This past Saturday was International Zero Waste Day. To raise awareness, I wrote the following post on Really Reuseful on Medium, highlighting a few of my favorite ways to reuse, and thus reduce waste, in my own home. Check it out at https://medium.com/really-reuseful/celebrate-international-zero-waste-day-march-30-2024-b555745836c7?sk=8c9ce1cbc78151e81a72779ae90c9974.
Really ReUseful
This blog is a venue for examining Reuse--an important environmental concept frequently overshadowed by its siblings, Reduce & Recycle. From neat products made with reused materials, to ways to reuse in your everyday life, to success stories from industry and institutions, I'll highlight examples of clever folks being "really reuseful."
Featured Post
Content moving to Medium first
Hello readers! I'm renewing my efforts to share content about reuse via this blog, but from July 2023 forward, new posts will appear on ...
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
ICYMI: Celebrate International Zero Waste Day, March 30, 2024
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Content moving to Medium first
Hello readers! I'm renewing my efforts to share content about reuse via this blog, but from July 2023 forward, new posts will appear on Medium at https://medium.com/really-reuseful. This Blogger site will persist primarily as an archive of older content; I may post links to posts over on Medium periodically so I can keep those associated with relevant categories and tags (writers can't easily offer the opportunity for readers to search for posts by these attributes on Medium). I hope you'll join me on Medium to engage with future posts. You can also connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Reuse Artist Gifts 'Betty Bottletop' Sea Turtle Sculpture to Restaurant in Brunei
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Community Screening of The Story of Plastic
About this Event
Champaign County Environmental Stewards (CCES), Food and Water Watch-Midwest, and the Prairie Group of the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter are teaming up to bring you an important film. "The Story of Plastics" brings into focus an alarming, man-made crisis, and the heroes who work every day to tackle the problem. You can be part of the worldwide movement to #BreakFreeFromPlastic: storyofplastic.org @brkfreeplastic.
Please RSVP at the link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-story-of-plastic-tickets-108142998620
You will be invited to a screening of “The Story of Plastics" and a panel and Q&A discussion on Zoom after the last screening on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 7:00 pm central time.
Screenings will become available 48-72 hours before the panel discussion when you will receive an email with two links: one to access “The Story of Plastics" screening, and one to access the Zoom panel discussion, which will be held after the last screening. We will send both links to the email you used to respond to the RSVP.'
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Friday, December 14, 2018
Reuse Artist +Brauer Featured in Waste360
The article explains: 'According to the artist's site, +Brauer carefully chooses vintage objects that have an industrial past, that are marked by time and whose patina have been molded by years of manual use. He admires the beauty, sometimes hidden, of these discarded industrial parts, alters their appearance, sculpts them and incorporates light sources into their structure before assembling the parts together to create a unique and poetic piece. The site also notes that right from conception, the element of light is an integral part of the artwork: each robot is designed to interact with its environment in a different way whether it is turned on or off. 'Each piece is a statement of poetic resistance to mass consumption,' according to +Brauer. With his Plastic Icon series, the artist turns to plastic, a material threatening the planet. Every second, plastic is dumped in the oceans, more than 100,000 marine mammals die every year and if the world goes on like this, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050, explains +Brauer.'
Check out the Waste360 article for a slideshow of some of +Brauer's work, including some awesome robots and mosaics made from found plastic objects. Learn more on the artist's web site. The "Books" section of the site, listing books in which the artist's work is featured, has just added to my already too-long Amazon wish list and Goodreads "Want to Read" lists. You can also follow +Brauer on Facebook, as I've just done. I look forward to lots of adorable upcycled robots in my news feed!
From the Plastic Icon series by +Brauer. |
This one's called Tom. Image from +Brauer's web site. |
Friday, November 16, 2018
Need a Winter Coat? Consider Refurbished Clothing from Patagonia or the North Face
Luckily my kids, who are super tall and still growing, have not outgrown their winter coats from last year, so I haven't had to go coat shopping recently. But if you or members of your family are in the market for a "new" coat or other outdoor gear, and don't have any luck finding the right size at your local thrift shop, you might consider buying a refurbished item.
Working on sustainable electronics related projects for my day job over the past several years, I'm used to explaining the term "refurbished" as it relates to electronics. Refurbished electronics, such as my own refurbished laptop, are typically items that have been returned for some reason to a manufacturer or vendor. They may not have been used and are therefore essentially new, or the may have had some defect. Not all refurbished items are returned by customers; sometimes they're items that simply weren't sold, or no longer being pushed to vendors because a new product has been released. Sometimes they are functional items or those with minor performance issues that have been collected via a recycling program by an IT asset management firm. Whatever the case, they are repaired if necessary, and tested for proper functionality to meet original factory specifications before they are resold. That's what sets a refurbished electronic device apart from something is simply used. There's a quality control factor that gives you more peace of mind that you could hope for by shopping for a cheap device on eBay or Craigslist. Because refurbished items are not new--even if they never were actually used by a consumer--they cannot be sold as new despite being assured of functioning like a brand new item. Thus, they tend to be sold a discounts. I'm always advising people to check for refurbished options when they need to buy a device because it saves money and keeps products in service for longer, thus saving the resources invested in manufacturing.
Similarly, refurbished clothing is that which has been collected and repaired so it meets the standards of new items. Patagonia has long offered a clothing repair service to its customers, as well as repair and care guides on its web site. In April 2017, they launched a take back service, providing store credit in exchange for unwanted Patagonia clothing turned in at their retail locations. Items that can be repaired are, and those items are resold through the company's Worn Wear line at discounted prices. Note that the Worn Wear line includes all sorts of clothing, not just coats and other outerwear.
In the summer of 2018, The North Face followed suit and launched its The North Face Renewed product line, comprised of refurbished clothing from returns or defects. Again, discounted prices are a bonus for doing your part to extend product life cycles.
Considering the fact that 85% of textiles end up in landfills, any program that facilitates the repair and reuse of clothing is a great idea in my book. As you shop for holiday gifts or in general seek to keep yourself and loved ones warm this winter, shopping for refurbished clothes can be a great idea for your pocketbook too.