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Casa Verde: Eco DIY Ideas
Recently, I interviewed Tyler Velten, whose apartment had been featured in a New York Times article about designing on a student's budget. Tyler has a lot of cool, creative ideas for making eco changes on a budget. Check out some of his household experiments in the slideshow.
Midday Muse: Surf This Wave
I recently spotted this very cool sculpture, made from old record albums, on Make magazine's website. Titled "Sound Wave," artist Jean Shin melted and manipulated records to form this wave. I love the use of recycling in this sculpture, as well as the punny title.
Casa Verde: What Not to Recycle
In the past, I've given you the lowdown on which plastics can be recycled and told you 21 surprisingly recyclable things. But aside from the question of pizza boxes, I haven't gotten around to telling you what not to recycle. We all know that recycling is important, and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom even thinks those who fail to should be punished.
Casa Quickie: Recycling Paint Cans
If you've recently painted your house, or have plans to, don't throw those paint cans in the trash. Despite the drips and drabs of paint that may be left on the cans, they can still be recycled. According to Benjamin Moore:
Always check your local recycling regulations, but in general, once they are dried out, they are safe to recycle in your regular recycling.Eco-stylist extraordinaire Danny Seo recently painted his house and was left with "who-knows how-much paint from Benjamin Moore's Aura Exterior line," so he did some research to find out the regulations.
How-To: Repurposing Your Magazines
Since it's eco chic month, I can't tell you to avoid reading all of your favorite fab fashion magazines (or shelter magazines), but I will give you a few tips on what to do with your mags when you've finished. It's always nice to pass them along to friends, but if your friends aren't eco-conscious, it's likely they'll end up in a landfill. So, here are a few suggestions on what to do with your light reading when it starts to get heavy.
Casa Verde: Recycling Bins
You can't expect yourself to recycle if you don't designate a location for your used items. Your needs may vary depending on how many people you live with and what products you buy, so I thought I'd offer you several recycling bin options for home. Unless you have a city recycling program that lets you mix recyclables, you should be separating your recycling products (paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, etc.), so you might need a bin or basket for each type.
Casa Verde: Know Your Plastics
You may have noticed some numbers surrounded by chasing-arrow symbols on consumer packaging like water bottles, plastic bags, bottle caps, toys, etc. If you have, good! That's step one.
Casa Verde: Recycled Texas Houses
Yesterday I told you about some cool tiny Texas homes, and today I'm back with an amazing story about one Texas couple's vision to help anyone who wants to own a house to do so, with lots of hands-on work and about $20,000-$50,000. Phoenix Commotion was started in 1996 by Dan and Marsha Phillips, who mortgaged their house to start a business building affordable houses from free, salvaged, and recycled materials. The company caters their homes to the working poor, including single mothers, who need energy-efficient, affordable, comfortable homes.
Casa Quickie: Rinsing Out the Recycling
I always rinse out my cans and bottles before I toss them in the recycling bin, but according to Ideal Bite, it's unnecessary. In fact, you'll be saving water if you don't rinse out your recyclables. The Ideal Bite team advises that you scrape out any peanut butter stuck in the jar, but any scouring beyond that is both excessive and unneeded.
Crave Worthy: Woodnotes Newspaper Stand
Nearly everyone could use a little help beautifying her recycling area — I certainly know that mine needs some. That's why this Woodnotes Newspaper Stand ($150) is so perfect. Woodnotes, a Finnish design company, makes this great product out of kraft paper yarn.
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