How to Seal a Bag and Make It Air Tight

Our great friend Trayce sent this terrific tip over and I was blown away! Not only does this help to seal the bag but the most thrown away portion of a plastic water bottle, the cap, is functionally utilized by extending its lifecycle. If we all learned to think creatively like this we could save countless pounds of non-biodegradable waste from landfills.

Air Tight Steps

Cut up a disposable water bottle and keep the neck and top.

Insert the plastic bag through the neck and screw the top – to seal.

The bottle is made to be air-tight, such that water will not leak, the secret lies with the top and screw! This is a great idea to share, feel free to pass on the link and let everyone see how easy it can be to save plastic waste and save the items inside the bag for even longer! Thanks for forwarding on the great idea Trayce ♥love♥

Ready to Trade on Swaptree

A NOTE FROM JENN: Good morning Greenies! It is Monday morning now and I just wanted to say that things with Swaptree were all taken care of yesterday. The confirmation email, though indicating it was sent at 6:00 AM, did finally arrive sometime after noon. I was able to confirm and start listing items for trade.

I wanted to simply test the service for the moment so I listed just one book in my ‘have it’. Sadly no one on the service had this item in their ‘want it’ list so I am unable to receive any trades just yet but I’m sure that will come soon! I also added a book to my own ‘want it’ list and will be excited when I can have it arrive at my door!

Customer service was quick to return my email as well, although they didn’t have to do much considering it worked itself out. Because the site is free (no special envelopes to buy and no money is exchanged) and the only expense is when shipping an item (can we say Media Mail?) this allows Swaptree to suggest all kinds of trades -- movies for CDs, books for video games, etc. -- not just a one for one which is nice.

So I am amending my Leaf Rating on this cool company and concept to a Four Leaf Rating!

Everyone has extra stuff lying around -- DVDs, books, video games and CDs -- the thing you used a million times, read and won’t read again or just plain didn’t enjoy. But what is a person to do with all this brand new merchandise? Trade it on Swaptree!

The company makes it super simple to exchange your merchandise, in fact it is only a three step process! First, register. This will only take a few seconds and the information is minimal (you can also connect with friends on Facebook). Next, add items you want and list items you have to trade. Finally, all that is left to do is swap!

Now, I am a little bummed that I can’t share the whole experience with you because I never received the confirmation email (it is required to click on to activate the account) despite repeated attempts, a change in emails and contacting the customer support folks.

This is not to say it doesn’t work for some however so don’t be alarmed! My friend Bridgete was the one who suggested I become a swapper as she was able to sign up and suggest the site to me. It is legitimate and there are some cool items to be had, I just can’t get to them yet.

Hopefully the good folks at Swaptree will get me a return email so I can give a proper rating based on the entire experience, including being able to swap! But for now, based solely on the concept of it as well as my sign up experience, I have to give Swaptree a Two and a Half Leaf Rating.

I hope to hear from you Swaptree, I am looking forward to bumping your leaves up as soon as I can get active with this very cool concept! ♥love♥

It’s Curtains for the Door Project!

The project to install doors is complete; I couldn’t be more pleased with the final look and functionality of them. Yesterday I posted this photo as a tease for how the before looked:


The opening on the nook that we call our bedroom is approximately 62” wide by 77” high and as you can see in the lower right corner there is a piece of furniture rather close to the opening so the traffic path is just wide enough for passing ability. This means we could not have a standard swing style hinged door so Matt and I began brainstorming a better solution.

Our final decision was to use bi-fold doors. There were a few reasons for this:

1. They are a cost effective solution (since this isn’t our permanent residence that is key).
2. Installation is relatively easy.
3. They will block light & noise as well as provide a greater sense of security.
4. They can come with us when we go if the landlord doesn’t want to keep them.
5. Minimal damage done to the homeowner’s doorway is easily fixable later.

We headed up to tax free New Hampshire for a day of shopping last weekend and picked up all the supplies we needed. Because the brown and copper leafed desk was going to be residing in this space, and also that I was intending to exchange the cranberry velvet curtains with a pair of green striped panels from another room, we decided on sage green paint and oil rubbed copper pulls.

Including the trim on the inside to finish the look and block the light from coming into the sides, the entire project cost us about five days to completely finish and in the ball park of $225 for materials. Here are the finished doors installed and functional! Only bit left is to paint the interior trim which I will finish up this week.

The look is much more streamlined than the curtains were and when left open, they don’t impact the traffic path at all.

These pretty pulls bring the look together well.

So what did I do with those cranberry colored velvet curtains?

Well they were the perfect compliment to our movie themed living room!

They instantly warm up the space, both visually and physically, by providing another much needed punch of color in a room which we are not allowed to paint.

The posters and movie themed pictures include: The Goonies, Memphis Belle, School Ties, Honeymoon In Vegas, Aladdin, Cinderella and Spice World (oh you better believe it!) plus around the space are tons of movie related items such as a Lord of the Rings statue, scene markers, movies and a copy of The Hobbit plus much more.

Repurposing, Recycling, Refinishing, and More Projects

Good morning friends! I do greatly apologize for my time away but there have been quite a few projects going on over here and now that everything is done I’m really excited to share the final photos and stories with all of you!

I have never been a person to just toss a piece of furniture, in fact, most of the time I tend to keep pieces long past their intended life cycle. I recently refinished a desk where this was most definitely the case but it came out so well that it probably just gained another five years at least!

When I was a very young kid, about seven or eight, my dad made me a desk. It was a simple piece made of pine, with an interestingly shaped top that fit right into a corner, one large drawer in the center and three legs which screwed into the bottom. I have been carrying it around with me for all of these years because of its versatility.

About five years ago I painted it and a side chair (which I had acquired from my grandparents years before and was likely already twenty some odd years old) in fire engine red and spray painted the white ceramic pull with brushed silver then used it in my funky colored craft room. The color was good but the paint wasn’t and over the past couple years it had started to peel or chip off, including the pull. In addition to that I had a small table in there that I got for free out of the trash somewhere that was originally fake wood sticker over particle board. Here are all three pieces in my old sewing room (table in lower left corner just a glimpse of it):

With my experience painting, plus the desire to freshen up these pieces I decided to pick through some paint we had lying around and a project was born! I decided to utilize the chocolate brown left over from the free entertainment center project from last year so everything would come together much more cohesively.

I scuffed them all, wiped them down and brushed on two coats (no primer needed as there was already paint on all the pieces).

Then before applying the antique flat, water based, top coat varnish I got inspired to do a little leafing with some left over copper leaf I had from a previous client. I used a simple but decorative stencil to apply the leafing adhesive to three of the corners, around the pull and on the pull itself.

For the side table I purchased a piece of $0.98 hardware and Matt drilled the hole to install it. For the chair I utilized a piece of fabric that I already had to reupholster the seat (which goes perfectly with the palm tree area rug we have in our living room, score!). Here’s the final look of the other two finished pieces:

But these were not the really big project that we both took on over the past week. The biggie was finally putting a door up on the entrance to our bedroom. I’ll give you a little teaser with a before photo but come on back tomorrow for the full story!

When Recycling Options Are Unclear

**please note this is an extremely lengthy post with oodles of information and links; feel free to bookmark to re-read later**

At our most recent Bennetts Brook Green Group meeting, Melissa (our very own MelissaBBGG!) commented on Styrofoam and our local area’s ability or inability to recycle it, despite it being stamped with a big 6. Apparently this type of “plastic” is seemingly non-recyclable in most markets and we all began to wonder ‘then why is it stamped with a recycling symbol?’

First I will share what Melissa wrote in our monthly newsletter and then more on the research that I did upon reading about this confusing issue.

“The lowdown on EPS: A mini-rant

OK, you call it Styrofoam+, and so do I, but what I'm really talking about here is EPS, or expanded polystyrene -- the foamy stuff various companies use to pack products for shipping and send your takeout food home in. The short version of what I have to say is, you should not include it with your recyclables anymore, if you have been up to now.

All this past summer, our neighborhood recycling runs to the drop-off included plastics 3 through 7, which the drop-off's web page said was what they took. That, as far as I could see, included 6 -- which, among other items, includes EPS…the drop-off's site didn't specifically exclude it...so we thought we were doing the right thing. And let me be clear here: I'm still thrilled about all the other 3-7 stuff that didn't go to a landfill!

At some point, someone made a comment about how no one really takes 6 EPS, so I started to feel some doubt about the recycling drop-off project. This fortunately happened about the time [our] transfer station began to collect 3-7 plastics. But then I wondered if [ours would] take the EPS.

To get some answers, I got in touch with Laurie Sabol from the Recycling Committee. She says she would recommend not including 6 EPS in recycling. The main reason: there's not much of a market for products made with reclaimed EPS, so most recycling companies don't take it. And if you just go ahead and throw it in, recycling companies have to spend a lot of time picking through their piles to remove it, which I'm guessing will lead to higher fees for users down the road, among other possibilities.

[Another BBGG member] reports after his latest run to the transfer station that the employee he spoke with there says EPS is "not considered a plastic," and it's not recycled there, although the town says it's recycling plastics 1-7 (there are other products marked 6 that, apparently, many recyclers accept). [He] suggested that the 6 marking on the bottom of many EPS pieces might be confusing people, and the employee agreed that perhaps some additional signs might help to clarify what should and should not go into the bin.

Personally, I am frustrated with a capital RRRRR. If EPS can't practically be recycled, I feel that manufacturers' practice of marking it recyclable just adds to consumers' confusion. I know it actually can be recycled theoretically, but that's cold comfort when it's piling up in my house.

I've been on a mission to find ways to reuse the restaurant curbside pickup containers I accumulated over the summer but the real message here, for me, anyway, is that it's time to work harder on reducing use of EPS, at least until recycling it becomes more of a practical reality. I'm aiming to start by writing to places that use EPS and leaning on them to switch to a better choice for containers. And I'll definitely be trying to cook at home more often.

If you're wondering what alternatives you have for the stuff you're stuck with right now, Laurie Sabol has a few suggestions. She notes that packing peanuts, as well as bubble wrap and air bags, are appreciated by UPS stores and antique stores.

Also, the following businesses [Massachusetts only] will take some forms of 6 EPS. Contact one for specifics on what they do and don't allow, and how to get it to them:
• Conigliaro Industries, Inc. 508-872-9668 in Framingham
• FP International 508-832-5369 in Auburn
• Insulation Technology, Inc. 508-697-6926 in Bridgewater
• Foam Concepts, 508-278-7255 in Uxbridge
• Polyfoam Corporation 508-234-6323 in Northbridge
• Storopack, Inc. 508-366-1249 in WestboroughFor another option, you can send EPS to a mail-back location.

For more information, visit http://www.epspackaging.org/info.html”

WHEW! I was floored that there was such little information provided to consumers and that most people would see the little 6 and think they were doing right by placing the EPS in a bin. Sadly when the recycling joint picks it out I am quite sure it gets thrown in the trash.

While doing research on where or how to recycle or reuse this EPS, I came across the following website:

Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers

They indicated they have drop off locations as well as a mail back option. I was so excited until further reading indicated they do not take food containers, they essentially only take the stuff used to pack up items for shipping (what is around a computer when you open the box for example).

At least it was a start.

They also offer the Peanut Hotline at 1-800-828-2214 which indicates locations around a five digit zip code who accept packing peanuts for drop off. There were three in my area which was encouraging. Since I have so many products being shipped to me these days, this is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.

The Peanut Hotline refers to the American Plastics Council (1-800-243-5790) at the end of their message as a good resource for more information and they are correct. Their site shares a plethora of plastics information.

I still had not discovered anything I could do with those old food containers though and the bottom line is pretty much every website I went to for information said the same thing: there is low scrap value so most places will not recycle it and due to food “contamination” it can not be sent back.

So what are some things we can do to reuse or at least further extend the lifecycle of this material?

1. If you know you are not the type to finish a meal in the restaurant and tend to bring it home, bring your own reusable container with you when you go out. The server does not have to take it back to put it in a container and these days they tend to bring the container right out to the consumer to do anyway so why not cut out the “middle man”?

2. Thoroughly wash and store old clam-shell polystyrene for this very purpose.

3. Use them for dry storage. Those small ones are great in the bathroom for things like cotton balls or other small, under the sink type items.

4. Make something out of it. Arts and crafts can be a great fall back option -- holiday decorations, numbers for the outside of your house, sculpture art, fabric covered push-pin boards -- the opportunities are only as limitless as the imagination!

In addition, I strongly urge everyone to start writing letters, making phone calls, writing emails, etc to any location that continues to use the polystyrene containers for food take out and request they stop doing so in order for this issue to no longer be an issue. Also, check in with your local recycling centers to see if this type of product is taken.

What have you done with your old EPS?

+ Styrofoam is a trademark of Dow Chemical Company

Can Plastic Grocery Store Bags Be Useful?

From time to time I am asked certain questions when it comes to living a green lifestyle. People become concerned about their eco habits and wonder if the things they are doing will have a positive or negative environmental impact. Yesterday I received a fantastic question from Linda at the Cozy Craft Corner concerning plastic shopping bags and I wanted to share her question as well as my response because I think everyone can benefit from the communication. Also hooray to Linda for pulling out the reusable shopping bags! Here is to many more uses in the future!

Today I remembered (the first time) to take my grocery bags with me to the store so I would use less plastic. My question is what do you do with your little garbage cans? Do you not put plastic bags in them? I use my grocery bags for that, car garbage and to use for a tote bag now and then.

Linda

Hey Linda!

Great question! The most important thing is reuse in this case. Although you are using the plastic bag in the garbage can it has now been used twice, extending its life further than the original intention so immediately that cuts the impact right there. How about further extending? When we use plastic bags in our bathroom trash can we tend to just dump the trash into our big kitchen can to take it out & leave the plastic bag behind, using it multiple times until it perhaps rips or becomes damaged. Same can work in the car! Most important thing is to continue to reuse as long as possible and not beat yourself up for the choices you make but to just be conscious of the ways you are [currently] & can [in the future] make a difference :)

Glad you're enjoying reading & thanks for asking!

Jenn

The important lesson in this case is reuse. The longer we can extend the life of any item, the less of them will end up in landfills and that will have a serious, positive, environmental impact starting right now.

Do you have a question regarding to your living or working habits? Concerned you might not be as eco-awesome as you want to be? Feel free to pass your question along via email!