Help Close the Loop: Upcycling = (Recycle + Reuse + Reduce) x DIY

646.4 Rannels - Sew Subversive

To "upcycle" means to reuse recycled materials in such a way that they retain or increase in value according the Sustainablity Dictionary. Using recycled materials for crafting or to create useful items for the home is a popular way for indivduals to practice upcycling.


Check out these upcycling links for cool ideas for projects, crafts, and more that can help you make this holiday season and all year round a little greener.

Gardening

our.windowfarms.org - A nonprofit organization supporting growing edible plants indoors in urban areas using recycled water bottles. - Here's My Farm

sustainablog - Six Creative Upcycling Projects


yougrowgirl - Make Your Own Pop Bottle Drip Irrigation System

Decorative Art/Gifts/Clothe

Upcycle Art

Crafting a Green World - Girl Reconstructed: Upcycling Old Clothes

Hippy Shopper - The Art of Upcycling: Junky Jewelry For Spring

EcoSalon - Green Your Junk: 16 Creative Ways to Upcycle Before You Recycle

More upcycling inspiration from the CCPL catalog!

J Chapman - Making Art With Fabric by Gillian Chapman

J Ross - Earth-friendly Crafts: Clever Ways to Reuse Everyday Items by Kathy Ross

J Monaghan - Organic Crafts: 75 Earth-friendly Art Activities by Kimberly Monaghan

NEW!!! (On Order) Make Your Own Purses and Bags by Anna-Marie D'Cruz

646.4 Rannels - Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY For the Fabulous Fashionista by Melissa Rannels

Sustainable Eating: Something Old, Something New

One of the issues that crops up frequently in environmentally-conscious media is the subject of sustainable eating. This means factoring in environmental impact when making dietary choices along with the usual determinents of price, quality, convenience, etc. The seminal 1970's classic on this subject is Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe'. Current environmental issues have revived the topics of sustainable eating and socially conscious consumption.

Check out these websites to explore sustainablity options or get ideas for making this part of your "green routine"!

***Cooking Up A Story -

This is a cooking blog that is accompanied by a cooking show, which is broadcast on Youtube and Hulu. Cooking Up a Story was featured on NPR.

The Blog - http://cookingupastory.com/

***Cooking With Clara

Go "old school" Slow Food and watch Cooking With Clara: Depression Era Cooking on Youtube! Ms. Clara, a 91 year-old cook's, show was featured on NPR.

***The Sierra Club's True Cost of Food - http://www.truecostoffood.org/truecostoffood/

***Selections from the Librarians Internet Index - http://lii.org/pub/subtopic/6050

Confessions of an Eco Sinner by Fred Pearce

CCPL Selections on Sustainable Living

179.1 Lappe' - Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe' and Anna Lappe'

Subject - Sustainable Living

The SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT - CLICK HERE FOR CCPL SELECTIONS ON the Slow Food Movement.

DIY: An Idea Whose Time Has Come...Again

The "do it yourself" or DIY concept fits in nicely with environmentalism. Making things rather than buying them or making something new out of things already on hand is a great way to reduce waste and packaging and to reuse and recycle.

DIY is not a new concept but a return to an older, practical lifestyle that existed before post-WWII hyper-consumerism spawned the current excess of malls, megastores, and specialty shops. In those days the average American was familiar with floursack dresses, jury rigging, and jokes about Rube Goldberg contraptions, humorous caricatures of DIY run amok.

DIY resurfaced in the late 1960's and early 1970's as part of the same "back to the land", self-sufficiency movement that also spawned Earth Day and recycling. The Whole Earth Catalog, a directory of environmentally-friendly DIY resources and activist info, which was last published in 1972, is considered a forerunner of the internet.

Today's DIY trend is considered by some afficiandos as artistry because of the handcrafting involved and also, perhaps, because it is more often a personal lifestyle choice than a necessity for many trend followers. DIY may also be considered useable/wearable/edible "art" because of the unique characteristics of each individual piece or product as compared to the soulless consistency of store-bought, manufactured goods.

Click for DIY Weblinks

Some DIY Subject Headings (Click for Catalog Links)

DIY

Handicraft

Sewing

Knitting

Canning and Preserving

Fruit Preservation

Cheesemaking also Cheese Cookery

Herb Gardening

Beer Brewing

Soap and Handicraft

Herbal Cosmetics

Household Supplies (make your own cleaning products) and House Cleaning - Environmental Aspects

Rube Goldberg Pencil Sharpener

Rube Goldberg gets his think-tank working and evolves the simplified pencil-sharpener.
Open window (A) and fly kite (B). String (C) lifts small door (D) allowing moths (E) to escape and eat red flannel shirt (F). As weight of shirt becomes less, shoe (G) steps on switch (H) which heats electric iron (I) and burns hole in pants (J). Smoke (K) enters hole in tree (L), smoking out opossum (M) which jumps into basket (N), pulling rope (O) and lifting cage (P), allowing woodpecker (Q) to chew wood from pencil (R), exposing lead. Emergency knife (S) is always handy in case opossum or the woodpecker gets sick and can't work.

From http://www.rubegoldberg.com/. Accessed 5/30/08.

KS/STA

Check Out These "How To" Guides to Green Living

Going green is a hot topic right now. The library has guides for making small or large lifestyle changes to make your home more environmentally friendly.

Here a few suggested items from the CCPL collection and subject headings to check out.

363.70525 Riley - The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Living by Trish Riley (Complete Idiot's Guide Series)

618.2 Greene - Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care by Alan R. Greene and others

648.5 Sandbeck - Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Nontoxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity by Ellen Sandbeck

Green Subject Headings

Environmental Home
Organic Living
Slow Food
Renewable Energy
Recycling
Composting
Ecological Houses
Architecture-Environmental Aspects


KS/STA