earth day musings

it is a week past earth day... but i haven't forgotten it. i'll start with a little update on our earth friendly (or unfriendly) habits:

i continue to struggle with my remembering of those dang reusable bags. it's not that i don't have enough! i have a bag filled with bags. i remember them some of time, but not all of the time. it drives me bongos. once upon a time i forced my forgetful self to carry whatever it was that i was buying when i forgot. these days, i take the bags and growl at myself a bit. i tried an incentive for the kiddos- a quarter for every time they reminded me to put them in the car. apparently, quarters are the new penny because they don't seem to be doing the trick either. i'm going to continue to work on this.

cutting down on our use of plastic and paper products has been a success. thanks to my own momma, i now possess more kitchen wash cloths than a girl knows what to do with. i have been using them for hand-wiping instead of the dreaded paper towel. since i have so many, i don't have to worry about running out before i can get a fresh load of laundry in the machine. thanks to my reusable lunch bags, we cut down on a bunch of those being waisted and added to land fills daily. i still keep some in my pantry and use them on occasion, but it's a step in the right direction.

we have issues with those earth friendly light bulbs... i just don't dig the color of light that they produce and am not a fan of the recycling process that they entail. i know everyone is behind them, but they just don't make sense to me. convince me- i want to like them.

i've also spent the better part of the last year freecyling things (http://www.freecyle.org/). i have given away every box that we used to move (twice), baby items that we no longer have use for and that wouldn't sell for more than 20 buckaroos, bed frames, cribs, extra luggage, books... the list is endless. if you don't freecyle, i encourage you to do so. you post the item (no picture) and then wait for peeps who want it. within minutes of posting i usually have a taker. we email to arrange pick-up and then i leave it on my porch with their name on the item. i have also been the recipient of some items- curtain rods, a brass bed frame (for real- it's gorge and in the garage waiting for the next crib jumper), books... that might be it. the items i've taken from others are things i wouldn't buy but have been happy to receive. it keeps a lot of stuff from going to waste.

my newest love is a website called http://www.thredup.com/ in a nutshell, you post boxes of baby gear- typically clothing and sell a $10.95 box (usps flat rate box) for $5. for $15 bucks a person can buy a box full of items. they are typically grouped based on size... for example, "mostly t's 4t". you pay the $15 bucks and you get a box full of sized 4t t-shirts. the "seller" posts a brief description of what the box contains (no pictures needed) and you buy base on your needs. this is genius for my family. d and p have closets full of hand-me-downs from big sister. the trouble is that for some reason, i keep finding that each bin of used goodies is lacking in one area. at age 3 , e had a tendency to spill on her shirts, rendering a lot of tops useless. at age 4, she was into elastic waist pants... d's into dresses. you get the point. this site is a good "fill in the gaps" sort of place. and you can post too. if you are not down with a random box- no worries. just get rid of your own stuff here. instead of giving it away, you get five smackers for each box you sell.

lastly- and this isn't a new thing, i'm in love with the re purposing of objects. i have an old secretary that was one man's junk- this man's treasure. i have a few dressers that we might have smuggled from our previous seller and painted to make them beautiful (the yellow dresser in my guest room is one of these objects). i love messing with the old and making it new.

as i was contemplating my earth day post, my friend dawn sent me a link to this zero waste shop in berkley (of course it's in berkley- ha). she suggested we go together but the trash to treasure girl in me couldn't wait- i hopped in the car the very first chance i had (not so eco friendly)... and i'll go back as soon as she and i can coordinate a time that works.

and so here you have urban ore:

my gps took me to this big 'ole warehouse. it's huge.


they utilize every piece of real estate they have... the outside was filled with...

toilets. yep! you need one? they've got it. seats, bowls, the toppers for the back... every kind! they also had windows a plenty- new, vintage, frames... hundreds of each. i was in shock. you proceed to the interior of this big grey building and you'll find rows upon rows of doors- interior, exterior, modern, victorian... you get the point.

and then you sort of meander through and find a plethora of "trash"... waiting to become one man's treasure.

d was a fan of this pink version of the golden gate bridge.

i stumbled upon this little treasure- a record that made me think of my dad. immediately i pictured him dancing in my kitchen on a saturday morning while i step-mom cooked breakfast. i love those visual stimulants for memory lane. good times.

p was enthralled by some pink doggies hanging high in the vaults. there was a lot of woof woofing and giggling.

back to when we entered the warehouse- d mentioned that it was pretty stinky. yep! the entire place smells like cat urine. it was less than shocking when we stumbled upon this little creature a few rows in. (ick! the smell not the cat herself. she was rather pleasant.)

d tried out for head majorette while i told her stories of her nana who was on the team in high school. it was good times to see.

and throughout the joint there were reminders of why you were there (putting up with the stinky).

we went home with two chairs for the dining room that we have been working on. i will be removing the nasty cushions and reupholstering them before they make a move out of the garage, thank you very much... but a good find none-the-less.

and if you don't live in the east bay? well have no fear! you can help the good 'ole mother earth in a similar fashion in a town near you. my experience is that the kane county flea market is a similar treasure trove. i've also googled flea markets all over the country. there are a ton of them!

and so- to wrap it all up, here's my point... if you can go to a little extra effort to find the stuff you need from a person that no longer needs it... jackpot! if you have stuff you no longer need, find someone who can make use of it! the wee bit of extra effort is way worth it and the character that your home (or the takers home) can gain is awesome. do it. do not delay.

our mother will thank you!