Recycle Clothes - And Make Money at It!

Hi!

I know it's been FO-EV-ER since I've posted, but I am so overwhelmed with topics to write about that I can't seem to settle one one. Also, I realize that I don't know a lot about most of these topics and researching each one will take more time than I have in a week - or month! I have yet to branch into the scary realm of food, though I promise that I will try soon!  However, last week, I made an awesome discovery: Ebay! Some of you have probably already heard of this crazy site, and I'm sure even more of you check it on a weekly (or even daily?) basis. Let me also admit, that I have used ebay before for stuff like kitchen supplies or certain household brands that I like.  And it did occur to me once to look for toys on ebay for the Z-girl to save on plastic packaging.   But last week, oh the humanity!, last week I discovered CLOTHES on ebay. LOTS of clothes for CHEAP!

And that got me to thinking, why not buy 20 pieces of girls clothing online for $90? There are so many pros to this method that I just can't stand it! 

First of all, they looked like they were in good condition, the right size, and also cute! And whatever we didn't like, we could turn around and sell again on Ebay.  I mean think about it, how long does a little kid wear something before she gets too big for it? 3 months? 4 months? 6? I guess some stuff could be used for up to a year, but that's still not long in the scheme of things. And if you are like Z-girl, you have 2 grandmas, 4 great-grandmas, a mom, a step-mom and a step-grandma who all want to buy you the cutest things EVAR! Which means you have a lot of clothes. You have your favorites, Papa has his favorites etc., but a lot of the stuff gets pushed to the wayside.

Second, you are giving money back to a PERSON rather than a company. This appeals to me quite a bit because it seems more real and personal.  Sure, some of these people may be ladies with consignment shops who make a business out of selling, but they're still not a large company or a chain. Also, people who do this for a business manage to put together the CUTEST outfits into lots so you are making sure you get stuff that matches. Also, dealing with real people, it's easier to negotiate, combine shipping and get someone to actually respond to your questions and comments. So...yay for people.

Lastly, think about where those clothes go when you're done with them? Some people may have friends or other children who could take the hand-me-downs, but a lot of us don't. We usually just take them to the Salvation Army (which I hear is a big, richish corporation too now) or Goodwill or other thrift store for MAYBE a tax write-off (but if you're as broke as me, you don't make enough for even that to be worth it). I know these places do charity and good work too, but if you've ever been into one of them you can see that they are practically exploding with stuff. It has always made me wonder where all that stuff goes if noone buys it ever. Though that's a mystery for another day. So selling stuff on Ebay in lots lets you know that your stuff is actually wanted and will be appreciated. Also, you make money from it. It may not be a lot of money but it 100% more than you'd get from a thrift store and probably 90% than you'd get from a consignment shop like Plato's Closet (who'll give you $3 on a pair of Ann Taylor Jeans and then insult your taste of clothes for the rest!).

And, if you're like me and my mom, you've been keeping your nice stuff in storage because it's just "too good" to go to a thrift store but you're utterly sick of wearing it. That means that we at least, will have A LOT of fun putting outfits together to sell.  I'll post again once I've done it to let everyone know how it went.

Girl clothes from Gymboree on Ebay, starting bid $9.99!

Composting Vs. Recycling vs. Trashing (Part Two)

So I really dropped the ball on this one. Summer's been very busy and the last thing I want to do when I get on home from my job working on a computer is get on my computer. But  I feel like I should write this now so that I won't feel bad posting other stuff later....Here goes:

Western Disposal, for those of you who have that, has a convenient composting service that is getting more widespread. Our apartment complex just started it and it's going great. They have a good list of stuff to compost so I'll post that in a bit. But I wanted to first highlight some of the "OMGs" that I learned.


Weird things that are not recyclable that you thought were:

Pizza boxes - the grease makes it "contaminated".

Frozen food boxes (w/ the exception of Amy's Brand) - they are coated w/ plastic so they don't get soggy. (On an unrelated note, Amy's Pesto Tortellini is fabulous!)

 Small Paper bits - when you do single stream recycle the small bits get stuck to the glass, plastic and aluminum.

Plastic Bottle lids - not quite sure why, but yeah. They're not. =( So then birds eat them and die. It's sad.

Luckily, all this stuff except the last one is COMPOSTABLE YAY! Although, with the shredded paper you need to make sure it's wet b/c otherwise when they pour it into their giant grinder it looks like New Year's or a wedding revisited. And trust me, have you ever seen a Western Disposal worker covered in tiny paper bits? I haven't but  can imagine that it's not the prettiest of sights. ;-)

And finally, here's a list of the more obvious things that can be composted.  Depending whether you do the whole process yourself or send it away to do, you may not want to add meat and milk to your compost but I think that's mostly cuz it gets pretty stinky.

• Yard Waste: 
• Brush
• Tree trimmings
• Grass clippings
• Weeds
• Flower clippings
• Leaves 
• Small amounts of dirt

• Food Waste 
• Vegetables
• Meat 
• Dairy

• Wax coated cardboard 
• Paperboard 
• Some papers which are not otherwise recyclable: 
• Napkins 
• Paper Towels 
• Kleenex 
• Paper bits 

• Compostable (not just biodegradable) utensils, cups,  plates 

Check out "The Compost Bin" in my sidebar for more info on Composting! And do it if you can.

 

Plastic Waste: Ignorance is NOT Bliss (once you learn)

Ok, so I really am not trying to sound preachy in over the environment b/c I hate it when people act condescending about stuff like the environment, but I figure if you're reading this you are at least a little bit concerned about your waste habits. However, I found two news articles today that actually make me feel sick about the world's waste. Sick to the point of wondering how the hell we're going to fix this problem. There are billions of people in the world and I'm sure billions who don't recycle, compost or try to reduce their consumption. And these billions include companies who manufacture this detritus. It's absolutely horrible.

The first is a video from the BBC about a beach in Hawaii that's just being littered in plastic trash. Yes, Hawaii, a place that seems to you to be island paradise. Well, this is not at all paradise.

The second is a note with pictures about how plastic is becoming the diet of albatross chicks, leading to the death of thousands each year. The pictures are not for the faint of heart, showing pictures of partially decomposed bird skeletons with their stomachs full of bottle caps, lighters, door stops and other unidentifiable bits of plastic. It makes me wonder about those plastic bottle caps. This infuriates me to no end - both the fact that they're not made to be recyclable and also that recycling companies won't do it. I have no idea WHY this is the case, but it's absolutely inexcusable! There are millions of these bottles made a year and we still haven't figured out how to get rid of the caps? Christ......

COMPOSTING! YAY! (part one)

Hi! It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I’ve be very entrenched in mentally draining and environmentally wasteful activities like traveling, moving and unpacking boxes (which I’ve been recycling!). Now I’m finally mostly settled in my new home. (It’s awesome!) Despite being filled with whiny “what’s-being-done-about-this?” tenants, it has its benefits.  One huge one that’s really exciting to me is that the complex has been working with the trash guys on composting. Now, when we go dump our trash and our single-stream recycling, we can also dump our compost!

Composting has been an intimidating endeavor for me because in the past it always seemed to involve bad smells, ick, worms and lots of work. And, granted, I really appreciate the worms’ job in this process but unless they’re paying rent, I just can’t fit them in the tiny apartment. This is why it’s so great the the trash guys now pick up compost and have “out-sourced” their rotten food munching to giant grinders. (Unfortunately worm labour unions all over the country are taking offense…) This makes it possible to compost a lot more without added effort (like the 3 lbs of Kleenexes a week I use during allergy season).

So I decided to get my family in on this composting thing and have been teaching them what I learn. Since it is a kind of scary new form of trash reduction for a lot of people, I thought it would be useful to teach you guys how to make a “compost” kit to get you started and make a list of the thing that I’ve learned that can and cannot be composted. Now, as I don’t have worm or tumbler experience, I’m going to have to seek out experts for that step, but if you have a trash service that will pick up compost here are the easy steps to get “in” on that.

1). Sign up for the service

2). Buy the supplies

3). Keep the bin in a cool place

4). Compost everything you possibly can

5). Empty regularly

6). Be prepared to harbor gnat fugitives. Luckily, they don’t eat much.

7). Know that it does smell a bit

The basic supplies for composting that you will need are:

 - Composting pail: I got the cheapest one at the hardware store that had solid walls (vs. holes). It cost $10 or $15.  It’s plastic, about a 3 gallon or smaller size and has a top and a handle. It turns out that it’s actually too small for my family (see the Kleenex comment above) but since emptying it only involves going down stairs, it’ll do for now. Eventually I want to get a decorative bamboo one for the kitchen counter so that I don’t have to run out to the patio for every Kleenex.You can also get them in steel, stainless steel, or ceramic (and probably others...).

-  Filters: My box came with 1 filter and I bought a pack of 3 more just so we'd have no excuse to stop composting. Usually, each bin will have a place to put the filter and so you have to make sure you're buying the right ones. And even though in the link a pack is around  $10, they last for 3-4 months each. And you can probably get them for cheaper on the web or w/ a Bed, Bath and Beyond or hardware store coupon. Also, they do, indeed, work. 

- BioBag's Food Waste Bags: Oh, good ol' BioBag. Good for scooping cat and dog poo (NOT compostable). Good for lining your compost canister so it stays less icky. I got the Food Waste ones (~1 gallon) for around $7 at the hardware store, but it looks like you may be able to get them online for cheaper. We are looking into getting the 10-gallon bags to make a bigger compost

A word of warning though, since the bags are compostable, they do start breaking down in the heat so if your compost is too hot, be careful taking the full bag out. 

*NOTE: Not all "biodegradable" bags are compostable. Some are labeled as "biodegradable" because they are made of plastic w/ a chemical in them that helps them break down faster. These should NOT go in your compost b/c they're not made of plant matter. BioBags are made of corn so that's why they're compostablehere.

Soooooooooooooo, that's all you really need to start off with. Since once you throw all your waste in a BioBag and dump it in the appropriate bin! And away it goes!

I will try to get a guest writer here who actually goes through the whole process and uses the compost in her garden. And the next post will be about what is compostable and what is not. (If you're curious in the interim, check out The Compost Bin (in links on the right side) or Western Disposal's website.)  And eventually you'll get something that looks about like this!

Way to Go, Big Red!

Big Red gum has made a "revolution" in Gum-Wrapper technology! The "paper" wrapper! And this is a "new-enough" concept that they thought they should "advertise" it. See for yourselves:

Ok, there's a touch of sarcasm there, but really I am proud of them. If I were to write them a letter, it would say:

Dear Big Red,

While I may not have the same enthusiasm for your gum as I did in high school, I will chew you out of respect for your respect for our environment. Keep making a difference!
Sincerely,
Me.
P.S. Maybe next you can stop having your gum in individual wrappers. It gets stale eventually, anyway.

But, I'm glad that big companies (Wrigley's) are at least trying to do "something." That's where it all starts, isn't it? With a "something." And maybe this way, the "paper" can be composted or recycled. Who knows? The possibilities are endless when only 1 step toward change is made. (I have to keep telling myself that every time I go without a straw or use a ceramic plate.) Just one step at a time.

♥

EDIT: Now with excessive quotation marks added for extra sarcasm!

Vacations are wasteful!

(Ok, so the title isn't really clever, but I couldn't think of anything to rhyme with "waste-maker"). So, I've kind of fallen off the bandwagon of keeping track of my waste since I got back from vacation, but there's a reason why.

Let me explain first...

I went on vacation to New Orleans with my M.a.t.h., his colleague and her bf for the ACLA Conference. And while the trip was fun and great, I was struck by something.

1). How many bottles of toothpaste, shampoo, water, soda etc. are thrown away at the security lines? Do they recycle them? Who knows? I'd like to find out more about this.
2). We threw away A TON of plastic cups/paper trash etc. just because we didn't want to deal with carrying them around. I even decided to throw away my novelty plastic gator cup b/c I didn't have room to pack it in my carry-on.
3). And the wastefulness wasn't just us, it was EVERYBODY on Bourbon St. there were cups up the wazoo lying by the curb, being kicked into piles then shoveled in big garbage bags.  Now the city of New Orleans has a really great street-cleaning team, but I bet that stuff just lands in the landfill.
4). There are SO many beads there - they are hanging from the telephone wires, tress, cars, houses, signs EVERYWHERE.  And so many more are dished out every night.  They go from this:

To this: 

Do you see the beads on the lamp post?  It's probably not that hard to get THOSE down, but what about the ones I saw hanging from a power line over the cable car tracks? Yeah, those are not coming down by any human hands. Also, it's apparently taboo to pick beads up off the ground (though I did a couple times cuz they were pretty. And I was freaking out about all the plastic) so people just leave them sitting around everywhere. And it had rained that day so there was water in the gutters. The beads would roll into the water then slowly slink their way to the drains. The drains DO have bars on them so cups can't go down, but they don't stop those persistent little strings of beads.... Here's another picture of beads hanging on the wire just below the deck:

And the funny thing is that we weren't even there on Mardi Gras or any holiday really. OK, it was Easter the next day, but do people party and get drunk and throw beads on Easter Eve? Apparently in New Orleans ANY weekend night is appropriate for that. Weekday nights too? Maybe So. And if this was just an average day, think about what it would be like on Mardi Gras, or St. Patrick's Day or New Year's Eve or any day that involves raucous consumption, destruction and waste for that matter.....


*Sigh....* In the end, all this excess made me wonder if what I'm doing is really worth anything. Am I just a drop in the bucket or am I really doing something? Is traveling really worth it? Well, actually, I don't think too hard about that one because, yes...it really is. But maybe I could try to change my habits in the future so I can at least contribute more to the solution rather than the problem. I guess the point of this blog is to just encourage me to do something...ANYTHING...because "any" is infinitely more than "none."

I'll try to get back on my tracking soon and I have many more good posts stored up for future use. So please come back often! Oh, that's another thing...I seriously need readers if I am to keep this up. Please tell friends! And if you have blogs I will return the favor and eventually, everyone will feel loved. ^_^

Double Threat: Help the Environment & Yourself - AT THE SAME TIME!

Ok, I realize that I owe y'all a blog post about consuming, but things have been really hectic since I've gotten back from New Orleans. (I also have another post I want to write on  New Orleans and plastic waste. But that'll be later. For now I'll try to tide you over with an article I found.  I'll sum up the article here, but will also past the link.  This article gives you some tips on how to live healthier and less wastefully. And hopefully will post again soon!

Enjoy!



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One of the other topics that is near and dear to my own heart is our individual responsibility to  ourselves and our health, so my contribution for Blog Action Day is the following list of 3 simple ways to get healthy while saving the environment!

1) Leave your car in the garage!
I am not one of those people who thinks that cars are "bad" or that we shouldn't take advantage of the convenient as well as the fun aspects of having motorized vehicles. However, not to put too fine a point on it, but people have simply gotten lazy!

Do you need to take your car somewhere that is more than a few miles away? Usually, yes. However, do you need to take your car to the store that is just a few blocks or even a mile from your house? No.
Save money, lessen pollution, and get some exercise all at the same time by simply walking or taking a bicycle. What are you afraid of? That you'll work up a sweat? Good! Sweating is very healthy and all recent health studies point to the fact that elevating your heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes every day is not just a good idea, but that it could actually save your life.

So, even if you don't care about the environment, why don't you put the car keys down, strap on some walking shoes, or just go grab your bike and work up a sweat. Do it every day, and before you know it, you will be losing weight, having a higher level of energy, saving money, and {GASP} – you might even enjoy it!

2) Stop buying bottled water!
This is one of the biggest "end around" health issues that I have ever seen. Many years ago, someone decided (rightfully so) that we all needed to be drinking more water. However, the need for us all to drink more water does NOT mean that we need to keep buying bottled water in plastic bottles!

Pop Quiz: What is the one solitary substance that is physically impossible for the environment to break down?
PLASTIC! All of the plastic that there ever was is still here on earth, and every time you buy a plastic water bottle and then throw it in your trash can, you are contributing to the problem. I don't have the facts and figures about how many of these plastic water bottles are sold every day, but I'm sure it is a staggering amount.
Yes, you should drink water – and a lot of it. However, just buy one or two plastic drinking bottles that can be washed and refilled every day. If you need to buy three or four so that you always have plenty of water available, then do that. However, stop buying disposable plastic water bottles!
Does the term "reduce, reuse, recycle" mean anything to you?

Author's Note: There are also icky things in bottled water like e-coli, bacteria, choloroform and other fun stuff. Check out this study and the chart by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). I was going to do a whole post on bottled water...but maybe some other day.

3) Eat fresh food instead of frozen food
There is no real discussion needed about the fact that fresh food is more healthy for you than the packaged frozen food that people buy at the grocery store. There are innumerable health benefits associated with eating fresh food – especially fruits and vegetables.
However, in addition to the instant and obvious health benefits, let's look once again at the issue that was just mentioned – plastic. What do those Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen meals come packaged in? Plastic. How are those types of meals heated up? In the microwave. Ah yes, the microwave – you know, that massively power draining box that sits on top of your counter, using as much electricity as a television set, if not even more?  And what are the ingredients in all of those frozen foods? Chemicals. Those chemicals – other than being nothing less than poison for your body – are manufactured in a factory somewhere. That factory is using massive amounts of energy and it is also polluting the environment on many different levels.
By switching exclusively to fresh foods, you would:

• Instantly increase your level of health 
• Live longer
• Stop putting more plastic into the environment
• Help to put companies out of business that are polluting both our bodies and our planet

Given the 3 simple ways to get healthy and save the environment that I just listed, what are your thoughts? Do they sound something like this?

• I'm only one person, what can I do?
• Saving only a few miles per day on my car won't make much of a difference
• I don't have time to wash and reuse water bottles
• My schedule doesn't allow me time to eat fresh foods

If those are some of the responses that you have, then consider the following: Yes, you are only one person, but this is a collective effort. Imagine if a few BILLION people started making these efforts on a daily basis. If you save 2 miles per day on your car every day, that is over 700 miles every year. Even if your car gets 30 miles to the gallon, that is almost 25 gallons of gas pollution that you did not put into the environment – and that is only YOUR efforts over one year. Again, what if billions of people did that?

You DO have time to wash and reuse bottles and other eating and drinking utensils. It is just inconvenient, so you don't want to do it. Everyone can find a way to fit fresh foods into their dietary lifestyle. Again, it may not be convenient to do so, but there is a way. You just have to ask yourself if your health and the health of the very planet that you live on is worthy of your efforts…

Now that you have reached the end of this information about saving yourself and saving the environment at the same time, are you going to let it go in one ear and out the other, or are you going to take both personal and global responsibility and start making some changes?
As you consider that, let me leave you with one more quote:
"We are either part of the problem, or part of the solution." 


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Here's the article's Link:  http://www.todayisthatday.com/blog-action-day-3-simple-ways-to-get-healthy-while-saving-the-environment/#Maryanne%20Comaroto