Reuse

What do you do with items that are in good condition but are not needed any more? You could have a yard sale, throw them away, or try to recycle them, but Throwplace.com offers another alternative that both benefits the environment and people in need.

In 1999, Throwplace.com was developed by Lomangino as an internet site of exchange. The process is easy, fast, and simple. Charities, businesses, and individual people can all contribute. Anyone can list online possessions they are willing to give away. Then, interested people can take what they like for free.

This ingenious creation not only keeps many items out of our already overflowing landfills, but also keeps things out of recycling facilities. Recycling of course is good, but it is even better to reuse than the recycle. Remember, the order of preference is reduce, reuse, and recycle, in terms of the energy required for each process.

There are four sections to Throwplace: U.S. Charity, International Charity, Business/Individual, and Up-For-Grabs. Where you place your items depends on who you want the receiver to be, an official charity or anyone at all.

Some items that have turned up on the site include computers, furniture, and appliances. Other items I have noticed upon browsing include a shower caddy, women's attire, and a fax machine. Also, viewers are able to make requests for potential items, so donors have an idea of what is needed. Email addresses are exchanged so that the two parties can make shipping arrangements directly.

Throwplace has created a wonderful site that connects givers with receivers through the world wide web, where items are exchanged rather than tossed away. Visit their website, www.throwplace.com, to register for free.

For his Senior Project, Terrell Carter decided to study the environmental impacts of the pulp and paper industry, present some solutions to these impacts, and work to change his school’s purchasing habits and to increase paper consciousness. Carter succeeded in his goal of “Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling”: Lopez School faculty and students now give more thought to their paper consumption (for example, they print double-sided), reuse paper, and buy recycled paper.

Carter chose to focus on the paper problem because the American pulp and paper industry is among the most resource-intensive and highly polluting of all manufacturing industries. Moreover, most Americans don’t realize how much they damage the environment through paper usage: the paper industry is one of the largest consumers of raw materials, especially of water and wood. Throughout the production, bleaching, transportation, and decomposition phases, the paper industry emits greenhouse gases, degrades and destroys forests, lessens biodiversity, releases dangerous toxins as a result of fertilizers, and pollutes water and air.

Carter believed that something had to be done: people had to start to be more conscious about paper usage. He researched various kinds of recycled paper, possible suppliers, and what it would cost the school to switch to recycled paper. Then, he presented to the Board, the Budget Committee, and the faculty on his findings and his eco-friendly goals. In August 2007, the school first began purchasing 40% post-consumer waste recycled paper, which is processed chlorine-free, FSC certified, and made with 100% renewable energy. Soon after, the school purchased 100% recycled paper, and even went on to purchase 100% recycled paper towels and 20% recycled toilet paper.

Carter embodies Conscious Lifestyle’s ideas about individual and institutional social responsibility, and as a result of his efforts, Lopez School and its inhabitants are living a much more “conscious lifestyle.” If you would like to learn more about Carter’s project, please read his paper here (in this paper, he cites State of the Paper Industry and a paper calculator).

If Carter’s story has inspired you, and you have a project that increases individuals’ and schools’ social responsibility, consider applying to be a Conscious Lifestyle venture today! Or, if you want to support Conscious Lifestyle but not be a venture, you can support Conscious Lifestyle by using Good Search: every time you enter a search, Conscious Lifestyle gets funding!

Making art out of junk mail? It may sound like a strange premise, but Sandy Schimmel of Schimmel Art does just that. With her collection of portraits constructed from materials like newspaper ads, greeting cards, and even junk mail, Schimmel turns trash into treasure.

Just looking at her cutting edge artworks, it’s hard to believe that such beauty came from everyday objects.

“I am a rabid recycler,” She admits in the artist’s statement on her site. “I’m compelled to utilize unusual resources to create my art.”

Schimmel’s creativity, talent, and passion for both art and recycling are what has lead her to become such a fabulous artist. There is something almost “Warhol-esque” about the bright colors and mosaic pop-culture edge she uses in each portrait, a trait that draws the eye and hooks the soul.

The subjects of Schimmel’s vivid artworks range from celebrities like Elvis and John Lennon, to your everyday average Joe. For a fee and a photo, she will make your likeness into a stunning mosaic portrait, and if you buy art as part of an organization, Schimmel will make a 30% non-profit donation on behalf of your mission.

“I take fascinating and colorful expeditions down rabbit holes. My art reflects the conclusion of these voyages utilizing an ability to see images in tiny bits, in a color scheme that may only exist in my mind. The how, the process, is not important - the finished creation is the sum of the parts and the end of the journey. Now, it is up to you to enjoy.”

And enjoy you must. Find out more about the motivation behind Schimmel’s work here. It might even inspire you to create some “junk-art” of your own.