Recycled – The Goods

Announcing Our En‘light’ened Winners!

April 7, 2011

Congratulations to the winners of our first Earth Month 2011 Giveaway! These six Earth-loving readers vowed to step-up and make positive changes to make every day Earth Day.

Here’s how the winners of our Recycled Pelican Night Lights are making a difference:

Debbie:
“I will continue to 1.) Recycle, even though my condos don’t, and try to get more neighbors to as well. 2.) Buy less plastic. 3.) Stop using zip lock bags. 4.) Recycle batteries. 4.) Remember to take to go containers into restaurants 5.) Ride my bike more, building up courage to ride on the streets! Memphis is adding lots of biking lanes and trails! 6.) Continue teaching my 6th grade students to reuse, reduce and recycle 7.) Keep my windows open whenever possible, love fresh air!”

Joe:
“I pledge to: Use reusable bags for shopping. Compost. Buy local (farmer’s market). Grow own produce. Not consume bottled water. Try and be as least wasteful as possible. Reduce, re-use, recycle.”

Kristal:
“I pledge to look at the packaging more often and to not forget my fabric grocery bags at home so that I cut down on the plastic bags at the store!”

Design

Walking the Walk

April 5, 2011

When Cliff Drill shows people this photo, many folks don’t realize it’s a tire dump right away. And each time you get your tires changed, there’s a pretty good chance your tires are going to end up on a pile like this. Not pretty.

But that’s where Cliff steps in. Rescuing tires before they hit the landfill, Cliff turns them into flip flops he considers, “Fashionable, functional, durable, and comfortable.”

Design

Earth Month Giveaway: Recycled Glass Night Light

April 1, 2011

April is Earth Month, and we’re excited to show Mother Nature some love! What better way to ring in Earth Month than by celebrating recycling? How about by giving away some eco-friendly art?

We’re giving those who pledge to recycle the chance to win one of six Recycled Glass Night Lights by Vawn and Mike Gray! You can vow to help the planet by:

1.) Go above and beyond recycling newspapers and soda cans. Pledge to recycle old linens, batteries, cell phones, and other items that don’t get picked up by the side of your curb.

2.) Look carefully at the packaging on the items you buy. Pledge to cut down on buying items that can’t be recycled, or come in extra packaging that will end up in the trash.

3.) Start reusing materials to create art projects of your own!

Three contestants will be chosen at random to receive the Recycled Pelican Night Light, and three more will be chosen to win the Recycled Sandpiper Night Light.

Maker Stories

Guggenheim Features UG Artist Kathleen Plate

March 25, 2011

Glass artist Kathleen Plate is known for her creative passion, her bold yet uncomplicated designs and her use of recycled materials. She’s achieved much in her more than 17 years as a professional designer, and she just added another feat to her résumé.

Chosen to participate in the Guggenheim Museum Store’s Studio Program, Kathleen created a stunning spiral chandelier inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. The handmade piece, which features a white globe light and recycled glass rings, debuted at the Guggenheim Store at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York on Monday, March 21.

Before the chandelier hit the Guggenheim, two of our buyers, Carolyn and Erin, had a chance to check out the piece at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show on March 18.

The Uncommon Life

The Recycling Bin: May Day Baskets

April 28, 2010

This is the perfect project for people who are too lazy to take out their recycling, but not too lazy to do arts and crafts (i.e. me). For whatever reason, I never feel the need to take out the recycling until there are at least four cans and a couple bottles that I have set on the floor next to the bin. I agree, it’s ridiculous and disgusting, but if I took out the recycling … I wouldn’t have been able to do this cool May Day basket project.

Let’s begin!

First, go to your recycling bin and survey the scene. Tin cans work well, as do the bottom half of plastic bottles, and milk or juice cartons. I didn’t have any small glass jars – but those would be a good option too. Anything that held a liquid before is a good choice since you will putting flowers and water in it.

Now comes the gross part. If you are like me, you didn’t properly rinse out all of your containers before putting them in the bin … so you’re going to have to give everything a good rinse and scrub. Nobody wants a May Day basket that has dried tomato sauce on it!

For bottles and cartons, you will need to peel off any labels and cut off the top half to make a proper container ……… this is me waiting for you to cut the bottles in half …….. be careful – nobody wants a May Day basket with dried blood on it!

Now comes the fun part – decorating! I have decided to use this super-cool decorative masking tape. This stuff is great. It comes in all these wonderful patterns and colors, so you can create a lot of different looks when you have several rolls. I started with a few simple patterns and then went on to do layered designs.

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