Smart options in small spaces

An island without oil

I saw this months ago on PBS and thought I'd share it with you all.

Danish island of Samso won a national contest in 1998 with an audacious bid to switch completely to renewable energy. And in just ten years, Samso achieved its goal. Residents now use wind, sun and even grapeseed oil to power their cars and homes.

Very inspiring!

Fold

Fold is a small greeting card company, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The handmade greeting cards are all designed and fabricated by Miro Chun – with bits of wire, snips of thread, and colorful scraps of paper. All cards are mounted on environmentally friendly, 100% recycled cardstock.

Brave Space Design

Brave Space is a Brooklyn-based furniture company that produces sustainable furnishings for the home and office setting. Dedicated to providing quality high-end products, the designers at Brave Space have developed a style that is playful, modern and hyper-functional. A hands-on approach to the design and construction of each piece has greatly influenced material choices and has led them towards producing items that are durable and environmentally sustainable.

Kathi Rienstra, recycled grocery totes

I saw Kathi's booth at the market yesterday and at first glance I walked right by, but then I walked over again and saw these bags close up and my mouth dropped. Her bags are made from plastic bags that she gathers from recycling bins around town and from friends and family. Made with a small crochet hook which adds more work for her but she believes makes a better, stronger product. I had a fun time guessing which store the the bags came from, Market Basket, Shaws, Target etc.

Check out her bags on Etsy

Affordable tote bags under $20.00 (Freebie Friday)

With all the talk of banning and taxing plastic bags it's nice to know there are so many tote alternatives out there. Everyone is jumping in the game and making tote bags. Forever 21 has some cute tote bags ranging from $1.00 to $1.50.

Rock Scissor Paper also has tote bags that are made from 100% certified organic cotton and are made in the USA. They are now on sale. $20

And if you want to go more hand made Modern Radar has a really beautiful silk screened raindrop tote. $20



*Freebie Friday
Free reusable Nature's Source™ tote bag First 18,000 (USA)

Going green

Every where I look I see more and more products promoting a green life style. Tote bags seem to be all the rage! I've been thinking about doing a tote bag with my little bird on it. How cute would that be!


Green tree organic cotton tote bag
It's Easy Being Green
Green is the new pink tote

Post Office kicks off free, by-mail gadget recycling

Got an old camera, cell phone, or MP3 player that you want to toss? Under a new pilot program offered by the U.S. Postal Service, recycling your dead gadgets is as easy as dropping them in the mail.

Computerworld reports that the Post Office's new "Mail Back" program is getting a trial run in 10 U.S. markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. If the pilot program takes off, a nationwide rollout will follow.

So here's the deal: Just bring your old gadgets (handhelds, cell phones, MP3 players, and even inkjet cartridges - no 20" CRTs or dead dot-matrix printers, unfortunately) to one of 1,500 participating post offices, seal them in preprinted, postage-paid envelopes (you can take as many envelopes as you want), and drop them in the mail.

The package goes to Clover Technologies Group, which is partnering with the Post Office in the new recycling program. In a press release, the Post Office promises that Clover will refurbish, resell, or break down the discarded gadgets for recycling, and that nothing will end up in a landfill.

It's a clever idea for those of us with old electronics too outdated to sell on eBay. Indeed, I have an old, 2001-era iPod that's essentially worthless (I priced it over at SecondRotation and got an estimate of exactly $0), and I'd rather drop it in the mail than pay to have it recycled.

Article found on Yahoo

How to Make a Messenger Bag Out of Trash Bags

Sukie notebooks

Rescued Paper Notebooks by Sukie
These books are made entirely from discarded paper which has been collected and assembled by hand in India. Papers are folded and bound in a direct form of recycling which enables the owner to write on the reverse of the printed pages. The books come in three sizes and a variety of colours

I love her notebooks! My favorite is the science book, I showed my husband and he even wanted one!

My Coke Rewards

Check out these cool prizes at mycokerewards.com. They are made from recycled labels, plastic bottles and glass bottles from Coca Cola products. Start saving your coke caps (3 points) and frigdepacks lids (10 points)!


Rycycled coin purse 464 points

Recycled Wallet 536 points

Smartglass Pendant 982 points

Going Green

I've been shopping at my local Stop And Shop lately, and I've noticed more and more people using those Stop And Shop green reusable bags instead of the usual paper or plastic bags. Also, did you know that starting March 15, all IKEA stores in the US will charge a nickel per plastic bag in an effort to get people to use reusable bags? IKEA will be selling its reusable 'Big Blue Bag' (pictured above) for 59 cents.

I was so happy about all this environmenteering, and then I realized I was still using plastic bags! So it's time to look into purchasing some cloth bags:

"I'm NOT a plastic bag" by Anya Hindmarch has been all the rage for months. Her website says she is sold out, but you can still find the bags on Ebay.


And if following trends is not for you (or if you just hate trendy-ism altogether) the "I'm NOT a smug twat" bag may be just the thing. Hilarious!