THE RAG BAG

Today I started a rag bag in my “old house)….yep – it was time…things were out of hand – pretty good dish towels were being used for painting rags, washing the floor – everyone – the cleaning lady, my fab guy, myself – were ignoring the rules for frugality and waste. This lack of rags was soon going to send me to the store to buy some decent looking dish towels!!!

It was a happy accident – I found an old vintage table cloth that had been chewed by a mouse. It looked good enough to make a dozen napkins from the good areas- so I started ripping….not into hemming, I frayed the edges - the first laundry will add to the effect…I recommend it to everyone – cloth napkins save paper, they save your pants from that uneasy swipe, they may even save your carpet if a glass goes over…So - lets do it! Make your own napkins! They can be made from new fabric that you just ca’t resist, or from old clothing that you love, or like me - a “saved” bit of vintage cloth.

Sure a bit of water and soap are used to clean them – but you can use them over a few times before they need a wash…esp if you use napkin rings for each person in the family…

Ok, anyway – I make napkins, rags, and a rag bag – all in less than an hour – and my wonderful vintage cloth has a second life!

As I cut and ripped, I pondered this old fabric – what stories could it tell? What has it seen? Did some woman proudly place a pitcher of freshly made lemonade in the center? Did children spill cherry pie – making those old stains?

PACK A PLATE - reuse a party cup…reduce landfills…

Recently my great friend - Diane Darling - had a barbeque and invited everyone to bring their own food serving plates and utensils. Imagine – resting under a shady tree in a fragrant garden, you are eating yummy home cooked food – served on a real plate, eaten with a real fork – now doesn’t that sound better than using plastic forks and a plastic knife cutting through a soggy paper plate? Yep – me too, I loved it! There were all kinds of wonderful, creative and unique styles that people brought for plating their food. Everything from green speckled enameled steel plates and spoons to bamboo forks, to even vintage linen napkins and china! They all made an appearance, were carried around, emptied, and then were rinsed and packed out. I liked it. In fact – I loved it! So, inspired by this and a few other occasions – I have begun making a habit of taking my table service to potlucks, banquets, Festivals, even a Sustainability Conference. Now I am putting together an affordable kit of Green Ware, so you can pack in your own utensils too! Let’s take this Eco Conscious trend, and become a movement! Enough with the plastic forks, they are no fun to use, take tons of energy and create toxins in the making too. Take your stoneware mug to the coffee shop and a conversation will ensue about reuse and carbon footprints. Here are some facts to sprinkle about…

Most disposable cups are made from material that can’t be recycled and are non-biodegradable. An average coffee cup is probably used for no more than about 15-20 minutes before being thrown away – but can then sit for hundreds of years in a landfill site.

Biodegradable tableware is made from sugar cane fiber remaining after the extraction of juice from the sugar cane. This stuff is better than standard plastics and especially good for replacing Styrofoam, as it is a renewable resource and avoids pollution from the standard practice of burning the sugar can pulp after the juice has been extracted. But – even better is the reusable table ware that you can wash and pack into a bag along the way.

The PLA resin that is used to make these kind of cups is only made in the USA by Blair NE for a company called Natureworks LLC. All of the corn cups that Eco Products buys are imports from Taiwan. If you do the math the carbon foot print for taking the resin 22,000 miles to and from Taiwan is worse than simply buying a plastic cup here in the US. Buyer beware of where your environmental cups come from. Look for companies that are manufacturing these in the US. There is only a few but look hard enough and you will find them.
P.S. The resin in compostable cups and utensils may only be compostable in an industrial composting facility. There is a BIG difference…this all needs more study. Lots of disputed facts as we unfold these new technologies.

I remind us all - reduce, reuse, recycle - in that order.

Community appreciates
festival’s reusable plates
Emerald editorial board May 22, 2002 Daily Emerald

Hats off to the unsung heroes of the Campus Recycling crew who broke new ground this weekend at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival by being the first campus outdoor event (and possibly the first anywhere) to use real plates and forks instead of the mountains of disposable dishware usually found at events.

An enormous amount of planning by students and coordinators with the EMU and other University entities made it possible, and it was awesome! As a food vendor, I participated for the first time at this year’s event just to be involved with this worthy project, and I must say it went without a hitch. I was honored to be associated with the event and response from the public was ecstatic.

Thanks go to the ASUO, which allocated funds to buy reusable plates and forks, and to the many student volunteers who made it possible. The University deserves much praise for hosting the event and creating an environment that fosters such cutting-edge projects

- http://www.uoregon.edu/~recycle/events_topics_ReusablePlates_text.htm

People who use real dishes unite!!

BEGINNING the GREENING

BEGINNING the GREENING

A quick start for a retail store might look like this-

~ REDUCE : Minimize or eliminate packaging? Ask if they want a bag before offering one.

~ REUSE : Encourage the reuse of market bags with register discounts or rewards. Sell several versions of reusable bags, or give them away!

~ RECLAIM : Use your local “rebuild store” when remodeling. Think out of the box when building displays - is it a sustainable use?
~ REMAKE : Offer those closeouts to a local school for craft projects, don’t throw things away that can be used by others.
~ RETHINK : Schedule store hours for ease of commute times, what if we all shared rides or worked one less day week.
~ RECREATE: Can you compost lunch leftovers? Host a Barter night for your customers to exchange used art or craft
~ RECONSIDER : Add a small garden bed or container of lettuce or parsley to your back area or your front window, and eat it for lunch! In fact, invite munching and tasting, you may make some converts to slow food.

OUR GREEN FUTURE
On the horizon for us all is a whole new sustainable lifestyle and a new way of doing business. For my design business - that means downsizing products that I no longer feel are sustainable, cannot be “greened” due to supplier stubbornness or even due to the lack of usefulness in our simpler Green lifestyle.