4 posts tagged “recycling stuff”

    Have you heard of PaperBackSwap.com? It is an online club devoted to the ancient practice of book exchange, for the anti-consumerism people. It is also yet another practical way to exercise the 3 R's, for the earth-friendly people. Reduce: Save trees - don't buy brand new books when you can find them used, in perfectly good condition. Reuse: If you're done reading it, don't throw it out. Pass it on to someone else. Recycle: The postage materials as many times as you possibly can!
    Also check out its sister-sites: SwapaDVD and SwapaCD, for your all your media needs.


peace.

   T-shirts are the billboards of the clothing world. They're affordable and comfortable. They're haphazard and multifaceted. They're cotton jersey security blankets for grown-ups. They become the nostalgic dust-bunnies at the back of our closet.

    Blue jeans are the functional no-brainers. They offer style and utility to the denim-clad multitudes. Like human beings they come in different shades, cuts, and sizes.

    Do you settle for the latest identical duds the department store has to offer? How can you be an individual if there are so many people wearing the same shirt? Are you paying the designer to advertise a brand name for them? And, call me crazy, but I find something deeply illogical about paying $40 for a pre-ripped pair of jeans.
    There is an answer to this outrageous conundrum, my friends (cue hallelujah chorus). You must find your inner fashion designer, and your nearest thrift/craft stores. Take the plunge - become a weapon of less consumption - thwart the corporate vision and its retail clones - and enjoy yourself thouroughly. All for the low price of...well, cheap.
    By shopping at thrift stores, yard sales, and consignment shops, you can drastically curb your environmental impact. You are fighting the dispensibility of modern consumerism. You can reduce, reuse, recycle all at once. For less. What a bargain (excuse the cliché).
    Then you can personalize everything. Embroider custom designs, spatter paint, scribble with Sharpee, doodle with a bleach-pen, cut, twist, tie. The possibilities are literally endless, and you're an original no matter what. The punks got it right, just Do It Yourself.


   

< A little extra guidance ^


peace.

    I am not a quilter. I had no idea what I was doing half the time. I'm sure any self respecting quilting expert would be appalled, but whatever, I finally finished it! A queen sized quilt made entirely of old t-shirts (and a bed sheet). It's soft and cozy (as you can tell by the picture above, brothers Fred and George modeling it for me), and comprised of recycled materials. So sweet. Oh yes.
    If you would like the pattern, it is on my website: www.veganteen.net


peace.

    - Two large basic sweatshirts at Goodwill: $2
    - A handful of mismatched brown buttons: $1
    - Searching for the special buttonhole foot for the sewing machine, and then figuring out how to use it: priceless.

Much as I hate to resort to such an oft reiterated cliché, I'm afraid this is just one of those cases it somehow applies to. This past weekend I purchased two old sweatshirts on dollar day at our local Goodwill, took them home, and over the course of two days and several funny movies, proceeded to cut them up and put them together, with pleasing results. There is something so gratifying in salvaging old clothes, so DIY, and kinda punk. I've come to enjoy spending quality time with a temperamental old sewing machine, even teaching it some new tricks (or maybe it's the other way around?). So for your critically fashionable eye, here are a couple pictures of my "new" casual jacket-ish thing. It's slightly over-sized and comfy with front pockets and a super big (I over compensated a little) black hood.

peace.