Paper or Plastic? It's not about the recycling.

I read Paper or Plastic, by Daniel Imhoff, very quickly, at the request of our thrift store manager who wants the staff to have a chance at it too.

The book is almost fifteen years old, and it's showing its age somewhat but still worth looking at. It's one of a series of three books, and this one is, very specifically, about the issue of packaging, large and small, including shipping packaging such as pallets. What is our burgeoning need for packaging stealing from the earth, and how in the world will we put it back? It reminded me of a rude meme misquoting The Lorax: "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees; litter again, and I'll break your (expletive) knees." But is anger all we can offer?

The message that came across from the book was not so much about the ins and outs of whether paper or plastic packaging can be recycled better, but the huge amount of resources they both demand in the first place. These days everybody knows that plastic is bad bad bad; but the truth is that paper (and wood and cardboard) hurts too. The Lorax speaking for the trees has more to worry about than litter; and that's just the packaging, we're not even talking about products. Imhoff does point out how much primary packaging relates to the thing inside it, or the amount of product demanded in one package. If people didn't think they required cup-sized amounts of yogurt, for example, then the recyclability of small plastic yogurt cups wouldn't be an issue. Or you can look at the problem more as the sheer amount of stuff that gets made and needs packaging. A thousand pairs of shoes need a thousand sets of boxes or wraps or hang-tags. If everyone bought fewer shoes in the first place, there would (obviously) be fewer trimmings to dispose of.

But how can we fight back against over-packaging caused by over-production? First and most obviously, to make do, or make do longer, with the thing we have instead of buying something else.  Intentional contentment will save us from a certain amount of Loraxian knee-breaking.

Beyond that? Thrift stores (yes, I made the connection). Yard sales, rummage sales, buying used goods locally through online ads. Swapping and borrowing. Upcycling stuff. You get double points for anything that is both pre-used and that doesn't come in a box or bag you can't easily re-use (compostable is okay).

More ways to avoid packaging, and maybe save money too: growing food. Making things at home that otherwise come in a package, like cookies or yogurt, as long as the ingredients don't produce even more packages. Buying things in person from local makers. Shopping at bulk stores and produce markets that let you re-use containers. Buying big sacks of things if it works for you. (We used to buy oatmeal and beans that way, through a buying co-op).

And yes, buying less overall. Sharing things among more people. Renting things you'll need only briefly. Having gift-free parties and swag-free meetings. In some ways, that could be more important than worrying about whether it's paper or plastic. Because our houses and apartments and storage units and closets and backpacks are packaging too.

Save some packaging. Save some trees. Save some knees.

Hey, we could use that. (Out-of-the-box thrifting)

Amy Dacyczyn once wrote a Tightwad Gazette story about a woman having a yard sale, who mentioned to someone else that she needed to buy a dropcloth for painting. They both suddenly noticed the shower curtain that she had put out for sale, and had a frugal a-ha moment.

People say that they never find anything useful at yard sales or thrift shops, and sometimes that's true. But other times it's the perceived use of something that gets in the way. Look twice, and you might see another function for a discarded object. And at thrift store prices, you can usually afford to buy a whole unit or set of something, just for a part or piece. I'm not talking about complicated projects, like turning baby cribs into garden benches, or adult pants into toddler clothes (I have done that one!); these are just some easy second-look ideas.

1. "I never wear dresses": Thrift stores get lots of dresses. Many of them are unlovely. But, as many Youtube videos prove, ugly dresses can be re-thought, re-purposed. On the simple sewing or no-sewing side, you could consider cutting dresses into tops or tunics, or using parts of them as camisoles and slips under other clothes. I have an extra-long cotton tank top that makes a perfect slip for sweater dresses. Thin skirts could also work as half-slips (thank you, Common Room blog).

2. "I never wear scarves": But scarves come in all shapes, sizes, and fabrics. Think of table throws and runners; reusable giftwrap; basket liners; ponchos/wraps/capes/shrugs/kimonos/sarongs (sewn up or temporary). Some people even hang large scarves over small windows.

3. "Plaid skirts are not my style": Verena Erin at My Green Closet made a no-sew blanket scarf from a plaid skirt she wasn't wearing. (Video link)

4. A few years ago, I bought a zippered 8 1/2 x 5 inch Dayrunner notebook at a rummage sale. I got bored with the plain black cover, so I sewed a non-zipping fabric cover. Recently I was thinking of using a zippered cover again so that the loose pages and small things wouldn't fall out, but the black cover had disappeared in our downsizing. I often see whole hardly-used planners at thrift stores, but there haven't been any lately. Besides, I didn't really need a whole new notebook, just a cover, but who makes those? Brainwave: I went to a bookstore that sells zippered Bible covers, and bought one in a colour I do like. Here's the frugal connection: you might find a planner notebook at a rummage sale or a thrift store. You might find a Bible cover for your Bible. Or you might find a Bible cover, think "that doesn't fit my Bible" or "my Bible doesn't need a cover," but not think about using it to cover another book or notebook, or even an electronic device.

Or maybe you'll find a Dayrunner cover that got lost in a downsize.

5. "I don't have young children. Why would I look at toys?": Think about what might get funnelled into the toy corner of a thrift store. I don't mean a Woody cowboy with original hand-stitched hat, although such things do happen. Think about holiday decor (including little things that could be used as or incorporated into tree ornaments); props for older-student lessons (languages? math?); or toy kitchen implements that might be used for your own real cooking (mini rolling pins, cookie cutters, small spoons).  There's a guinea pig website that mentions recycling plastic toys, such as a treehouse, for the critters' enjoyment.

The Apprentice has been known to shop the toy aisle as a source of joke gifts. On Mr. Fixit's last birthday, she gave him a kids' Star Wars jigsaw puzzle, and we had a contest to see who could put it together the fastest.

6. "I would never use those extra serving spoons." Do you ever get takeout Chinese food? There you go.

Your ideas?

Zero Waste Home (Book Review)

Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life By Reducing Your Waste, by Bea Johnson. 2013, Simon & Schuster.

I recently watched Bea Johnson on a Youtube TedTalk about the ZeroWaste lifestyle. When she evangelizes about reducing waste, people listen. She seems to have earned a certain amount of "street cred" by her testimony of a sinful (i.e. overspending and overtrashing) past, and by the fact that she practices her gospel of glass-not-plastic while raising two teenagers (in California). Besides, she's an attractive woman with an easygoing speaking style. If viewers were expecting a hellfire and damnation sermon about plastic straws, it wasn't going to happen.

I borrowed Zero Waste Home from the library, mostly because of our impending garbage collection restrictions, and also because we've been making an extra effort to streamline our possessions. I figured out two things quickly: first, this is (like listening to Bea Johnson speak) an enjoyable, chatty, practical book. Second, in spite of the fact that I like the book and got a few ideas for things we might try here, or products we might look for, I will not be a Zero Waster any time soon, if ever. There are just too many things I would have to say no to, and some of them are very good things, even if they do come in non-compostable packaging. When we were at the very busy Euro-Foods store this morning, I wondered how the meat and cheese counter people (and the already-antsy customers) would react to someone slowing things down even more by bringing in glass jars. Along with meat (wrapped in butcher paper) and three prepared cabbage rolls (which they put into a foam clamshell), we bought frozen perogies (in a plastic wrapper), tea (in cardboard boxes), chocolate (in wrappers), a glass jar of sauerkraut, doughnuts and rolls (which we put into plastic bags), and some cheese (which came in foil-wrapped triangles inside a round cardboard box, you know the kind). So we brought home just as much packaging garbage as we would have from buying supermarket foods; but at the same time we were supporting a locally-run store with its own bakery, meat processing, and cabbage-roll-wrapping facilities; plus the small company that made the perogies and so on. In a Zero Waste lifestyle, I guess we could take in jars and ask for the cabbage rolls and pork loin to be put in those; we could make our own sauerkraut; we could choose a different kind of cheese that doesn't come in extra packaging. And we probably wouldn't be buying the Polish chocolate bars, or the perogies. Again, all this comes out of the choices we make every day, and Bea Johnson makes a very good point about it: those choices are based on the ideas that are the most important to us. If we are convinced that every bit of paper and plastic and styrofoam should be rejected for the sake of the planet and/or for our health and/or for our peace of mind, then saying "no" is a no-brainer, and it's totally worth giving up boxed tea and perogies in a plastic wrapper. I'm just not sure that that's the best goal for our family, right now.

I found her take on clothing interesting, and somewhat surprising. She has little interest in promoting the purchase of new sustainably-made clothing, preferring to shop what's already been produced, at thrift stores or by swapping clothes with friends. She gives a sample list of the contents of her own closet, which comes out to around the same amount of clothes as a Project 333 wardrobe. But when she describes being able to sweep all her clothes into one bag and leave the closet bare for visiting renters (and having all the members of her family do the same), I realize that that level of proficiency in Tiny-Wardrobe-ness, like the problem of boxed groceries, is probably not where I need to be aiming right now. I also don't see myself using cocoa or cornstarch as makeup anytime soon. Or making my own glue.

However, I am not dissing everything that the Johnsons do, by any means. While I don't agree with some of her thoughts on population planning, or the small value she puts on owning books, I am in total agreement about the need for children to have more time outdoors, less time plugged in, and fewer but better toys. When it comes to the bigger picture of trying to live responsibly and safely, I think they have a lot of the right ideas. The question then comes down to how we implement those ideas, and how far we take them before they run smack into other (also valuable) values.

Final take from a still not quite converted reader? Worthwhile picking up in any case for the generous amount of practical homekeeping help (even a few recipes). You might also want to check out the Zero Waste blog.

Is anti-materialism garbage? And other questions.

If there's anything in the less-is-more, few possessions and no-garbage movement that makes you slightly itchy, you're not alone. Although you may feel slightly guilty about that reaction; after all, it was Christians who popularized the phrase More-With-Less. The Scriptures have plenty to say about how messed up the rich man is, and why we shouldn't love "the world," however you define it. But that can get us into guilty legalism, or a Nathaniel-Hawthorne-esque picture of solemn, black-garbed lives. Or, in this decade, we're more likely to think of stark white, minimally-furnished rooms. Whether the concern is for our souls or for the planet, we seem to end up in the same place. Possessions are troublesome. Clothes are only for warmth and modesty. Brownies should be made out of black beans to justify their existence.

There is nothing new about the argument for and against things that give us pleasure. I think even St. Paul ran into it with his churches (e.g. his letter to Timothy, referring to people who tried to ban too many things). Yes, the days are evil, and we are to mortify the flesh, etc. On the other hand, every good and perfect gift is from the Father, and it is not sinful to enjoy and be thankful for the useful and/or the beautiful. In certain situations, you might find yourself grateful for the invention of disposable diapers or plastic water bottles. Or, equally, for the life of an artist whose work gives you joy. Or for a bunch of flowers on a difficult day.

It is a good thing, I think, for the extreme minimalists to ask big, uncomfortable questions, and for the rest of us to consider the answers they come up with. Is more recycling what's really needed, for instance, or just less produced and bought to recycle? What happens (asked one person) when the recyclables are recycled into something non-recyclable? In our own region, I hope that the current push to blue-box and green-bin more of our waste will be met at the other end by something other than chucking it in the landfill. But how do you really know where anything goes? Did my thrift-donated sweater clothe someone locally, or did it get bundled overseas to be donated or resold? Is a disposed-of laptop now getting picked apart by someone struggling for food in China? Is one endpoint better than another?

Is it a worthwhile pursuit to bring home cheese in a glass jar instead of a plastic package, for the sake of less garbage? Or, equally, for someone else to then post diatribes about the wastefulness of animal products, even in a glass jar? St. Paul knew about this, and so did Jesus when he talked about tithing herbs and straining out gnats. Are we creating the big picture, or are we missing it? Is it better to special-order a refillable pen and bottle of ink, or to simply buy what's on the Walmart shelf and not waste time worrying about it? Are the socks I bought hurting somebody in an Asian factory? Should I have spent the extra effort tracking down some that claim to be all-natural, fair-trade, or both? Or could I have used that same energy and time listening, reading, walking, helping?

Does God mind if we go out after church for a burger and fries?

Are there one-size answers to these questions, or are they all maybe yes, maybe no? If you have any thoughts, I'd like to hear them.

The most helpful set of cleaning tips I've seen lately

A blog post about getting the thrift store smell out of things, but it's better than that. How to use saddle soap and shoe polish on leather, remove yellowing, and use suede erasers (did you know they existed?) Extending the life of things is always a good idea.

Fashion Revolution Week (something to watch)

Fashion Revolution home page

We never used to ask. Clothes were clothes, stores were stores, fabric was fabric. You bought what you needed, full price or on sale. Usually the stuff held up for awhile. Occasionally you were disappointed.

Things changed. We became more aware. Some of us, for other reasons such as economy, have been doing the now-trendy used clothing thing all along.

But what really surprised me was not more information about working conditions or who makes the clothes. We've heard the same stories about bananas, chocolate, coffee beans, sugar: the big companies, the workers, the question of giving people employment even if it's not great employment. Even as we stir sugar into our coffee or peel a banana, we know all that. We may not know quite what to do with it, but we do know.

The surprise, for me, was the reported amount of clothing dumped in landfills. Clothes in the garbage? Um, well, I do toss spent socks and underthings (most of what gets tossed wouldn't even make cute little toys). But almost anything else that we can't use in some way ourselves gets donated, because I know that even ratty t-shirts can be made into rags and other recycled stuff, if they're given to a place (like our MCC store) that has the volunteer base to sort them out. That, like buying things used, has never been so much a commitment as just a habit, what we do. Who puts that many clothes in the garbage?

Well, according to the video The Life of Used Clothing, an awful lot of people. Which makes me think that the clothes dumpers must be buying an awful lot more clothing, new or used, than I do, or people I know do; if the scenario of buy it, wear it briefly, trash it is so widespread.

And the reason I'm sharing that video link is that, unlike some of the shame documentaries, it offers a positive message. Strangely enough, we can make a good thing out of North American nutty buying habits: donated clothing can be sent overseas and used to start used-clothing microbusinesses in other countries. Somebody buys a bale of clothing, sets up shop in a marketplace or even a mall, and makes some money out of it. There are also businesses that buy up unsalable clothing and turn it into stuffing material and that sort of thing, again providing employment.

That doesn't change the issues of over-advertising, overbuying, or substandard factory production. But it does shed a new light on the power of donating instead of dumping.

Sometimes I make stuff...out of other stuff (free tablet cover)

About five autumns ago, I went to a rummage sale and bought some blue-striped fabric. (It's under the red candles in the photo.)

 I made it into a recipe binder cover.

 But after I had washed the cover a couple of times (recipe binders get floury), I had a feeling it was shrinking a bit.

And since the binder was wearing out and the cover was shrinking (I think), I decided to remake it into a tablet cover.

It only took a couple of seams to give it the shape of an envelope.

I didn't add any fastening, but I had a piece of white cord that had come off something else. I doubled it, tied a knot in one end, and it slips over the case.

That's all!

Thrift scrounging for fun and profit

Another load to the thrift store, another few minutes inside to scan the dollar racks. These photos look like I'm joining the priesthood or a choir, especially because the camera plays tricks with colours; but the cĺothes do look better in real life.

Grey tank (for a dollar) that started out as a long-sleeved top. The sleeves were too tight and one of them had a stain, so I snipped them off at the shoulder seams. (The seams were serged, so I didn't need to fix any raw edges.)

Purple handmade fake suede coat, half of a suit, marked down from $15 to $1 for the coat and skirt. It had large shoulder pads sewn in between the coat and the lining, but I took those out. I don't want to wear it as a suit, I just needed a coat. Somebody went to a lot of work sewing this, so I was happy to rescue it for a dollar. Or fifty cents, if you count the skirt (which I am probably going to turn into a tote bag).

Closeup of the coat

Purple top, also a dollar. I was looking for a blouse like this, so I was extra-happy to find one on the last-chance rack.

I splurged on this grey cotton vest: it was three dollars. Total for this trip: six dollars.

Nothing goes to waste

Ten Thousand Villages is promoting their Second Chances Pendant. You'll have to click on the link to find out why.

What's for supper? Making it better

Tonight's dinner menu:

Revamp of last night's beef, mushroom, potato "stoop" that wasn't very inspiring particularly as leftovers. I rinsed off most of the stodgy sauce and reheated the remainder with onion and pizza sauce, then melted cheese on top and we'll have it on noodles. Peas on the side.

Revamp of leftover raspberry pudding, plus frozen bits of pizza cake, plus the end of a jar of jam and enough water to moisten it all.

Spring Flower Afghan

My sister-in-law gave us two bags of yarn leftovers. In one of the bags were twenty granny squares with off-white borders, and the rest of the yarn she had bought for her project.

At first I thought I would just sew the squares into a pillow cover.  Then I looked at this afghan (photo below) that I made almost thirty years ago (scary thought), and wondered if I could use the new squares to make something similar, because there was quite a lot of the off-white yarn. I didn't have the original pattern anymore (it probably came from Crochet World), but it didn't look that hard to figure out. (The yarn is Patons Canadiana.)

So here are some photos of the new afghan as it progressed. I'll put the captions under each photo.

I sewed the squares into two strips and went around each strip once to make a small border. I made three plain strips, the center one a little wider than the others. The plain strips are rows of treble crochet alternating with rows of half-double crochet, with chain stitches between the other stitches. The original afghan is all one colour except for the flowers, but I wanted to use some of the extra coloured yarn. I had enough egg-yolk yellow to edge the side strips, and I added apricot-orange borders to the flower strips.

The middle panel got a teal blue border.

Borders done, panels sewn together.

Off-white and teal granny-square style edging around the whole thing.

Then a solid off-white border. All this is pretty much the same as the original, but it shows up better with the bright colours.

Another view.

Close-up of the corner.

Oh, I forgot to say: I gave the afghan to my sister-in-law.

Use Em Up Cookie Balls

I do love my food processor.

Chocolate Fig Post-Christmas Balls

Ingredients:

A few ugly figs (see Christmas Dinner), hard stems trimmed off
About a cupful of chocolate chips
One container of the edges and crumbles of Christmas no-bake squares, containing a variety of coconut, chocolate, nuts, and cookie crumbs; saved in the freezer for just such as this
Orange juice to moisten slightly

Run everything through the food processor until it forms a thick, slightly sticky mass. Form into balls and roll them in coconut or whatever you want--I used rolled oats run through the food processor (good way to clean out the sticky stuff).  Don't bake, just eat.

Crocheted Mitten Ornament

Today's Frugal Tree Ornament: I had just enough red yarn left to make one doll-sized mitten (from this pattern at Cobbler's Cabin). I put a little craft stuffing into it, ran a ribbon through the top, and scavenged two mini pinecones, greenery and tiny balls (on picks) from an old (thrifted) candle ring.

More holiday things

 Cocoa can cover number two (we used a lot of cocoa this year.)

I cross-stitched this little wreath last year (a kit I found at the thrift store, while we were still volunteering there).  I had made it into an ornament, but it really looked awful.  So this morning I picked that all apart, salvaged the embroidery, and turned it into a card. (The window cards came with another kit. Have to love thrift stores.)

A craft that's not a secret

What can you do with an empty cocoa can?

Crochet it a holiday jacket.

Yarn:Red Heart Super Saver.  Ribbon and squirrel pin from my "stash."

What to make with a white sheet, besides a Hallowe'en costume

White sheets are good for stuff besides putting on beds and Hallowe'en costumes.

We had a giant-sized vintage cotton percale treasure, that came with the house (along with a number of other things).

A year ago I used some of it to make a doll pinafore.

Then we used some big pieces of it to make doll chair slipcovers.

This week we finished the sheet off, more or less.  I made a ribbons-and-lace nightgown for Dollygirl's Samantha (the girliest-girl of her dolls), and then cut ten handkerchiefs out of what was left. (I told you it was a big sheet.)

I machine-hemmed some of the hankies for Mr. Fixit, and Dollygirl is going to finish off the rest with different-coloured thread so that she has some of her own.  There are a few little scraps left, so Dollygirl was thinking...dolly hankies?

Crissy Clothes: Sweet Sweet Suede**

We bought a fabric grab-bag at the thrift store, but most of it turned out to be half-sewn leather and suede scraps.  Maybe it was unwanted stuff from a  factory?

I used a piece of lightweight soft green stuff to make this shirt.  But I wasn't sure what to do with the rest. 

Then I saw a piece of purple suede in there that wasn't too heavy for dolls, and it just called out "Crissy."

The vest is vintage Simplicity Crissy pattern 8519.  The purse I put together from a scrap that was left.

I used the same pattern (8519) to make a suede jumper, but the first one turned out pretty short (even for Crissy, the mini-skirt girl).  OK, we'll just call it a tunic.  I was surprised, though, that the pattern was so skimpy--usually Crissy patterns are sized correctly. (Looking at the photos on the Crissy And Beth sewing page, though, I think it WAS meant to be very, very short.  And I do remember skirts at the time being very, very short.  But we like Crissy to be just a bit more covered.)

I tried again with a piece of cranberry-red suede, and cut it longer.  This one turned out knee-length.  Just for fun, I put the fuzzy side of it inside, and left the "back" side for the outside.  Both Dollygirl and I thought it looked better like that anyway.  Dollygirl thinks the jumper will look really good with Crissy's burgundy turtleneck.

Cost of outfits:
Pattern:  free download--cost of ink and paper, not much
Bag of suede scraps--$1, and we still have some left.
Thread and snaps--all on hand, didn't cost much
TOTAL for jumper, tunic, vest and purse:  maybe $2?

Seems like a "suede" deal to me.

 **That's a joke for Electric Company fans.  Doesn't Morgan Freeman's outfit look a bit like Crissy's purple stuff?

Linked from Hidden of Art of Homemaking linky (Chapter 5) at the Ordo Amoris blog.

Frugalities (doll sleeping bag) and what was for supper

1.  Supper menu: leftover-pork enchiladas, rice, spinach, carrot sticks.  Mixed fruit bowl: frozen blueberries, one sliced frozen banana, two sliced fresh bananas, one and a half chopped apples.  (One half had a mushy bruise, the other side was fine.)

2.  Reuse, recycle: one doll sleeping bag, made from a bandanna and a thrifted, much too small pink terry cloth skirt.  The whole thing took exactly half an hour from thought to finish.  I was just cleaning up the fabric and stuff from recent sewing projects, when I noticed that the skirt and the pink-and-turquoise bandanna looked pretty good beside each other.  I cut the skirt in half, cut off the waistband, and sewed the two halves back together to make one large flat piece (that would fit the bandanna); sewed it right-sides-together to the bandanna, leaving a gap; and turned it right side out, so all the seams were hidden inside.  Then I folded it in half, lining-side-out, and sewed across the bottom and most of the way up the side, to make the sleeping bag.  That's all-- turned it right side out again, inserted a doll (it happened to be Crissy), and gave it to Dollygirl.

Size Note:  if you're making a sleeping bag with a bandanna-sized piece of fabric (or a fat quarter, which would be about the same size), it should be big enough for an 18-inch doll, if you keep the seam allowances small, and leave enough of a slit near the top to get the doll in and out.  This one fits Crissy very well, but she's slimmer and just a notch shorter than the AG and Springfield dolls.

Frugal Doll Fashion Runway, Spring 2013

Crissy's print top and shorts:
Fabric, Wal-mart fat quarters
Pattern; shorts, Simplicity 9698; top, Simplicity 9138 (vintage Crissy pattern)

Jean vest:

Fabric, recycled fleece poncho and denim skirt
Vest pattern from Bunkhouse Books' Stitches & Pins: 

Pink fleece pants:
Fabric, recycled fleece poncho
Pattern: Stitches & Pins "pajama pants"

Green turtleneck and pants:
Fabric, recycled stretch-knit top (the sleeves became the pants legs)
Turtleneck pattern from Sew the Essential Wardrobe for 18-inch Dolls, by Joan Hinds and Jean Becker
Pants pattern: Stitches & Pins, "pajama pants"

Green v-neck top:
Fabric from a thrift-store grab bag
Pattern: Stitches & Pins "pajama top"

Plaid pants:  sewn from dollar-store men's boxer shorts!

African-print shirt, made for an 18-inch doll but recently trimmed down for Crissy:

Fabric from an outlet-store grab bag
Pattern: Stitches & Pins "pajama top"

Crissy's jean shorts:
Fabric, recycled denim skirt
Pattern: shorts from Simplicity 9698 (Crissy pattern), but made longer

Corduroy skirt and fleece-lined vest:
Fabric, recycled fleece poncho; corduroy from thrift-store grab bag
Skirt pattern: Stitches & Pins
Vest pattern: Stitches & Pins

All photos by Dollygirl.  Copyright 2013 Dewey's Treehouse.

Father-daughter project.