Posts Tagged ‘ reuse ’

Got Zippered Plastic Bags? They’re Good for Something!

On an earlier post, Kaye asked,”Does anyone have an idea of what to do with those plastic zippered bags that curtains and blankets come in? I recently ordered a lot of curtains on-line and now I have 10 of those bags. I would really like to repurpose them, but how?” I put the question out to the Attainable Sustainable Facebook community. Lots of smart folks hang out there. Here’s a sampling of what they came up with: Beverly: Use them to store linens/clothes/fabric you don’t use very often. You can insert cedar or lavender sachets to keep it fresh and they stay clean…I have my better bedding that I never use in some for like 15 years and the bags are still holding up and I think may last forever. Helen: Growbags? The Root Cellar’s Garden: Store winter clothes in them? Pick up poop with them? Make them into gift bags? Store garden seeds in them? Use them to store holiday decorations, like light strings? Sandra: I always save those and they end up having so many uses. Right now one contains maternity clothes that I plan to donate to Goodwill. Other times I’ll use them for packing when...

Eco-Crafting

By Kris Bordessa

You may not know this about me: in addition to spending as much time in the garden as possible, I’m an author and freelance writer. Much of my writing over the past decade has included developing craft projects for kids. It’s probably a combination of my desire to waste less, my frugality, and sheer laziness, but whatever the reason, I prefer to craft with items that I have on hand. Items that would otherwise be tossed out (by me or someone else) such as plastic containers, magazines, and cardboard tubes. Those kits that come with everything you need to build a specific tchotchke may be handy, but they come with packaging and (often plastic) parts that have been manufactured just for the kit. Creating a part just to include it in a craft project seems silly to me. I prefer the pioneer method of crafting. Take what’s on hand or used up and turn it into a different usable item. Worn out clothing becomes a quilt or a rag rug. Tree branches become a gate. Corn husks become a doll. In our modern society, when there are so many cast off items it seems utterly ridiculous to buy pre-made...

Garlic Tower: Project Fail

By Kris Bordessa

Remember back when I posted about dismantling a pallet so I could use the wood for a project? And remember when I mentioned that I’d be sharing both successes and failures in my attempts at becoming more sustainable? Well it’s time for a fail update. This was my plan: turn the wood from a recycled pallet into a stacking tower for garlic. My tower would have the ingenious addition of planned gaps in the side, so that garlic plants would sprout and grow out the sides of the container. This would allow me to grow about 40 garlic plants in a single square foot. Brilliant, right? My own little version of vertical gardening. Here’s how it came together: If you’re reading this on the front page, click through for photos. I planted garlic like this on every level. See how I cleverly pointed the little cloves in the right direction, as if to say, “That way! That way to the sun!” Mind you, the garlic did grow. And some of it even sprouted in the gaps as I’d intended. But my general opinion of this project is not much. I didn’t get nearly as many plants growing in this...

Skip the Bubble Mailers

By Kris Bordessa

Instead of mailing or shipping items in bubble mailers or those indestructible Tyvek envelopes from the post office, switch to a more environmentally friendly option. Envelopes that use recycled newsprint as padding are a much better option for the earth than those plastic laden shippers. Of course, if you’ve received something in a bubble mailer, reusing that rather than buying a new envelope is fair game, too.

Start Using Rechargeable Batteries

By Kris Bordessa

Whether you’ve got kids in the house who burn through batteries at an alarming rate or you just use a few in the course of a year, it makes sense to invest in a small collection of rechargeable batteries and a charger. Single use batteries end up in the landfill once they’ve run out of juice. Rechargeable batteries can be recharged and reused hundreds of times. We’ve had a battery charger for years. Not only does it prevent lots of waste, it prevents emergency trips to the store when our batteries die at a critical moment, and it saves us money. Once you pop a rechargeable into the charger and plug the whole thing into the wall, you’ll have batteries ready to go in just a few hours. Single-use batteries will run you about $6 for a 4-pack of AA batteries. Four-packs of rechargeable batteries go for about $10 each. You can get a small battery charger that works for both AA and AAA batteries for around $10 (this battery charger from Duracell comes with 4 AA batteries for $14). Or you can get a universal charger from Energizer that charges AA, AAA, C, D, and 9V batteries for...

Upcycling Pallets

By Kris Bordessa

I’ve been reading a lot lately about clever people turning wood pallets into creative projects. It makes sense; many pallets are not reused, but destined for the landfill; might as well use that wood for something. It makes good sense especially here on this island. Locally made rocks, we have (c’mon, it’s a volcanic island!) but 2 x 4s, not so much. All of our milled wood for construction projects has to come by barge, so repurposing pallets into something usable has a certain appeal. I picked up three pallets the other day, with several projects in mind and enlisted the help of my 15-year-old to dismantle the pallets. While some people are doing this with pallets: This is what I got: Taking pallets apart is not as easy as one might think. Someone in the pallet manufacturing industry decided that pallets should be built with a strange hybrid of a nail and a screw. You can’t pull ‘em out with a claw foot hammer because of the threads, and there’s no backing them out with a screwdriver or drill because the head is flat like a nail. After fighting to remove the boards without cracking them for an...

Just What IS Sustainable?

By Kris Bordessa

sus·tain·a·ble maintaining ecological balance: exploiting natural resources without destroying the ecological balance of an area Well, that sounds like a nice idea, now, doesn’t it? Here in America (and in many other parts of the world, to be sure) we are no longer living a sustainable life. Native cultures did it, and did it well. They utilized the resources they had on hand in their region. They wasted nothing. They cared for the earth as a provider. Us? We suck at sustainability. Unfortunately, we can’t just decide to go back to being sustainable. There’s too much to undo. What we can do is start from here. From where each of us is right now. Each one of us will tackle sustainability differently, but we’re all headed for the same result. Consider these the guiding light in our joint efforts to make a difference in the world. Stepping stones to sustainability, if you will. Do it yourself. This covers so much, but is so important. The biggest tenet of sustainability as I see it is to stop depending so much on other people for our needs. One example is food. If you get all of your groceries at the local...

Coffee Break

By Kris Bordessa

While my coffee on the run habit has dwindled to a rare indulgence, I find that if I keep a travel mug in my car I’m more likely to remember to use it, thereby diverting at least one paper cup from the landfill. Most coffee shops are happy to serve their patrons coffee in a reusable container, and some even offer a slight discount. According to Carbonrally, 14.4 billion cups of coffee are bought in disposable paper cups each year. Placed end-to-end, they say, these cups would wrap around the earth 55 times and weigh around 900 million pounds. How’s that for inspiration to change? Whether your drink of choice is hot or cold, bringing your own container will eliminate an unnecessary contribution to the landfill. (In addition to the plastic lid, insulated takeout cups have a thin plastic lining hidden under the innocuous looking paper, which means the cups are not recyclable.)

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Posts Tagged ‘ reuse ’

Got Zippered Plastic Bags? They’re Good for Something!

Eco-Crafting

Garlic Tower: Project Fail

Skip the Bubble Mailers

Start Using Rechargeable Batteries

Upcycling Pallets

Just What IS Sustainable?

Coffee Break

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