There is nothing better, in my mind, than the practice of taking something that someone else discarded and either returning it to its former glory or creating something entirely new from it. In my work, I make a point of doing this by using reclaimed and vintage materials to make bags and there are so many other people out there doing this in their own way, contributing to fine art and charity. Over the years, I have come across many ideas and programs that surround this idea of turning trash to something that is treasured. I am focusing on people and programs that accomplish this in artistic and charitable ways.
*** While through the years I have heard of the following ideas and programs, many more were brought to my attention while I was reading this handy little book called “1,001 Ways To Save The Earth” by Joanna Yarrow and published by Chronicle Books LLC out of San Francisco, CA. AND as I was looking up the publisher, I saw this: “Publishers Note: This book is printed using mineral oil-free vegetable-based inks on paper produced from pulp obtained from sustainably managed forests, and from paper mills that meet environmental standard ISO 14001. It is 100% recyclable.” VERY COOL and inspired me to put this right up front, so anytime you see a ***, it is to let you know when I picked up the tip from this book.
ENJOY! AND let me know what you think and if you know of any other cool ideas or programs!
Handmade Goodies: As a seller on Etsy.com and a person who using reclaimed materials to make her products, I a vouge for the fact that their are SO MANY talented people on Etsy.com Making all sorts of amazing handmade items from recycled materials. I just typed in recycle into the search engine on Etsy.com’s main page, have a look! http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=recycle&order=date_desc&ship_to=
Donate some recycling or “clean trash” to school as art supplies: I worked in a kindergarten program and this was always a hit! They loved making things on their own or working together to make large items. This is a picture of a robot that they made with a teacher from stereo pieces, old christmas lights and all sorts of things. They designed it and all the teacher did was screw it together. Children are SO CREATIVE! *** I believe something like this was in the book as well.
*** SOMOHO (Soweto Mountain of Hope): This a hill in Africa that during turmoil in the 80’s became an illegal dumping ground and dangerous place to even pass through. Mandla Mentoor saw it as something else and worked very hard to transform it into the cultural and environmental center. People now feel safe coming here and there is a program for children teaching them all about being environmental stewards. They also have a big focus on artistic endeavors and allow everyone to make art out of the trash there “to free their minds” because they have all been so “bottled up” as Mentoor puts it. So this garbage was just sitting there and inhibiting people from going there because it was dangerous and they have now harnessed it for the common good. What a fantastic program! Here is a nice interview with Mentoor by In Motion Magazine,if you want more information: http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/mm1.html
Trash To Treasure Art Contest. FORT WAYNE, IN: I thought this was pretty cool. Fort Wayne Indiana had the great idea of holding a contest in which children and non-profit organizations can compete. People can let their creativity flow and re-use discarded materials. The next contest is to take place April 2010. Here is a link for more info if your organization or community want to do something similar http://www.acwastewatcher.com/events/index.html?ID=events_and_programs1202742977. I was thinking it’d be cool if some of the art was auctioned off after the contest to raise money for some charity or something.
Before and After: Antique Restorations: I LOOOOVE before and after pictures. I am a big fan of refinishing furniture in lieu , its so rewarding. Here is a great gallery of projects from all over the country created Pamela Wiggins:
http://antiques.about.com/od/craftyideas/ig/Trash-to-Treasure-Makeovers/
Old Cell Phones To Charity: If you are like me then you have at least a half dozen old cell phones lying around. Instead of letting mine just sit in our junk drawer or throw them away, I wanted to look into where I could recycle them. You can donate to lots of organisations but here are a few: GRC Recycling (you can earn money this way): http://www.grcrecycling.com/programs/cell-phone-collections/index.cfm; National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (if the page doesn’t show up, be aware that they are currently working on their site, so check back or call them!) http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DonateaPhone_129.html; CTIA The Wireless Foundation (also combating domestic violence) http://www.donateaphone.com/CalltoProtect/donate.cfm; Cell Phones For Soldiers (turns old cell phones into prepaid calling cards) http://www.donateaphone.com/CalltoProtect/donate.cfm; Charitable Recycling (let’s you create your own fundraiser for a favorite charity) http://www.charitablerecycling.com/CR/home.asp
Clean Out Your College Dorm For Good!: PENN State did a fundraiser on May 30, 2009 wheere they collected anything that was no longer wanted, put it in their stadium and had a HUGE SALE! They donated all of the proceeds, $62,680, to their local United Way. I just thought this was a fantastic idea not only because, as a recent college grad, I’m aware of how much stuff you throw away at the end of the year simply because you don’ have enough room in your car to get it home but because it gave all of this “trash” a second chance. Here is their website on their efforts if you want to do something similar: http://www.trashtotreasure.psu.edu/default.shtml
Follow your Book Donation: I though this was sort of cool. There are tons of ways to donate book liek donating them to the library, for a church yeard sale, use Got Books (http://www.gotbooks.com/) to donate. What happens to those books though? Where do they travel after that? Book Crossing gives you the opportunity to find out, http://www.bookcrossing.com/. You can register your book and then if people go to the website and type in the code, you can see where the book has been since you donated it or where it was before you got it!
Consignment and Thrift Shops : I love consignment and Thrift shops because you can get some nice stuff, sometimes with tags still on them! I like discovering a good consignment shop that I can browse through but there are some online too! http://www.consignmentshops.com/webshops.html. I also found a website for locating Thrift shops near you: http://www.thethriftshopper.com/ and you can add Shops of you know of ones that are not listed!
Donate Your Eye Glasses: http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/eyeglasses-donation.htm This is a great guide to all the places excepting eyeglasses and can point you in the right direction of donating most anything.
This is only a small taste of what is out there and I hope you have enjoyed looking through what I have put together. Again, if you know of any great artists, designers, ideas or programs that you want to share please feel free to add them as a comment!
About Reclaimed Threads: Reclaimed Threads is a sustainable bag company launched by Katherine DeSantis. Katherine is a 20-something entrepreneur combined her love of being creative and sustainably conscious to form the company. Every bag is handmade by Katherine from reclaimed, vintage and organic/sustainable materials. There are a variety of style bags and all are reasonably priced to make them available to all! Her shop is at: www.reclaimedthreads.etsy.com.
Welcome to the first edition of the feature, “it’s in the bag…”. Each time we meet, I will feature a “themed” group of sustainable/green products that I have come across while going about daily life. I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments, especially if you have ever had personal experience with a mentioned product or can think of another brand available. I hope that you enjoy this feature as much as I have writing it! On to this post!…
Binders and file folders– I went to Target and found binders and file folders that are by Greenroom Eco. They are SO cute and I love that they contain 60% post consumer recycled fibers and they print with soy-based, non-toxic in. How great is that? The company also makes notebooks, journals and social stationary. Go to Target to check it out or go straight to the source and check out their site: 
Printer Paper- I originally wanted to get paper from Rawganique because their paper products are 25% hemp fiber and 75% post-consumer recycled paper. They don’t use any virgin trees in making their paper. 
Business Cards: For my business cards I have been using up my Avery clean-edge business cards sheets that go through my laser printer because I had them from a long time ago. Now that I have used them up, I have been looking for sustainable business cards. I was SO excited to find this website where they have tons of options for business cards made from 100% post consumer content. Their prices start at around $10 for 100 cards.I can’t decide which one I want! In fact I may pick a few and have everyone help me! That will come at a later date though! Here is the site though for you too look at in the meantime: 
Packaging: I am really excited to share this product with you. Since my bags can be folded nicely, I can use very little shipping material. I have found the best padded envelopes by Caremail. They are Plastic-free Cushioned Rugged Mailers and they are made from 90% recycled material, 50% of which is post consumer. I think the envelopes have a nice texture and color. They come in a wide variety of sizes and Caremail has a wide range of other shipping products. Caremail offers boxes, kraft paper and protective packaging items like peanuts that break down easy and ”eco-Packaging” which is recycled paper used to cushion items in boxes. I’m obviously obsessed with OfficeMax today so here is where you can find Caremail products there: 
Reclaimed Threads 