new DIY

Visit the do-it-yourself part of our website for our newest, well, do-it-yourself project ideas. We have a fruit bowl made from toilet paper tubes, a lamp made from plastic jugs and a few pairs of chopsticks, a vase made from an empty glass bottle, and more!

Be your own design junkie and give your garbage another go!

what to do with an old snowboard?

I found an old snowboard sadly laying on the sidewalk in Brooklyn the other night. It was much happier when a friend and I picked it up instead of leaving it to a life with the NYC Department of Sanitation. And my friend was right - people do get out of your way when you're walking down the street carrying a snowboard.

Now - any ideas out there on what to make out of it?

A swing perhaps? A bench? And if a bench, any ideas on what to use for legs? Wood is the easiest material to work with, but perhaps not the most appropriate looking material with the thin snowboard. Ideas are welcome!

New in the shop!

Check out these great new World of Grains journals in our shop. These are fresh from our friends, Mars, Inc., over in New Jersey. Only 7 buckaroos and they're packed with 75 sheets of recycled paper. Woo hoo recycling!

How GREEN is your candidate?

I went looking to see where the political candidates stood on environmental issues. I found this site and wanted to share.

sustaining sustainability

I've heard a few really great lectures the past few weeks and have listened to some really great discussions centering on sustainability.

At Pratt's Focus the Nation Event, I heard designer Allan Chochinov speak about how as a designer the first question we need to ask ourselves is "Do we really need to design this?" Do we need another lamp? Another alarm clock? Another plastic-molded Santa that just sits there? And if you do design something, what sets your design apart and provides a useful function?

At New York's Gift Fair there's a continuing lecture series on sustainability. Green gurus were there from Herman Miller, Icestone, and Mio and their discussion centered on the ideas behind cradle to cradle and developing products so that they are durable, and once their useful life is having the materials either returning to the earth, or recycled back into usable raw materials. This sustainability series seems to be a continuing event at gift fair, which we blogged about here during their last event. It looks like sustainability is sustaining itself and continuing to be a topic of conversation. It's great to see so many businesses getting behind this idea!

ReMake It!!!

I'm super-pleased to announce that our ReMake It diy recycling kits will be at the New York Gift Fair next week! RePlayGround teamed up with the super folks at Streamline to make these eco-friendly kits. If you happen to be attending Gift Fair, swing by booth 1826 to see 'em in person. If you want to buy one of these for yourself, hang tight, because soon enough you'll be able to buy them online.

There are 4 kits in the series including magazine envelopes, a wine cork trivet, a bottle lamp, and bottlecap magnets. These kits are super-easy to make - just add a little bit of garbage and you have your own work of art that you made all by yourself.

Have I been over using the word "super" this blog post? Well, I don't care. I'm super-excited to have these kits ready for stores!

Hurray for recycling and do-it-yourselfing!

Focus the Nation - this Thursday at Pratt

Any of y'all in the New York City area should stop by the Focus the Nation event at my old alma mater. It's this Thursday and lectures and events look like they're running from 10am - 8:30pm or so.

It's being coordinated by the new Director of Sustainability at Pratt Institute, Deb Johnson. Check it out and show the eco-world that you care. I see sustainability experts like Allan Chochinov and Peter Barna will be there. You should be there, too.

And I just noticed there's a body painting competition where you are "Visualizing Global Warming through the Painted Form". Come on, what better way to show the world you care? I suspect the body paints are organic and all-natural.