Presents, Perfected

It’s been said that the perfect present is a gift that comes from the heart. Something that is considered carefully with the recipient in mind. ‘Tis is the time of year we like to give gifts – to family, friends, work colleagues, our hairstylist, kid’s teacher, and the list keeps growing. These gifts do not necessarily need to break the bank. Wouldn’t it be great if they didn’t? Major bonus points if they are environmentally friendly. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits (one of my favorite blogs) and his family have issued a challenge: The No New Gifts Holiday Challenge. It is simple – no new gifts. There are many creative alternatives, honest. Another challenge, if that one seems to be too daunting for you is the No Gifts from the Mall or Big Box Stores Challenge (my challenge to you) which is self-explanatory.

What to do if you want to give green gifts from the heart and not spend too much – well – green? Here are a few ideas from my post last year, Green Gifting Ideas Galore, to get you started:

E-Giftcards – I-tunes, e-books or just about any other place you can imagine – google the store and see what they offer
Shop Locally – This one is a no-brainer. Make a difference in your own local community and reduce your carbon footprint. It’s fun to shop in a non-chain store and savor the unique things they offer. A few miles from me is the original Fleet Feet Running Store and next door to that is their Lifestyle Boutique. I found great bags made from yoga mat scraps and other green gifts.
Peace Bomb Bracelets - These are fast becoming a favorite of mine. I have already gifted a couple and they were both big hits. Now I’m placing an order for a half-dozen more.
Eco-Encouraging gifts – Klean Kanteen mugs and water bottles, or ones of your choice, bags, solar anything – whatever helps people on the path to being greener.
Handmade Gifts – Anything from the kitchen,or perhaps a knitted scarf, hat or gloves. or supplies for them to DIY. Anything your imagination can dream up, and bonus points if it is recycled or repurposed. (My daughter recently gave me a wonderful pair of earrings made with old mailbox keys. Every time I wear them people ask where I got them.) Not crafty? Check out Etsy for an amazingly large and clever assortment of handmade and vintage goods, many of which are green. Or, visit a local holiday boutique.
Donate to their favorite charity in their name – Not sure which one? There are many great green ones, including the World Wildlife Fund (see side of page)
Give an Experience – Tickets to the movies. theater, basketball games, etc. or an IOU for a wonderful custom-made experience you create with imagination and thoughtfulness (babysitting a friends kid, delivering coffee for a week, free car wash, or anything that the recipient will enjoy.) You can also give them a class, online teleclass, workshop or even coaching sessions!

And, a couple more:

Antiques, or things passed from generation to generation. That funky old avocado green fondue pot might just make a perfect retro, green gift.
Memories. Spend time creating some.
Gratitude

I am grateful for the gift of each of you…

Why Are You Wearing a Plastic Water Bottle on Your Head?

‘Fess up – has this ever happened to you? You are out and about, and get thirsty, reallly thirsty. Oh no! You have forgotten your reusable bottle of water, or find yourself in a place where they aren’t allowed, such as an airport. So, in spite of your best intentions, you succumb and buy that plastic water bottle. But, it’s OK, most of the time you are doing good, right? Wrong!

plastic bottle garbage

According to Nubius Organics, “Bottled water creates tons of trash. Each year, more than 26 billion bottles are thrown away (less than 15% are recycled) and 16.5 billion gallons of water are wasted to provide Americans with “convenient” access to water. The plastic from these bottles doesn’t biodegrade – it now a permanent part of our landfills. In 2005, 2 million tons of plastic water bottles ended up clogging landfills instead of getting recycled. While we’re at it, here are some fun facts from DIY Fashion about disposable plastic water bottles:

The number of millions of plastic water bottles consumed by Americans every hour? 1000.
The number of years it takes for a plastic bottle to start decomposing? 7.4.
The number of cubic yards in a landfill space 1 ton of plastic takes up? 17.
The number of millions of barrels of crude oil needed to supply a year’s worth of water bottles? 12.
The number of months 1 million cars can run with 17 million barrels of crude oil? 6.
The number of hours a 1 plastic bottle can power a 60-watt light bulb? 120.

But, what if you could turn your bottles into wearable art? I have seen suits of armor, wedding dresses, briefcases, and hats. Let your creativity flow. Recycled PET bottles have already been used to make fabrics for such diverse items as polar fleece and Chico Bags (you know, shopping bags that are trendy, practical and come in pretty colors.) So, let’s broaden our ideas, OK? We can make a hat or a skirt or even a coin purse, like the one from Dollar Store Crafts pictured:

Hey – If you drank the water, why not let your imagination run wild and make an original creation? You just might surprise yourself…

New Life for Old Books

Today, there are many ways to read a book – the old-fashioned way (that is, physically pick up an actual book and read it,) listen to the audio version, read it on devices such as Kindle, Nook, IPad, IPhone, computers, and the list goes on.

So many books become outdated and obsolete. Think textbooks, reference books, old Reader’s Digest condensed books to name a few. So, what happens to all those old books? I’m sure a horrifying number end up in the landfill, but that is changing. People are rescuing them, not only the ones in good condition, but the ones with pages falling out, broken spines and hopelessly worn covers.

Some books fall out of favor, some have incorrect, or at least politically incorrect information, and some are even on somebody’s “banned” book list. About now, the visions of all the burning books from that old movie, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury rushes into my mind.

So, what to do with all those books? I went to my favorite shopping site, etsy.com – which has all manner of things handmade and vintage. Among the items made from recycled or upcycled books there were: cards, bookmarks, pins, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, flowering garlands, pinwheels, planters, lamps, bookends, wall art, picture frames, wallets, magnets, clothing and bags. Whew! I guess you are only limited by your imagination.

What really intrigued me were the journals made of old, recycled books. I recently ordered a half-dozen or so for myself and for gifts. I had a hard time deciding, they were all so wonderful!! The site where I found them all on was on Etsy, naturally, and I was really impressed and inspired by the ingenuity! Check out the goodies at Heaven Sent to see what I mean. The journals have the original book cover, and then all different kinds of papers inside (all repurposed) including some of the pages from the original book to make things even more fun. These are spiral bound, so that makes them wonderfully easy to use. Among my finds was a journal made from an elementary school reader, teacher’s edition, from 1947. With some of the pictures and stories that were enjoyed so long ago by a teacher and her students, what could be a better gift for an educator? By the way, Sara at Heaven Sent also does notebooks and journals made from old floppy discs, playing cards, post cards, pictures and even game boards – anybody remember Candyland and Chutes and Ladders?

Lightning in a Bottle – the Greenest Festival in America!

When we think of Memorial Day weekend, we often think of backyard barbeques, and the unofficial start of summer. In Southern California, Silverado to be exact, a wonderful, and very unique 4-Day festival takes place. Lightning in a Bottle has it all, and for all ages, including many activities for kids. People bring their kids and their parents, too, so it it truly multi-generational. Music, camping, art, workshops, yoga, meditation and so much more.

Named the GREENEST FESTIVAL IN AMERICA for good reason, their tagline is “Leave it better, leave it beautiful.” LIB (as it is affectionately known) takes sustainability to a whole new level. NO plastic water bottles here, but there is all the free water you can drink and put into your own reusable bottle. All of the music stages are made of either recycled materials or bamboo, in the most incredibly creative and intriguing designs. In their own words, “Our energy initiatives this year include:

• Biodiesel generators providing power for the stages and vending areas

• A large solar array to help power the event and feed electricity back into the grid

• Energy efficient lighting

• Renewable energy art installations

Our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction efforts in 2010 diverted 46 metric tons of GHGs from entering the atmosphere: the equivalent of over 5,000 gallons of gasoline or over 100 barrels of oil!”

There are workshops on everything from solar power, making your own kombucha, building an earthbag dome, permaculture, soil, and even one entitled “Build a Gasifier, run an Engine or a Car on Bullshit.” Speakers cover topics just as diverse. And, there is a big Eco-Art-Kids-Korner – EAKK! The festival artists are using recycled materials, including old, leftover paints. I am not doing it justice, please click on LIB and find out more – who knows, next year, you may find your way to the festival?

Why is this so noteworthy? Everybody is having a great time, and doing it in a way that leaves the environment better, the people more informed and the future generations more mindful about the importance of sustainability.

What if we all could come together to celebrate and learn in such an inspiring way? Just think: “Leave it better, Leave it beautiful!!”

Sweet As Sugar?

As I keep exploring the world of sustainability and how we make use of items that would normally be trash, it is rewarding to find something that has such a diverse life and , well, afterlife cycle.

What could be sweeter than sugar? How about all the eco-uses for the rest of the sugarcane plant, after the sweet sugarcane juice is extracted from the stalks. Now, we know about the common kinds of sugar such as raw sugar, refined white sugar, brown sugar, cane juice. We also may be familiar with the drinks that have ingredients made from sugar like rum, falernum, molasses, and cachaca (the national spirit of Brazil). And, Ethyl alcohol is used in such diverse places as thermometers, solvents and is what gives drinks their kick.

We may even be aware sugarcane can be used to make ethanol, which is basically fermented sugar that is gaining popularity as a fuel additive. In fact, the use of ethanol fuel alone or mixed with gasoline is increasing. The Indy Racing League has been using ethanol exclusively as its fuel since 2007.

But what you may not have heard about is Bagasse, which is what’s left of the stalk after all the sugarcane juice is removed. Bagasse has been used for cattle food, fuel, paper and paper products such as plates, and take home containers (replacing styrofoam.)

One of the best kept secrets is how sugarcane has been used in making fibers, fabrics and yarn. One company in Japan even used it to make a line of designer blue jeans, and other fashions for men. Sugar Cane Co. What I am personally excited about is the beautiful hand knitting yarn made from Sugar Cane…

Who knows what else can be made out of this diverse, and very green product? It’s true, ONE MAN’S TRASH really is another man’s treasure!

** The line ONE MAN’S TRASH is a writing prompt form Be Kind Rewrite

Buy Back the Bombs…Please

Driving by Capitol Park here in Sacramento, I happened to glance over at our Vietnam War Memorial. Today is Veteran’s Day. On the sidewalk there were groups of people holding signs declaring all manner of things about peace and war, but the signs that were getting the most enthusiastic reaction were the ones that asked drivers to “Honk for Peace!” (Of course, there was one guy holding up a sign that read “Fire Bush” - maybe nobody had the heart to tell him that Bush has been out of office for 2 years now.)

Eco-Angel Bridget suggested that I write about a wonderful project that she found – Peace Bomb Bracelets!! Buying these bracelets supports artisan families in Naphia Village in Laos and helps them create sustainable businesses. Also, a donation is made to the community bank that funds infrastructure projects including roads, light poles and electricity for the school and other communal areas.

I have to admit that it never really occurred to me that we left behind physical garbage from the Vietnam War with all of the metal from the bombs dropped. So, this project is a great way to clean our clutter and recycle at the same time. The peaceBOMB Project is also works to make the scrap metal supply chain safer for artisans and scrap collectors by collaborating with organizations that specialize in unexploded ordnance (UXO) removal and education.

I found their story so moving, I wanted to share it in their own words: “A bracelet. A story about war and peace. Destruction and reconstruction. History. Instead of words, this story is composed of fragments of bombs, melted and shaped into a circle, a bracelet, a reminder.

1973. Laos. A major theatre of war during the Vietnam conflict, the US has ceased its 9-year long aerial bombardment known as the Secret War intended to halt the spread of communism across Indochina. Communist Lao leaders and 23,000 civilians slowly emerge from homes carved in the karst cave complexes of Houaphan Province.

1975. War is over. Saigon has fallen to the North Vietnamese Army. Victory within near reach, the Pathet Lao advance westward. A lone man from Houaphan also moves west. He journeys through the emerald-mountain passes toward the bomb-cratered Plain des Jars.

Naphia Village, Laos. The man makes a temporary home. He collects scrap metal from farmland and forest scarred by war debris from the 250-260 million bombs that were dropped. He crafts spoons from aluminum melted in an earthen kiln and cast in hand-sculpted molds of wood and ash.

Villagers watch, listen, learn. The first Ban Naphia resident learns the trade from the lone traveler. He begins to craft and sell spoons. Eventually, he teaches the technique to his son. Today, 10 resourceful and enterprising Naphia families supplement subsistence farming activities with income from repurposing war scrap metal. Through resourcefulness and problem solving, they take a constructive approach to a legacy of destruction.

2009. peaceBOMB bracelets. Developed through the collaboration of Naphia spoon makers, the Rural Income through Sustainable Energy Project of the NGO, Helvetas, and ARTICLE 22, a social enterprise that supports sustainable development through design thinking. Each bracelet purchase brings: income to households otherwise dependent on subsistence agriculture as well as two levels of donations, first, to the locally-managed Village Development Fund for electricity, small infrastructure projects and individual business micro-loans and, second, to a larger fund co-managed by RISE and ARTICLE 22.

NOW. BUY BACK THE BOMBS.”

I just ordered 4 bracelets – what a peaceful, powerful, positive way to work toward healing the wounds these bombs created on the planet. I am excited to give them as gifts this holiday season, and to pass the story along…

e-waste…trash to treasure!!

…or should I say Treasured Trash? After a long week in front of my computer screen, I decided to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. What better way than to explore a weekly street fair that has recently opened? So, I walked the aisles, past wonderful fresh vegetables, lots of crafty folks, some “junky” imported stuff, vegan baked goods, and all manner of other assorted offerings. What really caught my attention was how many crafters are using recycled and repurposed items in imaginative new ways. Love that!! The stall I was the most taken with was very clever and had (among other things) used, recycled and repurposed parts from old computers.

Ah!! More computers! I have to say, it did my heart good to see old, outdated e-waste reused in completely new ways. There were clocks made from old circuitboards, hard drives and other discarded stuff, earrings from old keys – both from the keyboard and actual keys. (How would you like to own a pair of earrings that said, “control” or “delete” or “shift” or your initials or ??) While I passed on these, I did find 2 pairs that were made from the innards of computer memory sticks, which could be the base for some really great earrings (Hello, Eco-Angel Bridget, will you make me some new earrings – pretty please?) bridgetbakermojo

When I got home, I immediately went to my…computer (again) and looked at Etsy – which is a great aritst and craft online marketplace where vendors each have thier own shops. My search turned up several great sites for recycled and repurposed computer parts made wonderful again. A fun one, Transient Treasures, is a great, geen way to shop for gifts or as a treat for spending looooong hours working in front of your computer. How to choose?? I only wish I had my old harddrive – who knows what I could create?

Well, this certainly gives new meaning to what my good friend and client Barbara Newton often repeats (usually under times of computer duress) “Technology is my friend!” Has a nice (ear)ring to it, doesn’t it?

Eco-Angels

…You know who they are, and they are all around us! Who am I talking about? The people who quietly and consistantly care for the Earth in many small (and not so small) ways. An Eco-Angel may not even realize that they are one. Off the top of my head, I can name at least 3 of them in my life, and I know there are many, many more. Allow me to share, OK? The first one swears she isn’t very green – she says all she does is rinse out her reusable grocery bags (For the record, the new recommendation for rinsing is once a week.) Wait a minute…she uses her own bags, NO paper of plastic for her!! If we add up her weekly trips to the grocery store, this is a pretty eco-angelic habit.

The next Eco-Angel, Lisa, is someone I have the honor of working with, and she quietly goes about inspiring others and looking for opportunities to make a difference. Lisa is the person who rescued the broken iron I wrote about a while ago from ending up in the landfill. She carries a tote bag that is made of used and repurposed vinyl marketing banners leftover from a promotion her department did (it is fabulous, and incredibly resourceful.) Just the other day, we were off-site at a meeting, and she simp;y asked me to look around and see what’s missing? After a bit, I gave up. What she noticed, and nobody else did, was that there was no way to recycle anything in this space. In the blink of an eye, she proposed a solution, and even enlisted the help of a new Eco-Angel to help carry out the plan.

The third Eco-Angel, Bridget, is a great source of inspiration to me (and many others) everyday, in more ways than I can count. She is my daughter, so I know firsthand that since she was a little girl, she has been a respectful, responsible and roll-up-your-sleeves-let’s-get-it-done Eco-Angel who influences others to be kind to the Earth, to repurpose, renew and reuse things in creative new ways. Bridget is the inspiration and the impetus for my green adventure. She constantly makes me aware of fun new ways to live a simpler, more sustainable life that is in alignment with my desire to leave the world a better place, and have a good time in the process.

Who are the Eco-Angels in your life? What are you willing to do to become one yourself? I’m inviting you to find your wings, and celebrate those who have already found theirs. Please comment – we can always use more eco-inspiration in our lives…and Thank You to all you Eco-Angels out there!!!

One woman's search to find greening in the world today …

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