Recycling not just for Clothing but a Way of Life

This week I have been away in San Diego visiting family, so things are a little slow in the studio. One thing I am really learning about is that the fallow times are just as important for the artist as the making times. Taking time off to relax and do other things actually allows more creativity to flow through you, fresh ideas to inspire you and new energy to fuel you.

I want to take this time to talk a bit about living a conscious life outside of the studio, and resources to apply to your everyday life outside of fashion.

One of the ways I was able to revisit the fashion/clothing world was to find a context within it that I could believe in. Creating clothing just for it's own sake is fine, but in order to motivate this whole process I needed more of a sense of mission, I needed to see how through my craft I could bring positive change to the world. This way, my art can be true to my values.

Part of Vagadu's social mission is to use creative re-use to break the cycle of constantly purchasing and discarding endemic to America's consumer-driven culture.

Magazines like ReadyMade and Craft are great publications because they challenge their readers to get creative, crafty and prove that great design doesn't cost a fortune, in fact it is readily accessible from things that we already have in the home.

VAGADU really isn't just about making fabulous clothes out of next-to-new materials, it is about a way of living that responsibly and creatively deals with our excesses. And if we can't reuse our all of our stuff, how to respectfully dispose of them that is gentle with Mother Earth. Here are some thoughts:

Stop Junkmail before it gets to you! Even though I have made some great cards from terrible magazines that I never ordered, it is better for the planet not to make paper products that go directly into the recycle bin. I signed up for this service and they stop your junkmail and plant trees to offset the effect. The company is called Green Dimes http://www.greendimes.com

If you live in the Bay Area and you have interesting junk that you don't need, a thrift store might not want, you should give it to my favorite place for getting materials for VAGADU called SCRAP (Scroungers resource for reusable art parts). http://www.scrap-sf.org/contacts.htm

From one of my many social networks this recycle resource guide is very helpful for those of us who want to make a difference.

21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle

1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.

3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women's shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.

4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.

5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes.

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com .

7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won't be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.

9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.

10. Eyeglasses: Your local Lion's Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need.

11. Foam packing: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept foam peanuts for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html

12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each.

13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle.

14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org.

15. Phones: Donate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com.

16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com.

17. "Technotrash": Project KOPEG offers an e-waste recycling program that can help you raise funds for your organization. Use Project KOPEG to recycle iPods, MP3 players, cell phones and chargers, digital cameras, PDAs, palm pilots, and more. Also, easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk's Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com.

18. Tennis shoes: Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com.

19. Toothbrushes and razors: Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms' yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, www.recycline.com.

20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25 , call 866/33-TYVEK.

21. Beds and Box Springs: Don't put your bed on the street! For a fee they will come and pick up your old be and boxspring and carefully break them apart to recycle all the materials. http://www.bedbusters.com/

Thanks for reading...let's not feed the landfill monster any longer! If you have any other ideas I have missed, be sure to write me and I will add it to the blog. Happy Creacycling!