DIY fans who want to be kind to the environment and keep warm at the same time have been encouraged to take advantage of a new product from eco-friendly company Green Stamp.

The firm has developed a range heat logs, which are designed to help homeowners avoid the use of coal and firewood and consequently cut down on the amount of fossil fuel they use.

According to Green Stamp, its logs are made from sawmill shavings taken from sustainable plantation forestry and would go to landfill if not used in the product.

With a moisture content of around ten per cent compared to 35 per cent for coal and firewood, each log burns for close to an hour and a half and can be used in heaters, open fires, garden chimneys and stoves.

Green Stamp is based in Cornwall and also aims to supply the public with eco-friendly products for the office, schools and interiors.

via DIY News: DIY tips for staying warm and eco-friendly – DIY Tips, Projects & Advice UK – lets-do-diy.com.

This is how we we respect Nature and complain about it.We also have comedy going on in Copenhagen on Climate Change, when you can not close down non eco friendly products mfrs.
Story:
Seattle, Washington (CNN) — The plastic Ziploc bag thrown in the trash in Seattle, Washington, spent a week traveling 300 miles to an Oregon landfill. The old Apple iBook that was recycled is a month into its journey. And a pair of worn Asics running shoes is still logging miles even after being dropped in a bin for used shoes.
Those are just some of the trails of trash exposed in a high-tech trash study.
“Normally, you think about the trash for minutes while you take it out to the can,” says Ethan O’Connor, “and this trash we are going to be watching on our Web browsers for weeks.”
O’Connor and Shannon Cheng are volunteers in a study tracking their trash — and giving them the opportunity to reflect on what they use and discard. The tracking devices are about the size of small cell phones and allow for near-real-time tracking of thousands of pieces of garbage.
The tracking is not part of some top-secret government program to spy on garbage, but rather the brainchild of MIT researchers who wanted to learn if society could more efficiently dispose of what it throws out.
“The idea with this tagging exercise is to bring an invisible system to life,” said Assaf Biderman, associate director of MIT’s SENSEable City Lab. “By knowing how long it stays in the system, where it goes, we are hoping to create an increased awareness in the public.”
Before that increased awareness could be created, however, the scientists needed to devise a way to track pieces of trash, some for hundreds of miles and for up to six months.
Researchers are doing most of the tracking via volunteers in Seattle. They plan to expand the program to other cities and compare the attitudes that people in different regions have about garbage.

Working with the telecommunications company Qualcomm, the MIT researchers created a device — or, as the researchers call them, “traces” — that could track a piece of trash using both GPS and cell phone towers.
The researchers then asked volunteers to supply items they were already planning to get rid of and put the tracking “traces” on the items. The volunteers then threw the material out as they usually would.
Just getting the trace on the piece of trash presented its own challenges. Some needed to be taped or sewn into the garbage; others were stuck to the trash with a sticky aerosol spray.
The researchers stipulated that the trace not alter how the garbage traveled through the waste system or call attention to the item.
“The thing about trash is that each object is very different,” Biderman said. “Different sizes, different textures, different constraints.”
O’Connor and Cheng live on a houseboat, where space is at a premium. Participating in the study has allowed the couple to think of larger-picture issues about the trash they produce.
But it’s not just the trash’s owners who are tracking the tems.
Waste Management Inc., a waste removal and recycling company, is helping fund the study in the hope that it will show that the trash they dispose of goes where it should. Officials say they are also looking for ways to better deal with garbage.
“It could make a huge difference,” Waste Management spokeswoman Rita Smith said. “We want to do everything we can to get our materials to their destinations as efficiently as possible; not only because of the economic cost, but also because of the environmental cost. There’s no point in hauling material around in circles.”
Researchers are still compiling data as the trash makes its journey.
Even though the study has not been completed, the MIT group sees its efforts as a step toward better informing Americans about trash.
“Can we create a situation of minimum waste?” Biderman said. “In a certain way, it’s about telling people about what they throw away, making people more aware about waste, and perhaps changing their behavior.”
Participating in the study has already altered O’Connor’s outlook.
“The disposal is one part of it, the using is another,” he said. “No one’s saying we are bad people for using stuff, but the reality is each one of us gets one-six-billionth of what the Earth can produce, and what we have is much more than that.”
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/28/tracking.trash/index.html

Eu nem curtia muito os produtos ecofriendly – mesmo sabendo que a idéia é no mínimo necessária – mas perambulando pela internet achei essas coisas lindas e que ao mesmo tempo não agridem a natureza. Tudo produzido em couro livre de cromo, tingido com extratos vegetais e materiais reciclados (roupas usadas, sacos de café, couro de estofamento de carros, solas de borracha, palmilhas e até caixas de sapato!!!). Clica nos bichinhos pra ver , ler  ou comprar no site.

Coleção nova:

Coleções antigas – morri:

É pra abusar com vestido, shortinho, camiseta…

November 17, 2009 – Supply Brothers

Cleaning your home in an environmentally safe way will go a long way towards living a healthier life.  The air in our homes should be pure, refreshing, and free of toxins.  The next time you clean, remember these important guidelines.

 Know your products

On average, most people clean their house once a week. Many household products use toxins and chemical, which pollutes the air in your home and contain dangerous chemicals.   Look for warning labels containing the words “caution, danger, poisonous,” or anything that would indicate harmful ingredients.   Not only are these products toxic when used, they also can leak small amounts of chemicals into the air polluting your home environment. 

 Did you know that compounds derived from coconuts can act as a disinfectant?

There are a host of replacement items that are safe to use and friendly to the environment.  One can easily find biodegradable cleaners at almost every local store across the country. When shopping for cleaning products, look for cleaning products that contain the words, “biodegradable, organic, natural, and non-toxic.”  Many people often make their own cleaning products out of items such as vinegar.  The web contains a vast amount of resources on this subject.

Dispose of toxic products in an eco friendly way

Removing these products from your home safely is easy. This does not mean you can just pour them down the sink or throw them in the trash! Doing this will only pollute our outside environment, streams, drinking water, etc. Call your local town or city hall, and be sure to ask them where and how to dispose of hazardous waste.  Many towns have a local hazardous waste pickup day as well.

Lastly, after removing harmful chemicals from your home, green up your home with plants! House plants are not only pleasing to the eye, but they also bring terrific health benefits into your home. NASA studied house plants, and they determined that they could greatly improve the quality of air. They reported that house plants can remove up to 87% of the air toxins, within 24 hours!

 By, Supply Brothers

Olhem esses arranjos feitos com latinhas de chá, lata de nescau… Fica uma graça né? Achei no blog Brasilericis.

Foto do blog Brasilericis

Foto do Blog Brasilericis

Agora, se você for convidada, pode colaborar e fazer uma embalagem bem bonita e ecofriendly para o presente, essas são de kraft com jornal e reaproveitamento de fita e botões.

Foto Revista Parents

In the year 1970 (or near that period) there was a severe flood damaging the  Ghana bird santuary near Bharatpur, Rajasthan. The railway line was blown away, along with a number of bridges, under costruction in the Lakheri -Bayana doubling project. Many existing small bridges were being extended. The old ones, made in lime mortar survived, whle their extended portion, in  cement mortar, were washed away by flood waters !

Before cement factories came, all civil works were executed in lime.The indigenous technology, evolved after genrations, is now forgotten. Lime is a natural reversible product. As such it is ecofriendly, whereas cement concrete is an irriversible one, causing permanent damage. What shall we do when all the sky scrapers in cities become due for destrucion ?
Now we  must take up this issue, for standardising procedures for lime mortar works, to replace cement concrete, in all future civil works.

Anyone heard about Belabumbum? To be honest, this is my first time of knowing about them as I am just browsing for some eco-friendly and lacey lingerie. Some sites popped up on search and I randomly click it….one thing leads to another and boom…I found Belabumbum! I am so amazed that the lingerie looks so nice and so light. The designs are nice enough to wear it under your blazer or cardigan. The laces of the lingerie are there to add more feminine touch of your over all look. I guess I have to start haunting for it and check out how it feels next to my skin.

My top picks from Belabumbum Lingerie style: (Let me know what you think!)

Copacabana cami and thong

Copacabana Lace Cami and Boyshort

Going green? You will not go wrong with their Bamboo Basic Collection.

Bamboo Cami and Short

Photos from Belabumbum Site.

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For the release of her film The Age of Stupid Franny Armstrong insisted on the premiere being a ‘0-footprint’ affair.
Indeed, big names like Vivienne Westwood turned up on a bicycle, rickshaw and electric car rather than in a limo.

The cinema was powered by the sun, and the usually luxurious red carpet replaced by one that is green and fashioned from recycled bottles.

The premiere of the film, which sees Postlethwaite play a man living in 2055 looking back at footage from the present day and considering why humanity did not save itself from climate change, was also broadcast at over 60 cinemas and venues across the UK.

All of the profits from the event are set to go towards the Not Stupid campaign, which has been created to raise awareness of climate change in the run-up to December’s major summit on the topic in Copenhagen.

With over 16,000 film fans attending the live screening of the premiere across the UK, and Guiness Book of World Records confirming The Age of Stupid screening as the largest ever film premiere, filmmakers succeeded where other climate change films have failed – the “earnest” 11th Hour , which featured Leonardo DiCaprio, and Al Gore’s lecture, An Inconvenient Truth — to galvanise cinema-goers into action.

As the environment begins to hit our news pages more and more, we must consider the changes, choices and approaches to creative output, this premiere shows us that it’s actually possible to launch the largest film premiere without making any “footprint” on our planet.

sistem listrik

Untuk membuat yang benar-benar ramah lingkungan rumah dengan mewah merasa Anda akan dasar desain Anda bukan hanya pada kemewahan yang Anda inginkan tetapi juga pada item yang sangat khusus. Banyak perusahaan sistem listrik kini memproduksi item Sistem Listrik yang berlabel hijau atau ramah lingkungan. Item ini mencakup banyak perabot dan rumah d JL aksesoris. Sebagian besar barang yang terbuat dari alam atau bahan daur ulang dan diproduksi menjadi identik dengan yang kurang ramah lingkungan versi lebih umum ditemukan. Dengan memanfaatkan benda-benda ini Anda mengambil langkah pertama menuju rumah Penghemat Listrik hijau.

Salah satu sentuhan Alat Penghemat Listrik mewah Anda mungkin keinginan adalah lantai kayu keras. Tampilan lantai kayu keras sangat dalam tetapi hal ini sulit dicapai dalam sebuah cara ramah lingkungan. Yang murah Sistem Listrik dan ramah lingkungan cara untuk mendapatkan tampilan ini adalah dengan menggunakan kayu untuk didaur ulang lantai Penghemat Energi Anda. Seringkali ketika rumah-rumah dan bangunan tua yang dirobohkan banyak kayu masih dalam kondisi baik. Menghubungi kontraktor lokal dan memberitahu mereka bahwa Anda ingin menginstal lantai kayu dengan menggunakan kayu daur ulang. Banyak orang akan melompat pada kesempatan untuk melakukan pekerjaan seperti ini karena meskipun Anda membayar harga yang lebih rendah mereka masih membuat ganda uang mereka di atas kayu. Pertama mereka dibayar untuk air mata itu Penghemat Listrik dan kemudian mereka dibayar untuk Penghemat Energi menginstalnya di rumah Anda. Hal ini membuat semua orang bahagia karena kontraktor membuat uang dan Anda menghemat pohon-pohon dan uang

Penghemat listrik lain adalah cahaya alami. Pertimbangkan untuk menginstal dan skylight jendela baru sehingga Sistem Listrik Anda akan memiliki lebih banyak cahaya alami. Ketika melakukan hal ini terlihat sangat hati-hati pada jenis jendela yang Anda gunakan. Ada banyak jendela Alat Penghemat Listrik baru akan menawarkan desain yang lebih ringan dan membantu menjaga panas dalam tapi tidak semua ini adalah lingkungan aman. Beberapa jendela berisi gas yang dapat merusak lingkungan.

Ini baru rumah ramah lingkungan dapat dengan mudah dicapai dengan menggunakan barang-barang daur ulang serta baru diproduksi sistem listrik produk-produk ramah lingkungan. Memilih produk yang tepat juga akan membuat rumah Anda tampilan dan nuansa mewah. Menghemat uang dan memiliki rumah yang Anda inginkan dengan menggunakan tips di atas. Anda akan merasa senang Anda lakukan.

I know a great green website and would love to share this with you!

Alternative Consumer is green site that provides a unique, upbeat perspective — eco news, green product reviews and useful info for busy folks looking to cultivate a greener, healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. They inspire and bring great green news to a healthy living. Lately, they posted up some green giveaways, so make sure you enter for a chance to win any one of the contests as I did. They surely have  a lot of great stuff and learn more about what nature is all about.

$50 Gift Certificate from Nature’s Cork -Ends 11/9 11:59pm

A distributer of the brand “Pelcor”, was founded in 2008 as a response to the ever increasing environmental problems, since then they established Cork fashion products. They started  making and selling cork handbags and accessories on the streets festival and internet. Their first retail store is located in Historic Fernandina Beach.

Pelcor’s cork fashion products are environmental friendly and its natural simplicity is something that I can’t resist!

Gladiator Bracelet

Messenger Bag

To enter this contest, visit the following link :

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2009/10/30/natures-cork-great-green-giveaway/

Andean Collection- ACAI Necklace

I went to the Green Fashion Show-cocktail party about a month ago, thanks to Maureen OcConor- the founder and publisher of Alternative Consumer for giving me this opportunity as I never been to a green party before. At the same time, I met the creator and designer of Andean Collection- Amanda Judge. She was wearing this beautiful and colorful Acai necklace (image above), I just couldn’t take my eyes off the festive color of the necklace! It is a perfect match for any of your colored dress or just a shirt for fun and look pretty at the same time!

To enter, visit site:

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2009/10/23/the-andean-collection/

Andean Site: http://www.theandeancollection.com/

Good luck with these contests!

Coffee Cuff by Contexture Design

Coffee Cuff by Contexture Design

Esse  aí é o tal do Coffee Cuff que comentei no post anterior.

É da Contexture Design e segue o mesmo princípio do iPod Nano 4G Case: aproveitar material descartado pela indústria ou mercado e transformá-lo em em algo que respeite sua origem e qualidades (material).

Eles ganharam o prêmio Make Some Green e participaram também da Swell Future Friendly 2007, um projeto da 30 days of Sustainability, evento anual que visa integrarda sustentabilidade nos valores do cidadão comum, de empresas, do governo e da sociedade, através da realização de vários eventos, que destacam a sustentabilidade ambiental, social e econômico.

These bookshelves are handmade, one-of-a-kind  decorative shelves made from recycled used and vintage hardcover books.

With no visible hardware, the bookshelves appear to float on the wall and can easily hold 5lbs. of photo frames, vases, knick-knacks, ipods, clocks, or whatsits. Available now at Studio 3!

Whether as a decorative accent or a bold proclamation, these books are meant to be judged by their cover…

Studio 3 – Custom Framing, Fine Art, Unique Gifts and Cards

Make exactly what you need at the time.

I know this seems counter intuitive. Since doesn’t more food at one time mean I have to cook less. But I, like most people, really don’t like leftovers, and half the time they end up in the garbage. So you end up spending more time, or money replacing the food you don’t want to eat.  Plus it almost always takes more time to cook more food, so if you cook less its less time.

So if you are having chicken breast figure out what you need at the meal exactly. Best Rule of thumb is 200gm per person or quarter of a pound. Don’t know how much that is, don’t guess. Use a scale or just have the butcher package the chicken breasts in exactly the amounts you need.

Also when you have established what you need to eat in a meal when there isn’t any leftovers you are more likely not to eat more.

Hey you environmentally conscious techies! This good-looking keyboard is made with eco-friendly bamboo and comes with a high resolution bamboo mouse, complete with optical technology and scrolling wheel.

$40 USD at Buy.com

Last week’s Styled Chic challenge began with a photo. No. 2 in the Styled Chic design series began with a rustic room full of earthy tones and an organic feel. When I really look at this room I think everything is just so well put together and everything has it’s spot. This room, to me, is very well buttoned up. This couple isn’t posh or over-the-top, but rather takes joy in simple clean organized environments.

I took the idea of being buttoned up and played with an invitation set that is so well put together that it incorporates buttons! Too fun! I pulled all the earthy tones and started with a chocolate brown button and string square envelope.

Then I added some embellishment. I added a single button to both the Invitation and RSVP card with string going around the cards.

The Invitation & RSVP card.

Everything in this set revolves around an earthy palette and attention to details. The string is yellow and green, the backer card is recycled kraft paper and the chocolate envelopes couldn’t be any more perfect. Stay tuned to see this set featured as a new design in my Signature Collection. What do you think?

Um em cada nove entrevistado não está disposto a pagar mais por produtos sustentáveis e orgânicos

Antônio Martins Neto

Ouço muita gente dizer que gostaria de consumir produtos orgânicos, mas que desiste diante do preço e da dificuldade de encontrá-los nos principais mercados brasileiros.

Confesso que tenho essa mesma ideia.

Mas na Inglaterra, onde as prateleiras dos supermercados estão abarrotadas de produtos orgânicos, um levantamento mostra que os consumidores atingidos pela recessão são, logicamente, menos propensos a pagar mais por produtos sustentáveis ou “éticos”.

A pesquisa foi feita pela Mintel, empresa de análise de mídia, consumo e mercado, com atuação nos Estados Unidos, Europa, América Latina, Austrália, Israel, China e Japão.

Foram ouvidos 1.030 adultos na Inglaterra durante o último mês de julho.

Um em cada nove respondeu que não estaria disposto a pagar mais pelos produtos ecofriendly, enquanto 19% disseram que não estão em condição financeira de pensar sobre o assunto.

Em outro levantamento, feito com 25 mil pessoas, 33,6% disseram que estariam aptos a pagar mais por orgânicos e outros produtos sustentáveis – 6,6% menos que o percentual registrado há dois anos.

Por outro lado, a pesquisa demonstrou um avanço no comprometimento da população com a questão ética e ambiental ao registrar que 97% dos adultos disseram adotar pelo menos um dos hábitos ecológicos citados no questionário, como a reutilização de sacolas plásticas e o uso de lâmpadas elétricas de baixo consumo.

Seguem outros dados que vieram à tona durante o levantamento:

Menos de 10% dos adultos disseram se confundir com o que deve e o que não deve ser reciclado.

44% afirmaram ter consciência de que as garrafas de bebida reutilizáveis devem ser entregues em supermercados e em outros pontos de coleta.

74% acham que os comerciantes usam muita embalagem.

78% disseram que reutilizam ou reciclam as embalagens o quanto podem.

80% dos mais velhos reutilizam as sacolas plásticas, contra 59% dos mais jovens.

A mesma prática é adotada por 82% das mulheres, contra 65% dos homens.

Clique aqui para ler matéria publicada do The Guardian, de Londres.

If you’re wondering how to make this an eco-friendly Deepavali — or how to out-green your neighbour in the celebrations — here is a primer.

This is the Year of the Natural Fibre. From Co-optex to Brass Tacks, a number of clothing shops have something to make you think green.

Go for a sari made with natural fibre and vegetable dyes. Make sure the claim is authentic. RMKV has advertised an exclusive collection of “Natural” pattu saris. Others won’t be far behind. For an offbeat option, drape yourself in jute.

“Many big stores such as Nalli and Pothys have jute dress material and saris,” says M.S. Usha, who sells jute items.

Imagine stepping out, head to toe in jute — jute salwar kameez, matching jewellery, bag and chappals. Usha gets bulk orders from companies for jute backpacks, office folders and files.

When you go shopping, stop at Jute Emporium, Jute Store, Shopper’s Stop, Westside, Globus and Health & Glow for all kinds of jute take-aways.

Shop with an eco-approach, and cash in your wallet (credit card is plastic!). “We had an eco-mela a few months ago,” says Kaveri Lalchand of Madras Terrace House. “We had talks and screenings on plastic poisoning and restoring plastic wastelands.”

Along with that is her eco gift collection displayed in an appropriate, old-house ambience. “Start with a folded cloth bag with a clip that can be attached to your handbag. Unfold and the cloth bag becomes a carry bag. Empty the contents, fold and attach to your handbag for the next shopping expedition. (Refuse a plastic carry bag and you get a huge smile of gratitude from shopkeepers.) Eco-friendly products are no longer tacky, they’re funky and appealing. You don’t have to buy them as charity,” says Kaveri.

Recycle, and re-use

So choose from re-used tyre wallets, recycled plastic files and re-cycled cloth jewellery. Go for cotton or khadi garments, bed linen and napkins. Potter around for table mats and trays made from agro waste and banana fibre.

There are also soaps, shampoos and bath salts made with natural ingredients. For the puja, there are dhoop containers, woven grass baskets and bags. And how about a hand-woven hammock instead of a foam floor bed?

This Deepavali, light more earthen lamps and candles, and fewer electric bulbs. It’s a sight more beautiful. Smoke from firecrackers pollutes (with sulphur di-oxide, nitrogen oxides and heavy metals such as lead, cadmium). Firecrackers creating a loud noise are banned between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. How about community fireworks? Or, virtual ones on webdunia.com?

Find joy in sharing, not burning — firecrackers or fuel. Make lists, car pool and shop in a minimum number of trips. Is your vehicle hybrid? Electric? Their carbon emission is less. “Frugal” isn’t spelt kanjoos. It means “responsible” and “earth-friendly”.

Whatever you buy, check the labels for information on bleaches and dyes, and also for hyped claims.

Go natural

For that Deepavali spread, watch out for artificial food colours. Some of them are toxic. Exchanging sweets? Fill a portion of the box with dry fruits. Gift pouches with seeds or decorative pots with plants. Send cards made of handmade paper.

This week’s Styled Chic challenge begins with a rustic room design. This couple is all about exposed textures, raw materials, great craftsmanship and being completely clean edged and put together. Earth tones and a light airy feeling.

Earth tones and Eco-friendly materials with quality rock their world and they find personal touches in details. They will be marrying in the fall when the leaves begin to turn and there is a crispness in the air. They love the moments they can cuddle up in a warm blanket together and love taking rides on their bikes to the local farmer’s market.

Tune in next week to see my answer to this Refined Rustic design challenge.

]]> http://mcsavage.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/the-vintage-fair-the-old-biscuit-mill/ Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:29:02 +0000 mcsavage http://mcsavage.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/the-vintage-fair-the-old-biscuit-mill/

Heard of the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock? Thought so.. pretty awesome spot to chill on Saturday mornings for breakfast or brunch ( i go early to avoid the madness) and to catch the weeks interesting stories( i overheard somebody talking about Life is Savage last Sat..brought a proud tear to my eye..sniff) . The ecofriendly environment, organic choices and interesting foods are what brings people back every week and the success has resulted in a new concept that will be running on Sundays..whats that you say? yes.. you heard me..on Sunday.

Behold the next step in the evolution of the Mill ( yes ..just say the Mill..its much cooler)

I mean..come now..have you ever seen a more awesome poster.. i wanna go there right now…and buy stuff i dont really need. What can you expect from the Vintage Fair? This is what the website has to say: “the hand selected vendors sell products they have themselves sourced, refurbished, preserved or handcrafted”.. but you need to go there yourself to see what the deal is.

Do yourself a favour and go visit the website HERE.. its pretty slick i must say. Well done chaps. All the info is there.. when,where, how and application forms if you wanna apply to be a vendor. See you on Saturday morning and dont forget the grand opening of the Vintage Fair on the 11th October. Good times.

A while ago, I was trying to make a black and white decision about what I thought was better for my family: local or organic. What I’ve learned since starting those questions is that in our area most of the time local means organic, though it may not be certified organic. Either way, right? So, I’m tending toward local, even if it doesn’t have the organic sticker on it. Am I missing something here? Let me know, if I am.

Another thought came into my head later: What about Fair Trade?

It depends what it is… Coffee needs to be fair trade, since there is such a history of people trying to make a living off of very little in this field. Most things local will be fairly traded, but you must be cautious. There are companies who say they are local but their goods are manufactured in China. I don’t have a problem with China; it’s with the companies in the United States that pick China to do their dirty work. Cheap labor is not good for anyone. I know times are tight (I know I’m feeling it) but cheapening the work of others, despite the fact that we don’t know them, lowers their worth and in my opinion lowers ours as well. I’m learning this from living in Vermont; from having two little kids who are so pure and so giving to others. Bilingual baby even said that I made her baby brothers scooter simply because she saw me put it together- quite a feat, putting together something with all those tiny pieces, with two kids wide awake, ready to help- though it was more fun to have them help me than to have it appear in all its red shiny glory. In her eyes, people make things. I love it!

So, if a kid is going to ask, wonder and beg you to tell them who made this or who painted that, who grew the food, who put it in the silo (still with the silos), who made it? I can see why people take pledges to buy handmade. When you buy handmade, you get to know the person (even if only briefly) who has made whatever you’re buying. You get to know pieces of their life- you get a story with your purchase. If you buy something at a farmers market, you’ve probably seen the person under their tent several times, looked at their creations and talked to them about how they make it, what gives them inspiration, etc. Can you imagine knowing the first and last name of the person who made your dish towels, your spatula, or your … whatever? I know most people have a little mug that someone made. It was either a family member who took pottery classes or someone local who sells them in town. You treasure that mug. You pull it out when you have a friend come over for tea. You talk about it. You are so proud of the fact that someone- a person, not a machine- put time and energy into making the mug (or mugs) you love to use the most. It’s a great feeling.

We don’t buy handmade all the time, but we do try to go out of our way as much as possible to reach for handmade. It’s simpler when you have a sewing machine to reach for that fabric and make the thing that your family member needs. Bilingual papi kept using plastic grocery bags for his gym clothes. I stumbled upon a tutorial on how to make a cloth bag that looks like a plastic grocery bag. Need met. It felt really good, too.

I think the next step for me is to buy handmade (or make) the gifts I give to others. Most times I try to since I have a hard time shopping for gifts. However, when I find something cool to make, I can just make it and prep it for giving. I don’t know if I’m ready for the pledge but for now I’ll show you the button that you’d see if I were ready to make the pledge to buy handmade.

A couple of months back, I wanted to take the Wardrobe Refashion challenge, where you pledge to make all your clothes for a determined period of time from preloved clothes or from fabric, etc. Basically, you aren’t supposed to buy new for yourself, and you get to take it as far as you want (i.e. your family, gifts, etc).

Where does that leave me?

Lots of ideals. I like being an idealist, even if people peg me for a dreamer.