No Impact Week

First Monday. New Year. Big to-do list brewing. Studio clean up re org planned. And if that wasn't enough. It's also day 2 of No Impact Week. Oops! I missed day one. Well, it seems fairly forgiving.



More info and registration on the No Impact Project website. Good luck!
If you haven't seen No Impact Man - the year long documented experience of a New Yorker attempting to live without negatively impacting the environment - I highly recommend that you check out. You can play it instantly on Netflix.

New Designs

To celebrate Earth Day, I am introducing several new recycled sail tote bag designs in Reiter8's Etsy shop that are nature inspired.

They are fully lined in 100% organic cotton canvas, a fabric was produced from environmentally friendly materials and fabrication methods using sustainable fibers and low impact dyeing methods preserving the Earth's precious resources.

Happy Earth Day.
Enjoy!

The Plastiki Adventure

The Plastiki is David de Rothschild's mission, dream, expedition and boat made entirely from recycled plastic. Rothschild and crew have recently set sail on a 100 day, 10,000 mile journey from San Francisco to Sydney to raise world awareness to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink more of the planets natural resources.

The mission's philosophy is:

"... about recognizing that waste is fundamentally a design flaw (it does not appear in nature) It’s about re-thinking waste as a resource. It’s about cyclical ‘cradle-to-cradle’ philosophies rather than linear thinking when it comes to how we design our world. It’s about a better understanding of the lifecycle’s and materials used in our everyday lives."

Good luck, Plastiki! Track progress and view video blog entries here. Additional videos and more on Plastiki's You Tube Channel.

photographs courtesy of Luca Babini, illustration by Andrew Rae

Eco Friendly Holiday

Get ready, get set ... go?

I do like having Thanksgiving BEFORE Christmas, but there's a whiff of Christmas holiday in the air so I thought I'd get these upcycled sail stockings out there for you early birds. (OK the real early birds were shopping in August along side my mom.)

I had so much fun photographing them in Julia Mack's lovely home. Julia is an interior designer - be sure to check out her very friendly and tip filled kitchen redesign video. Her dog Trixi (aka The Trixinator) was a lovely assistant and once the lens was pointed her way, she knew exactly what to do.




Recycled sail stockings in two sizes with red stars or stripes currently available on Etsy.

Trash or Treasure?

What do you do when your vinyl banner wasn't printed quite right?

If you're Michelle from Cloud 9 Fabrics, you email me. I'm not one for letting something fun like that go to waste; soon it was sitting in my studio staring me down with potential.

Here's a first glimpse at some of the treasure:




Be sure to check out Michelle's collections of organic fabrics. Her current collection is entitled 'My Happy Garden'.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the 'By the Sea' collection which will start shipping in March 2010.

Glenn Robinson - NYer of the Week!

Congrats to Glenn Robinson, founder of Bags for the People (BFTP) for being named this week's NYer of the Week by NY1.

'Glenn Robinson used to sell vegetables at the stand in the Union Square and hand them over to customers in tens of thousands of plastic bags.

"We were giving out plastic bags left and right and it just seemed like a problem to me and I was part of the problem, I was actually handing them out," says Robinson.

So five months ago, Robinson started making cloth bags to give to people at the stand. The idea took off and he started the organization "Bags For The People," which holds sewing workshops for the public and in schools.'

With sewing machines fueled by solar panels, Glenn is sewing live at farmers markets. Find the full schedule here. Whether permitting he'll be at Union Square Farmers Market today, Saturday, August 22 sewing from 10:00 - 2:00. BFTP will be sewing and giving away bags in conjunction with the soon to be released No Impact Man Documentary.




BFTP is a non profit and therefore depends on the generosity of people who can donate materials, time and funds. More on how you can support here.

Watch the full NY1 NYer of the Week video at NY1 online

How Green Are Your Shoes??

Just came across Summer Rayne Oakes' new sustainable shoe line zoe & zac. Cute!




Summer Rayne is a scientist turned eco activist model who, among many other things, is author of the recently released book 'Style Naturally' (which I wrote about here).

Every part of this shoe line is eco friendly: organic cotton uppers, nickel free hardware, recycled rubber and water based, non-toxic glues are just part of the story. Even the shoe boxes are 100% recycled and printed with soy-based inks! I like her commitment and attention to every last detail.




All styles are under $30 and available at Payless which is currently running a buy one get one 1/2 off sale. Be green and save some $$ green!

Record Deal

I love the genius behind these custom upcycled record necklaces from Junk Prints. How cool is that!?

$34 will buy you 9 letters and a choice of 3 typefaces, but Chanel from Junk Prints will also quote you a price for longer custom names or phrases.



Think of it as you're very own record deal!

It's a Jungle In Here

I've received a rather large backdrop of printed vinyl to upcycle!



My first projects are being made from a great big green jungle backdrop- perfect to work with on grey cold winter days. This vinyl has been saved from the land fill after it was used on a studio set.

Close up:


The first completed messenger bags will be photographed and listed soon.

.... Later that day ....



Listed!

Happy Friday.

Clever

Lindsay Pemberton's (pictured below) tea bangles are a perfect example of clever upcycling.

"My products are designed to challenge our thoughts of our everyday objects and rituals. By reinventing traditional rituals and domestic objects they take on a new reading in each of our lives."

Available through here through Clever Bastards of NZ

Eco Gifts For Him

Thanks Eco Etsy Street Team Blog for featuring Reiter8's Messenger Bag in their Gift Guide for Him.

It's a nice well rounded group o' gifts. My favorites? 2ReVerts skateboard belt buckles and Chakra Pennywhistle's upcycled moneybag wallets.

Find more eco friendly handmade products from this group by searching Etsy's offerings by 'teamecoetsy'.

But wait! There's more! Check out Etsy's Environmentally Friendly Gift Guide.

Wahoo for Plyboo!

I love PlyBoo. There. I said it.

I love the warm color and the hint of the bamboo 'joints' that occur in the stem. Plyboo is made from 100% rapidly renewable bamboo. In fact, Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world, with a growth rate of up to 1.5-2" an hour!!

Michael Neil Jacobsen, a studio mate has just introduced PlyBoo cutting boards available here. I love the edge treatment and the craftsmanship is fantastic. A steal at $38-42. Plus - who can resist that eco packaging!!

Love Plyboo even more? Check out his beautifully handcrafted desk.

Somethings brewing...

The type and graphics on these coffee sacks is too hard to resist! Not quite sure what they will become just yet, but working on it...

MAD on a rainy day

Although Improve Everywheres's MP3 event will be held rain or shine, if you want to avoid the rain drops altogether today you might head over to the Museum of Art and Design's grand public opening at their new location at 2 Columbus Circle.

The featured exhibit is Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary opens today and runs through February 15, 2009.
(Pictured above:Tara Donovan, Bluffs, 2007, Buttons, glue, Photo: Kerry Ryan McFate)

Museum hours are 10-5 and admission is FREE for this weekend.
(The website actually says 10-6 in one place and 10-5 in another)

If you go, I would love to hear your thoughts and reactions to the space and exhibit.

Even closer to home is Dumbo's Art Under the Bridge

The Annual Art Under the Bridge Festival is the single largest urban forum for experimental art in the United States, transforming the distinctive waterfront neighborhood into a multi-sensory public art arena. The event involves the participation of approximately 1,500 artists from all disciplines of visual art and attracts over 150,000 visitors to the neighborhood of Dumbo each year.

So many choices, so little time!

Chairloom

At Sunday's HOT, HOT, HOT Brooklyn Flea I had the pleasure of being next to Molly Worth of Chairloom. While the temps were in the 90's with bright sun and humidity, Molly was upbeat and relaxed the whole day - despite being up since around 4:30 and getting to the schoolyard at 8:00 am for the earlybirds. Molly makes the trip to Brooklyn from outside Philly. She finds chairs worthy of a second chance and reupholsters them in fabulous modern fabrics. Her motto is 'reuse and reinvent', which definitely resonates with me.



This sweet victorian pair in Hable Construction fabric was my favorite. She has 'the eye' and also offers fabric consultation. On Sunday she brought several unfinished chairs so that you can select fabric to suit your color needs.

She will be at the flea again on 6/22 then off for the Summer and returning in the Fall. View Chairlooms catalogue here.

2ReVert - Recycled Skateboards

2ReVert is a husband/wife team from Nova Scotia that sees the beauty and potential in old skateboards. They craft pieces from bangles to belt buckles.

Yeah, I have an obvious soft spot for recycled goods that have a hint of their former life, yet stand on their own. I'm not loving it because it's green - that was actually secondary. I'm loving it because it looks great.

Etsy Video Portrait

Yep - that's my closet (aka shipping department, marketing department and raw material storage). Yep, that's also my dining room: studio by day, fine dining by night. It's a little scary putting yourself out there - but happy to increase the awareness of upcycling (and reiter8!)

Thanks to Tara, a video master maven from Etsy who is a talented pleasure to work with. See more of her work here.

See more handmade video portraits on Etsy. You can also subscribe in iTunes and they'll be downloaded automatically.

Thanks Etsy for shining the spotlight my way!

Poppytalk - Green Pop Favorites

Poppytalks Handmade Market has a green theme this month: Here are a few favorites of mine:

Note pads from 100% recycled paper from eco Jot
Embroidered tree from A little Hut
Numbered push pins from simple song designs
A pendant cut from a vintage tin tray from Little Black Rabbit

Rehashing It Over

Have you heard of Rehash? It's a nifty new clothes swapping web site.
Rehashing is a way for you to trade your 'bought that but never wore it', 'wore it once or twice' or 'loved it once but no more' clothing and accessories. You can join groups, socialize, and get fashion as well as green living advice.
It's still fairly new but growing daily with trading posts and membership.

I found this outfit:

Striped Top, Tiffany Eternal Circle
Red Slingback Flats, White Pencil Skirt

St. Patrick's Day Online Scavanger Hunt

Get ready to celebrate the green - eco green that is.

Team Eco Etsy is hosting an online Scavenger Hunt for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, Sunday March 16. This is your opportunity to win some really great prizes donated by sellers who are members of this eco conscious team.

Playing is easy, and you can find all of the rules on the Eco Etsy Team blog. The hunt starts at 12pm EST and ends at 12am EST March 16th or until all the prizes are spoken for.

**The details and rules of the hunt will not be posted on the blog until this evening, March 15.**

May the luck of the Irish be with you!!