to just cut off the entire top panel.

The blue skirt is the one that fits.

You can see the size labels in this photo.
I'm not making this up! ;)

Checking the size/length

Removing the lining.
I had originally planned to try to replace
the lining, but it proved too difficult
for my amateur sewing skills.
Instead, I just wear bloomers with the skirt
as it is quite transparent.

Making the chop!

checking color of jersey material to mend lining
(didn't end up using) This T was too white!

Here, you can see the jersey that I ended up
using. It's a much nicer color match.
The piece that was cut from the top of the skirt
is shown here. That section was eventually made
into a headband. 

repairing the lining (where I had to cut around the zipper)

Too bad I didn't actually end up using the lining...

After I cut the top section off, I tried the skirt on
to check it would go around me and to check the length.

repairing a side rip. (The skirt
was fine, but I was a little rough
on it and accidentally ripped near the side seam.)

inside view of the repair

Here's where the process kinda jumps ahead. I'm not sure why I have a serious lack of photos here. It's probably because I took the project to work with me for a few days. I tried to do way too much at once and ended up badly mis-sewing it. I got LOTS of seam ripping practice on this project. I decided to add a panel of jersey and then used elastic from a pair of not-hubby's old boxers for the waist band. I have to say, up until the point of threading the elastic, I was really dubious about how this would turn out.

Once I threaded the elastic, this project really looked promising.  

Sewed up the elastic and then hand-sewed the casing.

Finally, here's a pic of me wearing the skirt and headband, from earlier today.

I can't believe I changed the size of a skirt from an XS to an XL!!!