• Created on 11/16/08 by Amanda Goldman

1.  Green your greeting cards.  Nearly 7.5 billion greeting cards are sold in this country every year, and most of them wind up in a landfill.  If you have greeting cards left over from last year, reuse them!  You can either use the front of the card as a stand alone "greeting postcard" or you can always take a piece of construction paper, paste it over the part that's been written on, and there you go!  A fresh new card awaits.  Other options include using tree-free paper greetings or recycled paper greetings.  And yet another option is to use something like... read more

• Created on 10/15/08 by teej

http://www.swaptree.com/ A freecycle of sorts for media (books, cds, movies ect...)   A totally free service (except postage remember though it's cheaper then normal postage cause it's media postage) where you can list your old media and swap it for new (to you) media.   here's from their http://www.swaptree.com/WebFrmHowDoesThisWork.aspx   how does this work?          Is it really... read more

• Created on 7/25/08 by bambeco

this is my most recent list of green freebies, coupons and other budget friendly sources. feel free to add your own!   __________________________________________________________   Green Mama on a Budget A blog about being a financially responsible, crunchy, stay at home mom on a very tight budget (less than 25k a year) With a break down our budget and tips to save $$$. While we purchase and pay off our first house and live as green as possible!   This is not targeted just at moms, it's written so most anyone can benefit., it's just titled that was... read more

• Created on 7/18/08 by stins

I dedicate this wiki to another stocking that has bit the dust.   Many women have felt the frustration of being all dressed up when disaster strikes -- a run in your nylons. Maybe it's small and in an inconspicuous spot, and can be salvaged with clear nail polish. But if the run is beyond hope, here are some great alternative uses for your damaged stockings.   Nylons can:   Tie up things, like plants that need to be staked. Filter old paint from one can into a new can.  Just stretch the nylon across the top of the new can and pour the old paint through it. It... read more

• Created on 6/23/08 by stins

There are over 10,000 different kinds of plastic throughout the world, but only 5% of that plastic is recycled. The plastic that isn’t recycled is then thrown into our overcrowded landfills, where it can take up to 700 years to decompose and break down.   So besides giving your plastic to a recycling center or to a company like TerraCycle, you can prevent land pollution by reusing your bottles in creative and fun ways.   I Bet You Never Thought of…   There are literally hundreds of different ways you can reuse a plastic soda bottle. Just remember to thoroughly wash the... read more

• Created on 5/8/08 by teej

Did you know that the average American consumes about 3 cups of coffee a day? That’s a lot of used coffee grinds going into the trash.   There are actually many ways you can recycle and reuse your old coffee grinds to help preserve the environment and maintain your health.  And for other ways to green your caffeine, check out the wiki all about having an eco-cup o' joe or maybe even look into drinking organic coffee!   A Cup of Joe Goes a Long Way   You’d be surprised at just how many different methods have worked for people:   Touch up furniture and... read more

• Created on 4/9/08 by stins

What is a Life Cycle Assessment? A life cycle assessment (also known as life cycle analysis, life cycle inventory, ecobalance, cradle-to-grave-analysis, well-to-wheel analysis, and dust-to-dust energy cost) is the assessment of the environmental impact of a given product or service throughout its lifespan.   The goal of LCA is to compare the environmental performance of products and services, to be able to choose the least burdensome one. The term 'life cycle' refers to the notion that a fair, holistic assessment requires the assessment of raw material production,... read more

• Created on 4/9/08 by alanwells

Designing for Disassembly "What's the best future we can imagine for our disused stuff? We can design things to be disassembled, but the ultimate strategy would use excellent materials, easy to recover - and ward the landfill off in perpetuity. The goal is the closed loop, in which objects are continuously remade, spiraling upward in quality and harmlessness. This is the trash of the finest ingredients, reflecting the fact that things can't last forever, and that fashions, in fact, change frequently... Making things easy to take apart also makes them easy to repair."... read more

• Created on 4/9/08 by alanwells

Design for reuse and a second life   Museum exhibitions are usually one-shot deals, with components custom designed and fabricated for use in only one exhibition. Few designers consider what will happen to the components when that exhibition has run its course. For example, what happens to traveling exhibitions, which often are designed and built for a three- to six-year life, when they complete their tour? Sometimes, museums will take them as semi-permanent exhibitions. Sometimes no one wants them. And what happens to their crates? They, too, are usually custom built.... read more

• Created on 4/9/08 by alanwells

Closing the Loop "Products can be designed so that their individual components are easily retrieved at the end of their life; this can be instrumental in facilitating recycling and reuse of materials. Designing for the reuse of materials is one way of reducing the amount of material destined for landfill.   "In exhibition design waste can be greatly reduced if an exhibition is designed for disassembly. To do so successfully designers must consider disassembly from the conception stage. They should determine who will be responsible for dismantling the exhibit and... read more