Reusing Yarn

Ever wanted to know how to recycle yarn? I went to Value Village this weekend, bought a $7 wool Gap sweater and here's what I'm going to do next.

Do not use this product for things it is not intended for

Well I broke my garlic press this weekend. Did you know that was possible? I tried to use it for ginger, which has worked ok in the past. I actually cracked the metal- it didn't just seperate. Kennet says I have to stop working out. I'm just too strong.

So here begins my six months without a garlic press. Bummer.

Ooh ooh me!

I am down for a swap, but maybe we could make it a goods swap instead of just a clothing swap? I just got rid of a bunch of clothes and I have some other goods that could go to a good home.

Also, I will post soon about an unplanned purchase I made today. . .

two big updates and a proposal

-my first update is best appreciated when you consider Chris's reaction to our "buynothing" project: an indignant "why would you want to do that???"
But just months later he and I just got engaged and he actually proposed with an antique ring from 1931! I tried to take a picture of the ring for this blog, but my camera isn't cooperating. Anyhow, I love the fact that it is a recycled diamond and such a unique style of ring.
-the second update is that we bought a used car, a 1999 subaru outback the other night. Its a great car with lowish milage, plenty of room for us and the dog, and we got a great deal. yay for buying used and for craigs list!
-my proposal is that we have a clothing swap SOON now that Mad Eye is back from her adventures abroad. I'm feeling the need to get rid of some old clothes gain some new.
Ideas for a date and time? Ladies?

ripple effects

Just a few stories that make me feel like this project is worthwhile:
1. Shelley and my friend, Rachel Adams, explained the project to her coworker who is now inspired to try it with her whole family (two adults and two kids). It sounds as though they already make many socially conscious decisions and know a lot about living lightly... but that's FOUR more people who are trying this out!
2. My mom, who is a great sale shopper, went to the title nine warehouse sale recently- I think she even went so far as trying on shoes, but then she thought about us and our project and she walked away without buying a single thing.

TIny Choices

I found this blog referenced on one of the craft sites I regularly read. It's called Tiny Choices and it's maybe obviously about making small steps toward being green. It looks very cool, though I'm basing that almost entirely on the fact that they have a link to this site, which lets you put in your address and calculates the walkability of your neighborhood. Yet more fodder for me to stay in Seattle and not move to BI. My neighbhood got a 97, work's neighborhood got an 18. Very sad.

By the way, does anyone else post on here any more?

House things

I have been wanting a new work table for a while now. My dining room table has been sufficing, but besides worrying that I'm going to run the rotary blade over it, it's really too short to be a good cutting table. I have alternated between cutting on the kitchen floor, the living room floor when I lived with hardwoods, and I think I'm getting too old for it.

What I really want is a nicer, higher version of this:
But for many reasons, it's wrong. For one, it's IKEA, which Kennet will not let me spend good money at because nothing wears well. It's also $500, which isn't ideal. What it comes down to for me is that it's just too short. So that won't be happening.

I thought I remembered there was some kind of recycled house material place in Seattle and sure enough, a little google search led me here. Maddi, I saw a screen door on it and thought of you- by the way- did you put house renovation on the exempt list? You must have, but here's some more ideas. I'd love to buy a flat door (as opposed to one with designs carved into it) to make into a table top, or these window frames for hanging on a wall somewhere.

A bounty of acceptableness

It isn't really hard to find cool, not new stuff in this town. This is a pile of clothes from Crossroads, lots of fun and cheap too. Plus a used CD from Everyday that I wanted to pass along to someone else (where burning wouldn't do) and, my personal favorite- a pile of stuff from the library. I am a big fan of the library- why accumulate stuff when you can just get it on demand?

Crossroads shopping does bring up one question that I think I don't want to know the answer to:


This super cute shirt was at Crossroads, but still has the tag on it, as things sometimes do there. What do I do? Clearly in this instance I bought it- but technically it is new. When I try to justify it, I think, the point of not buying new is partially to not create demand for new things. So in theory I'm not doing that by not buying it from a regular store which would then have to restock their inventory. But Crossroads has to restock too, they just do it mostly with used stuff. I think I'm probably in the wrong here- what do you think?

Supporting Third World Economies

I made it almost a whole month in East Africa without buying anything new. But I didn't. Kennet and I debated a bit about the tourism economy and all the shops that are mostly filled with crappy tchotchkes. On one hand, they create an income for people who might not otherwise have an income (obviously there are a lot of people in Tanzania and Uganda who do not have work or who get paid very little). On the other hand, they redirect energy that might be better used to improve living conditions or contribute to society in a more productive way.

As a rule, I am usually very discerning about purchases I make on vacation, so I don't have to carry a bunch of stuff home, but also because I care about how things are made and how people are paid. So I made two decisions while I was in East Africa.

In Zanzibar, I bought two hand woven scarves (the one with elephant butts on it is not pictured, bummer). I really wanted some fabric that could be used in a quilt or other project. It turned out most fabric there is made in India and looks it. I really wanted something locally made and I found this scarf in an alleyway shop where I could see the weaver at the loom in the back room. While I can't vouch for how much of what I paid went to him (probably little), I felt better knowing that at least production costs didn't include travel from India.

On one of our last days in Uganda, we were visiting a friend of David's who has been living there for some time. She had these baskets in her home and I loved them. She took me to a craft market where I could pick out a few- the kind of place that also carries the Bead for Life necklaces. I figured that buying something clearly handmade and well made was ok because it supports the local economy of what David says is actually becoming a Second World country.

Spending money in these parts of the world is something to be thought carefully about. I wanted to contribute to the economy and support local workers as much as possible. It's hard to do as a tourist- one has to be concerned with what money goes where because it's very easy for it to go to the wrong place. People time seems to be worth very little there, so a tip can go a long way. We tried to be generous in the right places because we can be, and not just throw money or things where it isn't right. I don't think we did perfectly, but we tried.

Though I usually try not to collect stuff, it is nice to have some beautiful things that I think I will use to remind me of our trip.

Coffee Cups

I bought a spontaneous coffee today too on the way to Karen's. Now I have a paper cup. I am going to resuse it as much as possible and start carrying a reusable with me always. A reusable mug, and a tupperware would be good companions to my water bottle. And Shelley, I'd love a beer before you leave.

An Epic

Part 1: So I'm doing pretty well with this whole thing- by which I mean I'm getting pretty good at rationalizing anything I happen to want. When this picture was taken, I hadn't bought anything new except for these three things, all approved by the tribunal:

• new shoelaces for my light hiking shoes
• HUGE knitting needles with which to make a bathmat out of old t-shirts
• a replacement bead for my earrings I've had in for 5 years

In general I've bought a lot less stuff than I probably would have before and I even returned some stuff to REI that I had bought in prep for Africa that I don't really need.

Part 2: And here's where I get into trouble. I started doing some reading about our trip next week and the hike that is Mt. Meru. That's the 4 day hike that we are doing instead of climbing Kilimanjaro, but for some reason I wasn't thinking of it as a trek. It's supposed to be less touristy and neat because you can actually look at Kili from a bit of distance. Anyhow, the point is, I started looking at gear and what people are wearing in the pictures of themselves on Mt. Meru and realized that the shoes I have, 4 years old and a half size too small, aren't not going to cut it.
The tribunal approved it for a couple of reasons, the main one being that Kennet will have to hear me whine about my feet for days upon days.

I exhausted my used resources- craigslist, second ascent, and the REI garage sale, before buying the shoes at Patagucci I've wanted for a while now, but had talked myself out of. This brings me to an interesting point. I wondered if this endeavor would save us all time that we would put toward shopping, freeing us up for other more creative and meaningful things. Hillary very astutely pointed out that there will be some times when it does actually take more time to track things down.

Here's the shoe:
They have a good percentage of recycled material in the sole, but not post-consumer, so not as amazing as they tout them to be. But they have a lifetime guarantee so I'm going to take them out to Dungeness Spit this weekend try them out.

I'm not totally sure what the mitigation for this poor planning is, but so far the options are that I either have to buy Hillary and Maddi beers, or figure out how to regift something I own, or both. I have no problem finding something to get rid of (what does that say about my level of stuff?) but finding something worthy of regifting and finding someone willing to accept it. I recently went through all my craft stuff and found a bunch of art and office supplies that I'm not sure what to do with.

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As far as buying nonreusable stuff when we could brought our own, like coffee cups, I am all for working under the pressure of always reusing the stuff I have now. I'm glad this came up today because I just realized I left my coffee mug at work and will want to get coffee at the ferry tomorrow- I will have to talk Kennet out of his reusable mug for a day so I don't have to get a paper cup.

I noticed that in the last three weeks I've ended up with 4 or 5 take out containers I could have planned better for. One thing I'm going to do is take a container with me to Africa so I can carry stuff around without making more trash.

Speaking of trash: I keep thinking I can take multiple small consumables with me, like toothpaste, and then just throw them away and lose the weight in my pack. But that ultimately means I'm bringing my trash from a first world country into a third world country and dumping it, which is as bad as the recycling/disposal programs that just send stuff out of the U.S. It all comes down to thinking through the lifecycle of the products we use.

Portland and my "new" shirt

I first explained the 3 pockets project to my two most wonderful college friends, Meg and Meems, when we met up in Portland for Memorial Day weekend. Being the kind of friends they are, I could tell them I was building a rocket to the moon in my backyard and they would be supportive. But I felt so encouraged there as we sat in the cafe at Powells book store, I told them...

"hey, lets go shopping."

The great thing is that directly accross the street was Buffalo Exchange, a recycled clothing store that is much loved in both Portland and Seattle. We spent almost an hour sifting through clothes and finally I came away with my much loved "new" shirt. See the photo of myself and Mia, she is clearly impressed by my shopping prowess.

Initially I was worried that my visit to Portland would be a trial. I envisioned myself surrounded by shops and boutiques that would be too tempting to pass up. But I quickly realized how it is possible to travel well, eat well, and play well while keeping durable goods completely out of the equation. I would much rather have my memory of our picnic in the rose garden than a souvenier... or even a new pair of shoes.

Mitigation for Oopsies?

Well, it wasn't exactly an oopsie. Water fits into our exempt list. It's a consumable rsource. But there we were, Hillary and Me, carrying brand new, sealed water bottles into the Gorge Ampitheater. Neither of us even considered it until we were inside and our bottles were empty and we were talking about refilling them. Why didn't we just bring our regular old nalgene water bottles, empty, into the venue and then refill them. Not sure.For me, it was a combination of being a water snob and ignorance. Just like that. I can bring a sealed new one in, so why bring mine in to refill.

This conversation led us to consider a required mitigation for those kind of scenerios. Situations when you could have re-used, but didn't think of it (ignorance is no excuse). A water bottle, a coffee-cup, a left-over container from a restaurant. We could move through this year using up all those resources, taking the brand new cup, bottle or styrofoam container. These things aren't technically in our contract. But....I am thinking, that it isn't alright to do those things. This has to be more challenging, more meaningful than not buying new, styley shoes for a year. So, what if, each time we spaced our mug, or tupperware, we have to mitigate?

How would we mitigate? Plant a tree? Volunteer for an hour somewhere? Pick up trash on the road? Any thoughts on this??

The Original Inspiration

So though Maddi and I had an almost identical conversation about starting a commitment like this 3 years ago, trying to attempt it as a lifelong lifestyle change was so daunting that we lasted about 2 minutes. A few weeks ago, I found out about this, a year long endeavor to wear the same, homemade brown dress for a whole year. Part performance art, part political statement on consumer culture, especially around women and clothing. I like that she calls both the Little Brown Dress project, and her current project, Intentional Wardrobe projects. I think ours could be an Intentional Spending project.

First Success and First Challenge

Successes:

My garden is a beautiful living breathing example of reuse/salvage/recycle. Sure I had to buy some things: compost and soil for one. Unfortunately the perfect sunny spot in our yard is also right near some creosote logs that hold my neighbors fence up. That and the fact that our soil absolutely sucks (is full of rocks and clay) led us to build raised beds and buy soil to put in them.

Okay. The beautiful and fun stuff I did is:

1. Went to land just cleared for a horse farm by some folks I know and was able to get a bunch of cedar side cuts they
were about to chip. We used them to make 3 of our beds, the frame around our berries and our cold frame.


2. Took down a retaining wall in our yard that we didn't like and reused the concrete blocks to make 3 more beds.

3. Used the old ugly curtains that were in our house when we moved in for:

Making groundclothes between the grass and the soil in our beds

Making bed covers that protected the seedlings when they were newly placed in the beds and to keep the soil from drying out before the compost mulch was added

Stakes for securing the deer fencing into the ground.


It was awesome tearing up the curtains that seriously no one in their right mind would have bought from GoodWill to reuse. But even more satisfying was sitting with my needle-nose plyers and bending all the little metal z shaped peices of the curtain set into stake shapes (as shown in picture).

Challenge:
With the successes comes the challenges. So, one of my coworkers gave me a brand new Kombucha mushroom. I am very excited and am vowing not to mess this one up. However, I need a gallon sized glass jar with a wide mouth. Don't have one and don't live in Seattle anymore where I can easily go to some thrift stores and find some of these. Made the tea yesterday and had the day to find a jar while the tea cooled. Figured out that grocery stores get their olives and pickles that they use at salad bars in these jars. They took my name and number and should have two for me by mid week. Shit! Can't wait that long for this batch. So I found one of those big glass jars with a spicket for making sun tea. Bought it with my tail between my legs knowing that I was breaking my contract. Decided I'd return it when these other used jars come through in a few days. Then came home and Pete wants to keep the thing for making sun tea. He'll buy it so its not on my conscience. Is this okay? Well, after a few mintues of considering I decided its not okay. That could snowball, I decided, into.."hey babe, can you buy those awesome new Danskos for me cuz I can't buy them myself". So, I know it still breaches the contract, but I have the $5.99 jar of tea (which kills me for a zillion reasons, biggest one being that bars and restaurants and delis around the country dispose of these everyday and I have to go spend 6 bucks on one with sunflowers painted on it for sun tea cuz all the used ones are disposed of). Not okay. Anyway, I am rambling here, but the bottom line is I am bringing the jar back as soon as they call me with a ready to use old olive jar. Conscience slightly relieved.

The Challenge

For one year, starting May 10th 2007, we have agreed to limit our spending on new durable goods. This entails buying used as much as possible, but does include an exempt list for goods we believe are important to us and cannot usually be bought used. We have also composed a tribunal, made up of the three of us and one objective outside party. Purchases that fall outside the jurisdiction of the contract can be taken to the tribunal, which will vote to decide if the purchase should be made. See our first post for a copy of our contract.