Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Holidays . . . A Time for Giving!

While you are trimming your tree, entertaining your guests, shopping for and wrapping all those wonderful gifts and before you throw things away, stop and take a look at what you are tossing and see if it could be re-purposed. Check out our list Good Garbage Accepted Materials and see if it is on here. You will also find the link on the right side of this page at all times. It is updated often and always current. At times you will even find a wish list attached to it.

Set aside a box and fill it with these items instead of throwing them away... Bottle caps, can tabs, corks, wine bottles, excess wrapping paper, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, decks of cards with missing cards, game pieces to old games and left over scrap from all your handmade gifts... there's a multitude of items we could use for art projects. 

If you own a business (and even if you don't) and you want to reduce your waste, take this list to work with you and see if there is anything you can donate. Maybe it isn't on this list but you think it could be re-purposed... Email us! We will be glad to talk to you about it. 

After the first of the year, we will have some days we will be setting appointments for drop offs! Thank you for your wonderful support!


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Good Garbage Gab-Reusing Christmas Cards, 11/27/12

Good morning everyone! We sure hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!!! We both had weekends full of wonderful family time!

Now that we have marked one more holiday off the list for 2012, we are moving ever closer to the winter holidays which are full of gift giving. We celebrate Christmas! Today I'm going to give you suggestions for reusing Christmas cards. If you saved your stash from last year, awesome!!! If not, no reason you can't use the ones you receive this year as they come in!


The first idea is to cut tags out of the pictures and use them as name tags on packages. You can cut many shapes, circles, triangles and rectangles then punch a hole in the top and add a ribbon or piece of yarn, Voila!




You can also use them to make placemats. By using a sheet of 11x17" construction paper (or other things like news paper, poster board, etc, cut to size and doesn't have to be 11x17"). Cut the front part of the cards off at the fold. Arrange them on the paper over lapping as necessary. I used double sided sticky tape, but you can use glue, etc. Once arranged like you want an secured to the paper, you can use clear vinyl contact paper or a laminating machine to cover and make water proof. I'm not a big proponent of using the plastic so I am still looking for an alternative way to preserve and use these with out that part of it. But they are very cute!


There are many, many other ideas for using your Christmas cards... I thought pictures might be better than instructions. These seem pretty self explanatory. For even more ideas, check us out on Pinterest (Good Garbage).

Happy Crafting!
-Lynn & Anne



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Our First Showing of Support!

We have our first showing of support!  Along with two more commitments of $50 each! I will keep updating as we continue to grow!  No amount is too small! - Thank you! Thank you!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Securing Our Spot in the Louisville Sustainability Movement - We Need the Community's Help!


Imagine if you will... A retail shop whose shelves are filled with a colorful array of left over, unused and recycled crafting material donated by artists, crafters and corporations from over-runs and collection drives. Glass - tiles - marbles - fabric - paper - buttons. On the far wall sits a grandiose display of artwork made from materials you see on the shelves—created by everyone from preschool kids to adults—being showcased for everyone to see; some even for sale. Then,  tucked away in a corner you can hear children and adults laughing while learning how to re-purpose a plastic bottle into a spider for a Halloween decoration or learning how to take wire from an electrical cord and make a pair of earrings. THIS IS OUR PASSION... 

Our mission...To provide a sustainable means for collecting scrap material before it enters the waste stream and making it available to the community for creative reuse.

You've been watching us over the last couple months here as we work on building shelves, sharing ideas and talking to just about everyone we come within 20 feet of. The behind the scenes meetings, hashing out ideas, brainstorming, researching and making educated decisions have been continuing beyond what we have been posting here.

After researching many options and existing reuse centers across the country and meeting with various people around town—from the Center for Non-Profit Excellence to civic leaders, to artists, teachers and environmentalists—we have decided to pursue a fiscal sponsorship with SCRAP USA (SCRAPpdx) in Portland, Oregon. Our mission and vision are closely aligned, and they have a sound business model, proven track record, and many projects all over the country. They will give us ongoing administrative help, access to grants, and the ability to begin functioning as a 501(c)3, tax-exempt charity, as soon as they approve our application, which could be as early as January 1, 2013.

In addition to our application, SCRAP has asked us to show proof that our Creative Reuse Center will have community support. A key part of that is to raise $1,000 in start-up money. This does not go to the sponsor, but serves as seed money to help us take our message to the streets through classroom demonstrations and workshops, environmental and arts & craft events all over Louisville, and to help us open our Creative Reuse Retail Store. Any money we receive in this campaign is not tax-deductible, nor does it give any ownership or provide any return on investment. It is an investment in OUR community to serve under-funded groups and support another part of Louisville’s sustainability initiatives.

We have started an email campaign and are now asking you, as our followers and those who would support the store either by donations or as patrons, please consider supporting us in this initial $1,000 campaign. Our goal is to send our application for fiscal sponsorship to SCRAP by December 1, 2012, so any amount you contribute before that would be greatly appreciated. We would like nothing more than to meet with you personally, discuss our vision further and to pick up your contribution. No amount is too little.
We are also always on the lookout for a building where we will be able to set up a retail shop, workrooms, etc. Have or know someone who has space that could be donated to us for a year? Or dirt (and I mean DIRT) cheap? Let us know.

Thanks for your time and thanks for your continued support by following us on here and on Facebook! Please be sure to share us with all your friends!


Anne Walker & Lynn Burgan



We accept checks or you can contribute using PayPal (anne.goodgarbage@gmail.com).


We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously. 


Grace Lee Boggs

Monday, November 12, 2012

Good Garbage Gab November 12, 2012

Everyone has a lot of old t-shirts. Some are favorite teams you just can't get rid of; Some are your old cleaning, painting, crafting shirts that no one else would want; Some are just plain ugly ones that someone got you as a gift and you can't get rid of them because Aunt Mae might just ask you to show off that t-shirt she brought you back from Looneyville, Texas (it's real, look it up). Well I have a couple great ideas to share with you for ALL those t-shirts.

I'm sure first thing that comes to mind is a rag... good use, but there are lots more. I mean, if the shirt is so badly gooped up then not even sure it would work for a rag. And then there's the t-shirt quilt which is a great thing and I am planning out one now, is pretty labor intensive. Good Garbage Gab is all about getting you thinking and giving you easy ways you can start reusing things around your house. So, no t-shirt quilt instructions here today.

The first thing I ever did with an old t-shirt was make a grocery bag. This is so simple. All you need is a sharp pair of scissors and the simplest of sewing machines. You can sew them by hand, it just takes a bit longer.

Turn the t-shirt inside out and lay it flat. Pin the bottom. Sew with a good tight stitch all the way across to close the bottom of the t-shirt. I generally line up and sew just at the seam for the original hem. 

Then cut the sleeves off at the seam. Then you can just eye the next part, or you can use a round plate or bowl to mark the rounded cut you will make at the neck. The part of the shoulder that is left are your handles.
marthastewart.com

Turn it right side out and there you have it. A reusable bag. I take these to the grocery, carry my lunch in them, and have even used one as a purse (vintage, way too small, I'm A Pepper t-shirt). I even took the sleeves and made little drawstring bags to store them in. 

I also made some scarves, even a no-sew one. But I have to find those pictures lost on another computer that is currently down. I will try to find the right thumb drive I have them backed up on and will post another time. Maybe as we get closer to Christmas and you are looking for a last minute gift for someone! 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

TerraCycle - Outsmart Waste -Good Garbage has brigades


We are a TerraCycle supporter! TerraCycle's purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste. We do this by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste.  Once we are completely set up as a non-profit, we will benefit from the brigades by turning our points into money donations for Good Garbage. Check out Terracycle.com for more information on how this works.
Set up an additional recycling container in your home and start collecting the following. Let us know if you do and we will work with you to get your items picked up when your container gets full!
Good Garbage will be a collector for the following brigades:
  • Cell phones - Standard cell phones, smart phones, iPhones
  • Cleaner Packaging - Pumps, triggers, pouches, and flexible cleaner product packaging (no bottles)
  • Colgate Oral Care - Toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, tooth brushes, floss containers
  • Dairy Tub - all cream cheese tubs/lids, sour cream tubs/lids, cheese tubs/lids, yogurt tubs/lids, butter tubs/lids, margarine tubs/lids, any other dairy product tub, foil tops, plastic tub tops, and other type of packaging on all dairy tubs.
  • Inkjet - Any inkjet cartridge accepted
  • Personal Care & Beauty - lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases and tubes, shampoo and conditioner bottles, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, body wash containers, soap tubes, soap dispensers, lotion dispensers/bottles/tubes, shaving foam tubes (no cans), powder cases, chap stick tubes, lotion tubes, face soap dispensers, face soap tubes, face lotion bottles and jars, eyeliner cases, eyeliner and lip liner pencils,  concealer tubes and sticks, hair gel tubes, hair paste jars.
  • Toner Cartridge - See this link for types http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/inkjet-brigade-r.html
TerraCycle then converts the collected waste into a wide variety of products and materials. With more than 20 million people collecting waste in over 20 countries TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste and used them to create over 1,500 different products available at major retailers ranging from Walmart to Whole Foods Market.
Our goal is to eliminate the idea of waste by creating collection and solution systems for anything that today must be sent to a landfill.
(from http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/about-us.html)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

What we did this weekend...


Anne worked this weekend on finding ways to reuse these plastic red discs that we received from the Printing House for the Blind, looking for a fun and creative craft project for our up coming booths at local arts and craft fairs. Aren't they just AWESOME?!?!?!?!



I went picking Friday near Waddy, Kentucky. A wonderful lady let me go through a vast collection of office, Christmas and crafting supplies that were her Mother's. After I chatted with her more about what it is we are doing exactly, she showed me some place mats and a gorgeous bowl her Mom made out of Christmas cards. She ended up giving me the bowl, which we will have on display at our booths.




As we secure spots for our booths, we will be sure to update everyone so you can mark it on your calendar! 

Be sure to like us on Facebook and watch us grow!!!
-Lynn