CasaSugar

Casa Quickie: Live Simply

CasaSugar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:00:50 -0700

Dave Bruno is a dude who gave himself a huge personal challenge when he penned the 100 Thing Challenge, which limits him to owning only 100 personal effects by November 12, 2008, and live with only 100 personal things from that date for one full year. Although there are some exceptions, such as his prized collection of Marklin Trains and memorabilia, the challenge is a noble attempt to develop consumer discipline. Some might argue that restraining from frivolous spending is a threat to our economy, but what it does do is tame that environmentally un-friendly beast called waste. Living simply, with only true necessities, is the most eco chic thing a person can do.
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Casa Verde: Waste Management, One Man's Trash

CasaSugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:00:22 -0700

Justin Gignac, a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, picks up trash off of the streets of New York City. But, you won't find him in a sanitation department uniform. He actually fills bags with subway passes, Broadway tickets, coffee cups, phone book pages, and other NYC junk and carefully arranges them in plastic cubes, which are then signed, numbered, and dated in slick Helvetica typeface and sells them for 50 smackers — "making them perfect for anyone who wants their own piece of the NYC landscape," he says. Gignac has sold over 1,000 of his trash cubes, each unique, leak-free, and smell-free. The initiative to repurpose trash spawned from a conversation with a colleague who said package design wasn't important; "I figured the only way to prove them wrong would be to try to package something that absolutely nobody in their right mind would ever want to buy," he rebutted. A fresh way to look at recycling . . . or exporting: his cubes can now be found in 41 states and 91 countries.
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Found It! Modern Waste Bin

CasaSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:00:27 -0700

The restrained look of this bathroom ensures that the few featured elements really pop, including the baby blue subway tile floor and the crumpled modern waste bin beneath the sink. Want to know where to track down the waste bin? Find out when you read more.

It's the Bin Bin Wastebasket ($54). Featured in the New York Times, the wastebasket was designed by John Brauer for Essey of Denmark. Constructed of hard polyethylene, it's shaped to resemble a piece of crumpled paper and is available in black, bright red, brown, or white.

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Casa Link: Vintage Hazardous Waste

CasaSugar — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:15:08 -0800

Danny Seo uncovered some vintage hazardous waste in the basement and crawlspace of his new home. While the packages are pretty cool looking, Danny reminds readers that hazardous waste can't be tossed with regular garbage. Read the whole post to find out what else he has to say about getting rid of paints, paint thinners, and other toxic substances.

Casa Verde(?): Fabriano

CasaSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:00:35 -0700

Italian designers Riccardo Nannini, Domenico Orefice, and Emanuele Pizzolorusso created Fabriano, a waste basket made entirely out of recycled paper. The muffin-cup-shaped basket consists of 50 pleated-paper disposable bags nesting inside one another. Each can be extracted and used as trash bags themselves when the bin is full, leaving the layer below ready to collect more paper/trash. My first thought was that this is an eco-friendly alternative to plastic trash bags. But on second thought, I realized that it's a waste paper basket meant for paper, which would eventually be tossed in a recycling bin. So, it seems that the basket wastes more paper than necessary. But in the long run, a recycled paper bag, which can be recycled again, is more eco-friendly than, say, a standard waste basket, which would likely end up in a landfill when it's no longer needed. What do you think? Is this product eco-friendly?
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How-To: Safely Dispose of Prescription Meds

CasaSugar — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:00:00 -0800

No matter how diligent I am about trying to keep my bathroom shelves clutter-free, they still seem to eventually get overrun by prescription medications that have a pill or two left in the bottom of the bottle. It's definitely a no-no to keep prescription medications sitting around your home, especially if they're past their expiration date.

To find out the right and wrong ways to rid your home of this potentially dangerous clutter, check out my tips when you read more.

Take all out-of-date prescription meds off your shelves, but not so fast - if you’re considering tossing them down your drain, think again. Medications such as Zoloft have been found in lakes and rivers and are inhibiting algae growth and aquatic health. Trace amounts of antibiotics and estrogen are also showing up in your drinking water. To prevent further contamination, don't flush your medication down the sink or toilet.
Ask your pharmacist if he or she can take back medications. Some pharmacies, such as Elephant Pharmacy and Kaiser Permanente, are taking back medications.
Call your city or state to ask about drug disposal programs, such as this one in Maine..
If you must put your medications in the trash, keep them in their original childproof and watertight containers. Leave the label on, but scratch out your name, your doctor’s name, and your address to protect your privacy. Add some water or vinegar to pills to render them useless. For liquids, add some flour or kitty litter. You can conceal the bottles by tying them up in plastic bags before throwing them out.
The bottom line is that there's no perfect way to dispose of prescription medications. The EPA is currently working on a more comprehensive drug recycling program, but for now, try to keep your meds out of the water and waste stream, and organize on the local, city, or state level to demand a better solution.

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Cool Idea: Lighten Up Dark Furniture Without Paint

CasaSugar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:45:28 -0700

Recently, I've been really impressed by More Ways to Waste Time's inspiring dining room re-vamp. There was one seemingly small change to an heirloom piece of furniture that really caught my attention. Since the oak sideboard in the living room is a family heirloom, she couldn't paint it, but she did want to make the sideboard feel less imposing.

How did she lighten the sideboard? First, she covered the back of the shelves with Orla Kiely's Blossom wallpaper (which she taped to the sideboard, to avoid damage). Then with a collection of light-colored ceramics and light prints, she nicely updates and modernizes this antique piece.

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Cool Idea: Tubelor Trashcan

CasaSugar — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:00:08 -0700

If my Crave Worthy posts aren't evidence enough, it's not hard to find beautiful home furnishings. But, good design with an unprecedented function that's also aesthetically pleasing isn't exactly at every street corner. The Ideaco Design Tubelor Trashcan ($41) does fall into this category, though. The modern, candy-colored cans conceal ugly trash bags in their inner waste basket by covering them with a pretty tube — like a hat on a bad hair day. It's no wonder the design won the iF Product Design Award (Germany) for 2008; they're not only handsome but functional. I know the sight of trash bags in a trash can isn't the most severe eyesore, but aren't you glad that that boo-boo has been healed?

DIY: How to Make Silhouette Portraits

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:00:36 -0800

Want to capture a pet, friend, child, or even flower or plant in a silhouette portrait? Then check out this silhouette portrait tutorial I found on More Ways to Waste Time.

Here's What You Need

Digital camera.
Computer with PhotoShop (or one you can borrow from a friend).
Frame.
Subject to photograph.

To find out how to make your portrait, just read more

Using a digital camera, photograph your subject from the side. Shooting against a white wall or a white poster board will make it easier to digitally remove the background during the next step.
Open the picture in Photoshop. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the background for removal. Once clicked, the background will be outlined and highlighted. Go to "edit" and click "cut." The background will disappear.
Now go to "image" and click "adjustments." Select "desaturate" to remove all color.
In "adjustments," select "brightness/contrast." Then lower the brightness and increase the contrast until your image becomes a silhouette.
If the image isn't completely silhouetted, use the Paintbucket tool (with black as the color selection) to fill in as needed, placing the cursor dead center and clicking until your desired effect is achieved.
Using the Image tool, select "image size" to set your desired dimensions.
Save your silhouette as a JPEG file.
Burn the file to a CD, take it to a copy shop, and print it on paper or card stock.
Trim the edges and frame.
Enjoy your new creation!

For the complete directions, go to More Ways To Waste Time.
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This Just In: Vipp and Helena Christensen Team Up For Charity

CasaSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:30:37 -0700

Danish design company VIPP and supermodel Helena Christensen have teamed up to hold a charity auction of Vipp pedal bins that have been given a fashionable makeover by fashion, design, art, and entertainment leaders. The bins have been made over by the likes of Bono, Michael Stipe, Mario Batali, Michael Bastian, Simon Doonan, Frederic Fekkai, Karim Rashid, Jason Miller, Todd Oldham, Alice Temperley, Mena Suvari, and more, and will be sold in a silent auction benefiting the Food Bank For New York City and Chernobyl Children’s Project International. An installation of the bins will be on display for public viewing and pre-bidding at The Conran Shop in New York through Thursday, Sept. 18, when an evening auction event will be held at the Winston Wächter Fine Art Gallery. Bidding for the bins begins at either $500 or $750, and you can learn more details by calling a bidding specialist at The Conran Shop at (866) 755-9079. To see more of the designs, read more.

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