Glass-A-bility

Now as this semester has almost come to an end, we all pretty much know everything can be recycled or reuse. All we have to do is find a way to do it. I think I have almost talk about recycling everything from clothes, to shoes and most of the products we use in a daily basis. As I was thinking other ways, one thing which came to my mind was my glasses. I love wearing my contact lens which are much more easier than glasses but still there are times, I need my glasses and sunglasses the most. The brand which comes to my mind when I think of glasses is Luxottica group which is one of the leading and largest company that license and manufactures many of the very well known brand like Chanel, Prada, Burberry,Versace and many more. As a part of their sustainability program, they have OneSight Eyewear Recycling. What it does is, when consumers recycle their old glasses, they distribute those to the developing countries.   So, our waste can help someone to see better. We don’t dispose glasses as much as we do with clothes as it is much more expensive but at the same time, we tend to go with latest fashion which dictates our buying habits. I am glad even though it is not completely recyclable like other things but still there is a way to recycle it by donating it which makes me feel better wearing glasses. So, next time you wanna get rid of your glasses donate it and buy another as a reward to yourself for practicing sustainability.

Sustainability. (2012). Luxottica. Retrieved from http://luxottica.com.au/all-about-us/sustainability/

Green Your Laundry

As I have enrolled in this sustainability class for this semester, every week I am learning more about sustainability or finding ways to be sustainable than I have ever before. Doing laundry is not what most people like to do but it is a necessity so people don’t have a choice until you want to use the dry cleaning service which could be expensive. But I am one of those people who likes doing laundry rather than just a chores which made me realize that I could be sustainable by choosing the products I use while doing my laundry. ” According to the Nielsen Company, Americans spent over $7.25 billion onlaundry and dishwashing detergents in the last year( Scelfo, 2009).” So imagine even if a small percentage of these people are using green products, how much it will help the environment. There are lot of products in the market which uses green labeling but doesn’t meet the purpose. So, instead of just looking at the label, we should try to avoid the ones which has phosphates and or nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants. If those words sounds too complicated to you like it does to me, you can check this website: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/formpart.htm#101 which makes it easier as you can type the name of the brand you are looking for and it tells you whether or not, it is environmentally friendly. For me, I found Green works by Clorox which has a EPA seal. It is little pricer than the regular laundry detergents but being sustainable is not always cheaper but if by paying few more dollars, it is helping the environment then why not. So, hopefully all of you can also find what works better for you to be sustainable as we all gotta do our laundry anyways.

Scelfo, J. (2009). When It Comes to Detergents, What’s the Least Irresponsible Choice? Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/garden/26greenhome.html

Nike Reuse-A-Shoe

I recently got myself a pair of Nike running shoes. Usually, I would trash the old pair as they are not in a good condition to donate it to a resale store but again taking this class made me eager about the sustainability option, I might have. When I was researching, I learned new things about shoe recycling, which I would like to share with you all. Nike started to recycle shoes in 1990 naming it Reuse-A-Shoe and have collected and recycle 28,000,000 shoes since 1990 globally ( Reuse-A-Shoe History,2012 ). They have drop off locations not just in United States but all over the world to recycle. The closest location if you ever need to drop off the shoes is at The Nike factory outlet at Grapevine Mills or you can find one near you at the website. If you are curious, here are some of the information what happens to the grind after the recycling process.

• “Nike Grind Rubber, made from the shoe’s outsole, is used in track surfaces,interlocking gym flooring tiles, playground surfacing and even new Nike products, such as the outsoles of the Nike Pegasus or the Jordan XX3. It’s also used in trim items like buttons and zipper pulls ( Recycling Process,2012 ).”
• “Nike Grind Foam, made from the shoe’s midsole, is used as a cushion foroutdoor basketball and tennis courts, as well as futsal fields ( Recycling Process,2012 ).”
• “Nike Grind Fiber, made from the shoe’s fabric upper, is used in the creation of cushioning pads for facilities like indoor synthetic courts and wood courts. ( Recycling Process,2012 ).”

I think this is great as my shoes won’t be sitting at the landfill anymore but will be used to make something out of it which makes the practice sustainable as well. So, next time you have your old pair of knicks don’t forget to go to this website: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/

Recycling Process (2012). NIke Reuse-A-Shoe. Retrieved from http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/where-it-goes/recycling-process

Reuse-A-Shoe History (2012). Nike Reuse-A-Shoe. Retrieved from http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/the-impact/reuse-a-shoe-history

Are you saving on your energy efficiency?

The temperature is dropping slowly as cold winter weather is on the way. With that, our utility bills are going higher as well and at the same time, we are consuming lot of energy. But still there are so many ways, we can apply to be sustainable by consuming less energy and at the same time save some money. Here are some of the ways, which I personally did it so save some energy. This works for the summer time as well as here in Texas, we do get some extreme hot weather.

1. Installing digital thermostat:

Most of the apartment don’t have a digital thermostat, my apartment was one of those. So, I bought myself a digital thermostat as it is very affordable and mostly available at any home store. I have the option to set it however it works with my schedule. After installing it, I am saving a decent amount of money in my utility bills and at the same time-saving some energy. “According to the Department of Energy, you can save 10-15% of your heating (and cooling bill) on an annual basis by reducing the temperature in your home by 10-15% for eight hours a day (Gobel, 2009).

2. Compare utility providers options and rate:

There are many utility companies which offers different option for your utility. Some of them have lock your rate options as some companies tend to hike the price during the peak seasons. For example:  TXU energy have a free night options after certain time at night which can be an alternative to save some money and energy as well.

These are the very basic things all of us can apply to remain sustainable and on the other saving some money can’t be a bad thing. If you haven’t done it yet, it’s still not too late. Be sustainable, save energy, save money.

Gobel, R. (2009). 6 Ways To Save On Your Utility Bills. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/09/save-on-utility-bill.asp#axzz2BBd1xPMb

Save Big With TXU Energy Free Nights. ( 2012). TXU Energy. Retrieved from http://www.txu.com/Home/residential/promotions/mass/free-nights.aspx?noredirect&PromoCode=ONA14SFR&WT.mc_id=ONLBAN12Q2FREENIGHTSHOMEPAGE&WT.z_homepage=Body_FreeNights

Reusing Magazine Pages!

As, we all are fashion merchandising students…Don’t we all love fashion. Fashion changes all the time so to keep us updated, we can’t get our hands off from magazines like ELLE, Harper Bazaar, Vogue, In Style, Glamour and many more. Some of you might use the electronic version but normally I still buy my magazines. I know, I need to get myself a tablet as I am contributing to waste of those papers.  “Each year, publishers in the United States print 350 million magazines and 24 billion newspapers.  Magazines are recycled at a far lower rate of about 20 percent, according to the Newspaper Association of America and the Magazine Publishers Association( Thumma, 2012). I love pinterest, don’t you all too. I am always looking for inspirations there as they really do have fun and creative stuffs. I came across this short tutorial on  how to make a origami bows from magazines pages, which I wanted to share with you all. I love this tutorial as I could reuse my paper magazines after reading it and be sustainable and at the same time as christmas is coming soon, I can use these on the gifts instead of using ribbons.

This is how it looks like. You can visit this website for step by step instruction.

http://helenmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/paper-bow-tutorial.html

Maybe those of you all who have old magazines around can give it a try instead of throwing it away. I am soon getting myself a tablet so hopefully I don’t have to waste all those papers and guilty free read my magazines `and at the same time be sustainable.

Thumma, D. (2012). Newspaper & Magazine Recycling. Retrieved from http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/newspaper-magazine-recycling-2691.html

Are you Recycling your hangers from dry cleaning?

As the cold winter is on the way, I am sure all of you are ready to take out your heavy winter coats and jackets for dry cleaning. I was getting mine ready as well so I took them to the cleaners. After the service, I always end up with lots of dry cleaner metal hangers. I don’t dry clean my clothes very often but whenever I do, I always try to return back the metal hangers back to the cleaners. I think this is a great way to reuse those hangers again and most of the cleaners are happy to get them back as well. But when I went to the cleaners this time, I wonder how much was I contributing giving back those hangers, which wasn’t much of my concern before I enrolled in this class. So, after doing some research about this, I found out this is also one of the area of concern as many people are using the dry cleaning service but only few of them are actually recycling those metal hangers. ” Unlike paper and plastic, there are no specially designated recycling bins for disposal of your used wire hangers, so many of us simply throw them away. This results in 3.5 billion hangers ending up in our landfills every year (Nikravesh & Payne, 2007).” This is a huge amount of non-biodegradable waste in the landfill. On the other, this has a very easy solution, as all we have to do is give it back to the cleaners so that they can reuse it. This will help to reduce the amount of waste tremendously.  “Of the approximately 75 million hangers used by dry cleaners each year, up to 10 percent are returned to dry cleaners (Hanger Reuse and Recycling, 2012).” This is a very low percent of hangers beings reused so next time when you take your clothes to cleaners, don’t forget to take it back so that the recycle percentage will go higher as even just one single person can make such a difference and at the same time you are being responsible and sustainable.

Nikravesh, B. & Payne, A. (2007). What to do with your Hanger. Retrieved from  http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2007/08/24/4373091-what-to-do-with-your-wire-hanger?lite

Hanger Reuse and Recycle. (2012) . The City of New York. Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/wasteless/athome_tips_shopping_hanger.shtml

Paper Recycling

As a student, we use papers frequently for school works which ends up on the trash most of time after the semester is over. There are times, I want to recycle all those bulks of papers but as always the problem is there is no separate trash for recycling paper at my apartment and it is such a hassle to carry it all back to school which is only place I know where there do paper recycling . For a short period of time, my apartment had a separate trash can for recycle papers but some people are so insensitive, they would dump the regular trash with the recycle ones. As the management saw, it was clearly not working, they took out the recycle paper trash can. So, recently after taking this class, I researched about this issue and how much I can help if I am recycling all my papers. “Paper makes up 29 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW), more than any other material Americans throw away. Because of this, recycling paper can greatly reduce the overall amount of MSW produced(U.S EPA,2012). By now, we all know by now that, recycling reduces the greenhouse gas emission, conserves the natural resources and saves the landfill spaces. UNT is very big in sustainability so they do recycle lot of things in campus but one thing that I just learned what they can do is they can schedule a pickup for your recycle materials which I had no idea. I think this makes recycle so much easier at least for me. If you want to know more about this, the contact no is 940-565-2700 or you can check this website http://facilities.unt.edu/depts/recycling-services. And also there are retailers who sells recycle papers which are more economical and eco friendly. I hope sharing all these information about paper recycling by the end of this semester all of you can recycle all your papers from school and be sustainable and I will be doing the same as well.

Waste resource Conversation Common Waste & Materials Paper recycling. ( July, 2012). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/paper/index.htm

Recycling on Campus. ( Oct, 2012). Recycling. Retreived from http://sustainable.unt.edu/recycling

Document Frame Recycled

 

For this week, I had my old document frame recycled to make a jewelry holder for my earrings. This is very easy, one of the DIY project and at the same time you can be sustainable by reusing the old unused frame. Even if we can recycle this small piece of wood,  this will help to save the tree which is it made of and can be used for some other purpose. Saving more trees means saving the environment and at the same time you can create something you need at a very low cost.

Things you will need:

1. any old photo or document frame( any size)

2. wrapping paper of any kind

3. Grill mat ( like one used for BBQ)

First cut the grill mat according to the size of the frame, place it on the frame like how you put a picture. Then cut the wrapping paper for  the background of the frame according to the size of the frame as well and put it behind the grill mat and rest of the things which goes at the back of the frame like the cover to hold it. This is all you have to do then start hanging you earrings but it is only possible to hang your earrings with a hook. It takes less than ten minutes to do this and at the same time you will be lot more organized.

DIY DESIGN

For this week, I have decided to do a very easy DIY decoration with the empty wine

bottles. Whenever, I have my friends and families over at my place, we end up with quite a few wine bottles after the party. Before, I always used to trash it but, I recently learned that some of the states are passing law to give cash back when you recycle these wine bottles too like other plastic bottles and soda cans. I first saw this DIY wine bottles decorations at Pinterest which I am sure lot of you have heard about. So, I was inspired to do this from there, which was very easy, within a low cost budget to decorate and could reuse my  empty wine bottles.  So,  I would like to share this with you all for this week to remain sustainable.

Things you will need:

Empty wine bottles( depends on how many you want to do)

Spray paint

Natural Jute yarn

First step:

 

First clean the empty wine bottles. Make sure to peel off the paper label tags as you want the surface of the bottles to be smooth.

Second step:

When the wine bottles are dry, take the spray paint which you can easily get it at Wal Mart. If you like the paint with a brush, you can use that one as well. I have chosen white color spray paint which could be any other color as well according to your preference. Then spray the empty wine bottles from top to bottom in one stroke and keep on repeating it unless the bottle is all white, opaque and smooth. Let it dry for at least  three hours but depends how thick coat of paint was sprayed on it. I let mine dry over night just to make sure.

Third step:

This is the last step. Take the natural jute yarn. I prefer this one as it is more sturdy than the knitting yarn and much easier as well. Now take the spray painted wine bottle then start wrapping the yarn around the bottle however you want. But make sure they are tight when you wrap it around as it looks better when they are tightly wrapped.

This takes less than an hour to do it and it’s under $ 10. You can use it as a decoration prop in your place and at the same time, you are being sustainable reusing these empty wine bottles.

 

 

Walmart Plastic Shopping Bag Recycle

Walmart is one of the few stores who have recycle bins within the store for the plastic shopping bags provided by the store or any other store. They encourage their customers to recycle the plastic shopping bags as much as possible. Also, having those recycle bins inside the store makes it convenient to the customers who don’t have  to go to a different place just to recycle those used plastic shopping bags. On the other, they also encourage the customers to use the reusable bags sold within the store for affordable  price. Recycling these plastic shopping bags is part of my commitment for sustainability. But I have been doing this even before I had enrolled in this class and more than happy to share it as of this week commitment. I try to use my reusable grocery bag as much as possible but there are times when I need the plastic shopping bags. When I do, I bring it back to the store and put it in the plastic recycle bin when I come back to do my grocery. It is very convenient to do it as it is right before when you enter the store next to the door. This is one of the reason I like to shop at Walmart as most of the other grocery store don’t practice this and also the affordable price at one place. Walmart is a big chain retail store which is located all around the world so when they start a commitment like this, it does makes a huge difference. By recycling these shopping plastic bags, they will be reducing the plastic bags waste by “almost 9 billion bags, 290000 metric tons of greenhouse gas and less use of the pertroleum oil( Plastic Bag Initiative).” This will also help the government who waste billions of dollars to seperate these plastic bags in the landfills. Plastics do not decompose and it is non biodegradable as well so when thrown in the landfills, it still will be there even after years after years. This doesn’t help the environment or the eco system. As we cannot completely stop using these shopping plastic bags, but the most we can do is at least try to recycle and reuse it. By doing this, I think I am contributing my part to be sustainable and help the earth which will later benefit myself and others as well. I encourage everyone to do it because when combined it makes a huge difference.

Referece:

Plastic Bag Initiative. (2009).  Walmart 2009 Sustainability Report. Retrieved from http://www.walmartstores.com/sites/sustainabilityreport/2009/en_w_plasticbags.html