Eco-ify your next Garage Sailing Adventure!

The birds are chirping, sun is shining and the clutter is piling, so let’s talk Garage Sales!

Whether your browsing others or the host, Garage sales are an excellent eco-friendly option. To take it a step further, here are some tips for making your next Garage Sale experience easier on, you, your wallet & the environment.

For the Garage Sale Shopper:

The key to successful garage sailing is in see the potential of repurposing, here are some suggestions...

• Garden Art - Be imaginative. If your looking for something to spice the garden up, consider old furniture such as dressers, metal work or even an old kettle can be turned into an indoor/outdoor planter. Use weather proof paint when possible and avoid small pieces birds and animals may eat. 

• Party Platters - Pretty dishes can be transformed to multi-tiered platters with just E600 super glue & candlesticks.

• Renewed furniture- Quality wood can be hard to find and expensive if you do but a fresh coat of paint will bring new life, save your pocket book & the planet!

• Picture Perfect - A beautiful picture frame with a not-so-nice picture can be easily swapped for another picture or even a mirror. 

• Think of the potential -  Handles & pulls can easily be changed, wallpaper the back of a shelf to fit decor, chalkboard paint gives new life & kids love it!

These are just a few of the many possibilities, (Pinterest is a great idea-source too) but just make sure whatever you buy that it’s something you will use, or it will just end taking up space until your own sale next spring!

For the Garage-Sale Host:

• Multi-Family sales are always a big draw. Invite your neighbors to run a sale the same day, or friends to join yours. Group sales mean you can split the cost of newspaper advertising and put up signs together reducing your work and materials needed.  

• Make an eco-friendly sign by using materials you already have or can get for free such as boxes with rocks used to hold them down. If you don’t have a cardboard box just ask a grocery or liquor store. If you do use signs, don’t forget to collect them once you are done and (with all the space you now have) save them in your garage for next year! 

• Get your stash looking nice & shiny to get more for your items. Clean the merchandise with an eco-friendly cleanser or household vinegar. Vinegar can be used on many household items (porcelain, glassware, brass, copper, wood & carpet) but some need dilution or a mixture so it’s best to check first. Never use vinegar on marble. Go to vinagartips.com/cleaning for a complete list. Wash all clothing in cold-water and if possible opt for detergent that is vegetable over petroleum based and phosphate free.

• Stock up on plastic bags to give to customers. Ask co-workers or friends if you need. It makes shopping easier and saves a plastic bag from the landfill.

• For any electronics missing the manuals, just check online. Many companies, Sony & Apple for example have an online version free to view/ print. Just point this out may close your sale, especially for pricier items.

Remember, one person's trash is another person's treasure. 

The lamp you think is outdated maybe someone’s dream D.I.Y project but you must be realistic when your trash is well, trash! Make sure you know where to recycle or dispose of items in their proper place. Visit lethbridge.ca/living-here/my-home/Waste-Recycling for more info on waste disposal around Lethbridge. 

Some items are also illegal at garage sales. Find more information at healthcanada.gc.ca/cps

In the end, re-using and re-purposing (when conscious of toxic chemicals & processes) can prevent useful, beautiful and unique items from the landfill and make wonderful, budget & planet-friendly additions to your home. So whether your a seasoned pro or a newbie, Garage Sales are a perfect option for saving more than just money & space!

Coming soon.. Pallet Gardens!

Eco & Budget-friendly halloween costumes

Halloween can mean many things... sexy get-ups, scary faces, once worn costumes and some serious fun. Obviously like many parties there is a real potential for budget busting and waste afterwards. Well no need to cancel the spooktacular plans! Inspired by fellow backpackers on Utila island, Honduras (read no wal-marts or costumes retailers ANYWHERE) here are 10 eco & budget-friendly costumes ideas!!

1.An Electrocution victim

Supplies:

Old t-shirt (your ok with ripping)

electrical cords (please use common sense here!)

2. Mario & Luigi

Supplies:

Jean coveralls or jeans w/ suspenders (duct tape if nothing else!)

Green & Red Tee-shirts

If available:

Big Yellow buttons

Green & Red Conductor hat

White Gloves

Brown shoes

3. A Giant Baby

Supplies:

Diaper (or white cloth secured w/ pins)

Soother or sucker

Baby Bottle

4. Greek God/ Goddess

Supplies:

White (or other colored) sheet (secured w/ pins)

Leaf, foliage

Gold ribbon (I used unraveled x-mas bows)

Additional ideas:

Cardboard (cut into lighting bolt shape)

Aluminum foil (cover cardboard)

5. Hunter S. Thompson

Supplies:

Bucket Hat or Visor

Sunglasses

Wacky button up T-shirt

Shorts

6. Tom Cruise from Risky Business

Supplies:

White button-down long-sleeve shirt

Tighty Whities

7. Zombie Hunter

Supplies:

Belt w/ gun holder (easy d.i.y)

Toy gun

Pretty flexible.. tight t-shirt/ tank top dark color

tights, jeans etc.

8. Beggar

Supplies:

Scruffy shirt & pants

cardboard sign & felt 

booze in a brown paper bag

9. Bottle of Rum

Supplies:

Large rectangular cardboard box

Felt markers

10. Mermaid

Supplies:

Long, peasant skirt

matching top bikini, tube etc..

shells, flowers to clip in hair

if available:

shimmer to underwater look

A special thanks to everyone featured & all of the great people @ Cross Creeks Halloween 2009!

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10 ways to make your home - and the planet - a more beautiful place to live.

While browsing through the very useful Style at Home website, I discovered this eco-chic list of 10 ways to make your home -  and the planet - a more beautiful place to live.

1 Colour your world "green"
Freshen up your walls with eco-friendly paint. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in conventional paints are bad for your health and contribute to global warming, so opt for low-VOC  or VOC-free lines instead. Other options: milk and biodegradable paints, which are nontoxic, and recycled paints, which reduce landfill waste.

2 Go au naturel
If privacy isn't an issue, leave your windows unadorned. The airy look lets in light, which can warm a cold room, and also means you have one less item to dispose of when a drapery style becomes passé. If direct sun makes the room too hot or you're feeling shy about naked panes, select window treatments that are made of natural textured materials, like linen, bamboo or seagrass.

3 Say no to PVC
Instead of buying a vinyl shower curtain, choose a cloth one. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in most plastic varieties emits carcinogens (bad for your health) and is non-biodegradable (bad for the earth). If you're about to embark on a bathroom reno, consider designing a shower area with a glass door or partition, so you don't need a curtain at all.

4 Watch what you toss
Take eco-friendly waste disposal beyond the recycling bin and compost heap: keep your renovation garbage and old furniture out of landfill. First, consider reusing items: Do you need new cabinets or just doors? How about reupholstering that chair instead of discarding it? If you can't use an item, donate it to a charity or used-building-materials supplier like Habitat for Humanity's ReStores. For unwanted refuse, it's surprising what's recyclable these days: most metals and plastics, yes, but did you know asphalt shingles, concrete and sometimes even drywall can find new life? Contact your local sanitation department to find out more.

5 Grow your decor
Not only does a little greenery make a room look more homey and lived-in, but plants also filter out harmful airborne chemicals. Add palms, ferns or potted gerbera daisies, which all have high ratings for their ability to remove chemical vapours, throughout your home and you'll find you'll breathe easier.

6 Tread softly
Chemical dyes, stain-resistant treatments and heavy-duty adhesives in some carpets off-gas harmful toxins. Instead of noxious pile, roll out alternatives like sisal, seagrass or coir (made from coconuts), or rugs with recycled content. Carpet tiles are a smart choice, too: you can replace only the worn or stained sections, reducing the amount that goes to landfill.

7 Sleep soundly
Ever wake up feeling a little stuffy? Your bed could be the culprit. To alleviate the problem, choose bedding made of organic cottons or linens; they're harvested responsibly and expose you to fewer allergy-inducing chemicals than ordinary cotton or wrinkle-free sheets. When it's time to replace your mattress, purchase an all-wool or natural latex model.

8 Furnish with care
More retailers are taking up the cause, making it easier to find earth-friendly furniture. Look for pieces containing reclaimed wood or wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and organic fabric and upholstery fill. Avoid particleboard, plywood and other wood composites, which often contain harmful chemicals like formaldehyde. Also consider buying vintage or antique furniture; you may even find a gorgeous piece in a now-endangered wood, like African afrormosia, that you wouldn't dream of buying new!

9 Lay down friendly floors
There are plenty of options underfoot; for instance, salvaged wood has a beautiful patina, and fast-growing bamboo comes in a variety of looks to suit different tastes. For new wood flooring, look for FSC-certified products. Other options: sustainably harvested cork, polished concrete, stone, recycled-glass tiles or old-fashioned linoleum.

10 Be label conscious
For each new product you buy, look for certification from these reputable programs: Energy Star (energy-efficient appliances), FSC (wood from well-managed forestry operations), Green Label Plus (low-emitting carpets and rugs), Green Seal (paints), Greenguard (low-emitting interior products), Rediscovered Wood (forest operations that use reclaimed or recycled wood materials) and Scientific Certification Systems (recycled content and biodegradability). Eco-smart design has come a long way from rustic hippy chic -- these days you can outfit your home in the latest fashions while showing the earth some TLC. 

For more green living tips take a peak at what else Style at Home has to offer....

Pictures sourced from:

Modern Home Decor Windows windowdecoration design

home-interior-design-pictures.blogspot.com

indoor plant settings Home interior tropicalplants and palms

eastofedenplants.co.uk

Vintage Furniture http://vintage-furniture-guides.blogspot.com/2011/04/vintage-furniture.html

http://penanbamboo.en.made-in-china.com/product/CeVxdakGXIhP/China-Bamboo-Flooring-Tiger-Strand-Woven-http://penanbamboo.en.made-in-china.com/product/CeVxdakGXIhP/China-Bamboo-Flooring-Tiger-Strand-Woven-Bamboo-.html

Water Wars?

A very wise professor I had at the University of Lethbridge once remarked that "future wars will be fought not over gold or oil but over water". While you may have not been there, I think you can get a pretty good idea what he means in this great documentary that I recently had the pleasure of watching....
 Blue Gold: World Water Wars (2008) 

The movie brings home the necessity of fresh H2O in our survival and how this often taken for granted essential resource is being extracted, polluted and depleted in front of our own eyes. 


See the IMBD review here

Summary: If your interested in our Earth's future and/ or water conservation, add this to your "To watch" list.

The movie's website is a great resource for information and resources... even including action plans!
Check out this blurb from the site...then click 2 follow the link.


"Water is a basic human right, the right to survive. "Blue Gold" reports on various powers trying to take control of the public's water for profit and control. These powers fail to realize that people will not allow their water to be taken. People fight, because they must.  

.... and I couldn't do a feature about water conservation without sneaking my favorite Sesame Street cartoon. (Also seen in Top 10 Eco-Friendly Kids Cartoons)

One proposed and currently researched method of attaining fresh water is through the process of desalination. See more details in the blurb or follow the link for the full National Geographic article. 

"This story is part of a special National Geographic News series on global water issues.

With 1.8 billion people predicted to live in areas of extreme water scarcity by 2025, desalination—the removal of salt from water—is increasingly being proposed as a solution.

But before desalination can make a real difference solving in the looming water crisis, officials and experts need to commit to overcoming obstacles that make the process expensive and inefficient, a new paper argues.

(Read National Geographic magazine's special water issue online.)"

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110804-fresh-water-crisis-desalination-environment-science/

Peace,
FB

Why (some) Kids cartoons Rock!

As my first new post & in celebration of Disney’s Rio which was released this month, I am listing this blogger’s opinion of the Top 10 Eco-Friendly Kids Cartoons. Some make the list for their obvious message about environmental conservation and some for their exploration and exposure of different landscapes & eco-systems around the world. Either way, each is worth adding to your eco-friendly cartoon collection (with or without children).

10. Sesame Street- A popular choice through generations, Sesame Street taught everything from counting to picking up the trash and even focused on an entire green season.

9. The Rescuers Down Under - Touching on issues of poaching & endangered species, all while animating the striking Australian Outback’s landscape makes this a must for this list. 

8. Finding Nemo- This one makes the list because of it’s display of the amazing underwater ecosystem of the coral reef in a fun & kid-friendly way. Also relevant is the allusion  to the capture of wild exotic fish for sale in the pet trade. Ironically Nemo was also linked to the increased sale, capture & depletion of the clown fish.

7. Pocahontas - A great story about the sometimes tragic results of “the white man’s” ambition through exploration and conquering of North America. From the native’s and the animals perspectives, this Disney flick illustrates to the upcoming generations some of the distant & not so distant struggles for the land which we now reside.

6. Magic School Bus - Who couldn’t love & learn from the Friz and her amazing school bus adventures? From space to the rain forest or even inside a volcano, this tv classic includes science in an easy to understand format making it both fun and educational.

5. Rio- Just out this month, Rio dives into the world of the exotic pet trade of birds displaying many true aspects of it’s underside. This may include trauma to the specific animals removed directly from their habitat as well as the influence to the overall species, such as depletion and possible extinction. I am a huge fan of this entertaining Disney flick, bringing it in the upper realms of best Disney cartoons out there.

4. Stop the Smoggies - A new find for me (thanks 2 my sweetie), I have since PVR’d every episode. If that doesn’t say enough let’s sum it up as a cute, eco-minded cartoon where the Suntotes always seem to foil the Smoggies destructive & greedy plans in a diplomatic means. This is another must for the you’r own little tots at home and maybe you’ll even get a kick out of it too!

3. Captain Planet and the Planeteers - The name says it all. The Captain and his team fight the evil Captain Pollution and his counter-parts in true early 90’s “fight the man” style.

2. Fern Gully - Robin Williams as a animated Rapping Bat, talking ferries, signing lizards and dazzling scenes combine in a witty, comedic & environmentally oriented manner in this 90’s hit. Identifying with the forest’s living spirits, the residents fight the evil tree devouring monster or as we know it, a logging machine. Sending a strong message about our destruction of natural environment for our needs, Fern Gully can teach a lesson to any age.

1. Wall-E- Writer’s denial or not, one cannot help but see a connection and almost foreboding sense of warning for what our own future may hold in the recent Disney flick. To myself it seems to parallel many of our current North American habits of instant gratification, laziness and ignorance of our natural environment which is replacing much of our self-sufficient and sustainable practices in everyday lives. hopefully this is a message to not only warning but also hope for our future and that of the planet which we reside. 

Honorable Mention

Secret of Nimh
The Bee Movie

101 Dalmatians

Once Upon a Time a Forest

Dora the Explorer

Fantasia

Land before Time

Brother Bear

Hoot

Over the Hedge

Links & resources

http://www.care2.com/channels/ecoinfo/kids

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/spacescience/green-tips/

See some interesting media consultants opinions on the topic of eco-friendly kids tv:

“Children’s television has the ability to effectively teach its millions of viewers about environmental issues, yet very few programs attempt to do so.” read more...

http://www.childrensmediaconsultants.com/why_isnt_kids_tv_more_eco-friendly.php

Thanks for reading & keep looking for more to come!

Coming Soon....

I know I've been an absentee blogger for a few years now but keep checking back because new & exciting posts are on their way!

I Luv the Ocean

Sylvia Earle is a devoted researcher and well deserving 1 of 3 TED Talk Prizes this year. As discussed in a previous blog, TED Talks are seminar style videos of innovative and new ideas from various scientists and researchers. TED Prizes are awarded to the "wishes big enough to change the world", more specifically, 3 gifted individuals are given $100,000 and help in fulfilling their wish for mankind. I am featuring Sylvia because I admire her and strongly side with her emphasis on the importance of the ocean. Not only does it serve as our "support system" as she explains, but the ocean hold most (90 - 95%) of the planets life. 

So.. in her own words, her is Sylvia's Wish:

"I wish you would use all means at your disposal -- films! expeditions! the web! more! -- to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet."

Watch the video or scroll down for a TED Talks summary of the plan and possible responses

The Plan:

To bring knowledge of our oceans to a wide audience and galvanize support in favor of marine protected areas. We invite a variety of responses from TEDsters in pursuit of this goal

Possible Responses:

• Development of technologies that would permit deep sea exploration in order to make the invisible visible
• Supporting (or organizing) expeditions to explore proposed “hope spots”
• Helping make the scientific case for a network of MPAs
• Identifying and exploring candidate MPAs
• Creating a media campaign in support of MPAs
• Backing the upcoming Oceans documentary to ensure wide viewership
• Offering media space/distribution
• PR and marketing assistance
• Offered use of a suitable boat or ship for TED@SEA, a “brainstorming expedition” on the oceans
• Event management
• Website that highlights the issue and nurtures a network of supporters.
• …and/or your suggestion of what you could best offer.

Link to TED Prize Winner 

~ Sylvia Earle's Wish ~ 

Next on my Ocean Favorites...

TED Talks Richard Pyle: Exploring the reef's Twilight Zone

Link to the video on TED Talks 

Inspiring TED TALK: Creativity vs. Climate Change

Creativity vs. Climate Change

Here's a cool video from this year Ted Talks.. The focus is on creativity and it is a call for us to employ our creative side to help with Green innovation and thinking..  Including a cute little commercial for walking.. Definitely an interesting weapon to use for the fight against climate change but it may just work!!

Interesting Ideas: Floating cites of the future?

The ever interesting Style Will Save Us Blog recently featured a story about proposed water cities, like the Lily Pad (seen to the left). As mentioned, the idea is still in the conceptual process but is being offered as a part of the solution to address raising water levels that threaten major global cities, and thus the population and homes within. It would seem that modern architecture may be an efficient and chic way to address imposing climate issues and that designer like Callebaut may be leading the way in innovation and design.. Good Job!

 For more info follow the Link to the Story.

Read the story on The  Blog 

or 

go to the plans directly or see more of Vincent Callebaut's work: LILYPAD, A FLOATING ECOPOLIS FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES

Both images retrieved February 18th, 2009 from Vincent Callebaut architecture

An belated but important...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

  - WISH TO MY FAVORITE NATURALIST - 

CHARLES DARWIN!!

For Ipod users, Itunes U has introduced the

ASU School of Life Sciences - Grass Roots Studio

Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series

For the big D's 200th B-day and to commemorate 150 yrs. since publication of On Origin Of Species!!

Celebration were/are occurring all through the month of February!

Visit http://www.darwinday.org/ for the

Also, the Encyclopedia of Life posted a special Blog 4 the occasion:

Darwin Photo retrieved February 17th, 2009 from Wikimedia commons, (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Darwin_01.jpg): 

Darwinfest Photo retrieved February 17th, 2009 from Apple, (http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/asu.edu.1784906946.01784906955?sr=hotnews:) 

EOL Photo retrieved February 17th, 2009 from Encyclopedia of Life Blog, (http://blog.eol.org/)