The Junkyard Clubhouse, Events & Call for Supplies

WOW! We have been so busy booking and planning events for this spring and working to get the all the business side of stuff taken care of, I haven't posted here as much as I planned! But I think it is time that we let you all in on all the wonderful happenings at Good Garbage . . .

Behind the scenes, Anne has been busy talking and working with a lot of wonderful supporters and persevering through mounds of paperwork so we can see our dream of the retail, workshop, boutique and gallery space come to life soon. No concrete dates yet. Still lots to do...But she is hoping to get us going on a mobile basis soon! 

I've been busy working on events for Good Garbage, for both kids and adults! Along with our mobile retail side starting soon, we will be scheduling workshops and makes all over town. 

Anne and I have created the Good Garbage Gang and The Junkyard Clubhouse! The Good Garbage Gang is open to everyone. We will have promotions, games, contests and instructables for repupose makes. 

The Junkyard Clubhouse will be an educational and hands on area at local festivals, community centers and other places around town, geared toward kids from 1 to 101. 

The Junkyard Clubhouse will be introduced at our booth at the Mighty Kindness Earth Day Hoot on April 13 from 12-6, at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater on River Road.  

On May 11th you can catch me showing you some cool things to do with a t-shirt at the Louisville Free Public Library's How To Fair, just in time for Mother's Day! You can leave with a necklace, bracelet or scarf for the special lady in your life! FREE!

Also on May 11th we will be at the Buy Local Fair at the Louisville Water Tower from 2-8 p.m.

The grand premier for The Junkyard Clubhouse will be at the Old Louisville Spring Fest in the Kosair Kid's Zone on May 18th, from 12-6 p.m. Kids will be learning how and why we should repurpose items such as the infamous Plastic Water Bottle, through stories, posters, discussions and hands on crafts. We will be turning the bottles into sun catchers and medallions, snake bubble blowers, stamps and itsy-bitsy gardens. There will also be demonstrations throughout the day that will be geared towards older kids and adults, along with a display of many repuposed items. We will also have a booth in the vendor area.

We are absolutely honored for Good Garbage and the Junkyard Clubhouse to have been asked to headline the children's area at The Grass Roots Gala on June 7 from 4-10 p.m. on 4th Street, hosted by the Center for Neighborhoods organization. Keep your eye out for more information on this!

We have lots of other things in the works so the calender of events will be updated constantly. A link can be found on the right side of this page. Be sure to bookmark it!

I'm also putting out a call for supplies that I am desperately in need of for the activities I'm doing at the various events. If you have any of the following items, please email me at lynn.goodgarbage@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to pick them up. We have some time to save up! I would like them by April  13.

• 20 oz plastic bottles, preferably clear
• Bottle caps
• Older terry cloth towels and wash cloths (worn, thin ones are great)
• Colored permanent markers, or dry erase markers
• Styrofoam food containers (ie take-out containers, etc. NOT cups)
• Water color paints (ie the ones that come in kid kits)
• Small paint brushes
• Colored T-Shirts, Can be solid color or multi-colored, but not white. Old t's with small stains are fine, but they can't have dried goop on them. 
• Bins or medium/large lidded containers to put these items in.

***All items need to be washed, clean and dry.

I am SOOOOOO excited to get these events going and showing everyone how fun it is to repurpose stuff!!! Hope to see you at ALL of them!

~Lynn~

It's Time to Start Those Seeds... And Reuse That Shredded Paper

Today is looking to be a very cold day and we are expecting ice this evening! Yuck! But I know spring is right around the corner. My friends at Timebank and various blogs are talking gardening and I realize I'm missing my garden, badly. Moving to an urban apartment, I don't have a great green space I can just till up and community gardens have waiting lists. This year, though, I have decided I'm not going to let that stop me. I am planting a container garden! 

Of course, I don't want to just go buy plants...I want to grow from seeds! And NOW is the time to start them... So I found this great way to reuse shredded paper or torn newspaper to make seed starters. It was so easy! 

You need: Blender, Newspaper, Water, Strainer, Muffin tin, and the sun preferably or an oven will do. 

Tear the paper in about 1" squares (doesn't have to be precise) or use shredded paper and fill your blender about half way. I don't have a blender, so I used my 'shake maker.' Fill the rest of the way with water. I let it soak for a little bit because the newspaper soaks it up. Blend until its a soggy mess paste. Add water or paper as needed.

Pour in the strainer and press most of the water out,until just moist. You don't want it to be completely dry. Then just put a bit of the goo the muffin tin, spreading it up the sides and making sure your bottom is good and covered. You don't want too thick, but you do want it strong enough to hold your dirt. 

I would have preferred to use the sun's heat to dry these, but the day I decided to make them was cold and rainy. I set the oven to 250 degrees and put the muffin tin in. I honestly didn't time it and at one time I turned the oven off because I could smell them baking. Later, I turned it up to 350 because they weren't drying fast enough. My suggestion is to turn it up to 400, then turn it off and put the muffin tins in. Best time is after you bake something and you can put them in when you've finished cooking and use the heat left in the oven. 

Once completely dry, they pop right out of the tin. Fill with compost, soil, seeds and give them sun, water and love. When ready to put them in your garden, the whole thing can be planted. Happy Gardening!

For more awesome repurpose, reuse and recycle ideas, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@GoodGarbageSDF) and Pinterest! 

AND THE WINNER'S ARE....

Congratulations to Jennifer Elizabeth Dulles and Brian McMahan! Though it wasn't announced I also want to congratulate our 200th Facebook fan... Virginia Poole Parks!!!! 

I have decided to give each of you a choice of the five t-shirt grocery bags or a vinyl LP clock.  For the bags, if any of you happen to be a Kentucky Wildcat fan, I have received a donation of quite a few t-shirts and can make all your bags supporting your Cats, otherwise you will receive a random variety of bags. The clock if that is your choice, are made from some old albums and clock mechanisims and numbers from the Habitat for Humanity Reuse Store. Please message me or email me at Lynn.GoodGarbage@gmail.com with your preferences and your address so I can be sure to get your gifts to you in the next week.

Thank you for your support!

Friend's Question and Prepping for the Drawing

Good morning everyone!!!! What a beautiful day here in Louisville! Hope everyone is getting out to enjoy it!  

We absolutely love when we get great questions on how to recycle or repurpose items. We know we have people really thinking! This morning I got an email from one of our friends asking what to do with glass candle holders with a little wax left and an assortment of old wax.  I suggested simmering the candles holders in a pot of water to melt the wax and to melt the other wax and combine them into one or more of the containers and add a wick to use as emergency candles. Do you have other suggestions? Please share in the comments! 

Right now, I am currently preparing for the drawing we are having since we hit 200 fans on Facebook, by writing everyone's names on paper and placing them in a bowl. There are three ways to enter between now and Noon. One - become a Facebook Fan, two - join as a follower of our email and I made a post on Facebook this morning. If you like it I'll add your name one more time to the drawing.  

Right now I'll have drawings for two sets of t-shirt shopping bags. During the course of the day... who knows what else I'll draw for! Depends on just how crafty I get during day! The winners will be posted here and on Facebook this evening. Good luck to everyone and thank you again for all your support. We are looking forward to opening the first and only Creative Reuse Center here in Louisville!

Good Garbage Gab: A BREAK FROM BEING CRAFTY

Good morning Gab followers!!! I have so many exciting reuse and repurpose projects for the upcoming year... But I thought I would give you a break today. As much as I love crafting, I said Good Garbage Gab would be about finding ways to repurpose all sorts of things. 

Today's topic? Dryer Sheets! Do you know how many ways you can reuse a dryer sheet before you decide to toss it? Well, there are LOTS!!!! Some I've used, some I haven't, but can't wait to try. 

• Keep some used dryer sheets in a container in your car for wiping the dashboard. Place one under the driver side seat to give it a fresh smell. 
• Use them for cleaning bug splats from your windshield. Just wet one or more softener sheets and wipe over splats. Wait a couple minutes, wipe again and then flush with water. 
• Place a used dryer sheet near the trashcan at your next barbecue or picnic; it will repel bees and flies. Also, wipe one over your arms and legs to repel mosquitoes. I've even heard of golfers keeping on in their back pocket to keep the bees away. 
• Soften the soles of your feet by soaking your feet in some warm water and rubbing them with a used fabric softener sheet.
• Place them in the rafters of your home to keep spiders and other bugs from nesting.
• They're great for removing stuck on foods from your pots and pans. Fill the grimy pan with water and drop the sheet inside. - - Let soak for about an hour and wash as usual.
• Use old dryer sheets to easily wipe up messes like talcum powder and flour.
• Use old dryer sheets in the bottom of flowerpots to cover the drainage holes.
• Use them instead of paper when doing 'paper piecing' for quilts. First ironed them smooth, then trace your pattern onto the dryer sheets. They’re lightweight, don't add bulk to your quilt & they smell great.
• Use them to remove pet hair from your clothes and furniture.
• Use them to remove soap scum on your glass shower door, or use to wipe windows when cleaning.
• Used dryer sheets make great dusting cloths for your wooden furniture.
• Use just like you would a Swiffer sheet on your floors to pick up dust and pet hair.
• I have used them as the interfacing when using my small embroidery/sewing machine.
• Use as stuffing for small sewing projects like felt ornaments.

Grab an old Kleenex box or the like and start collecting those used dryer sheets. Let us know if you have other ways you might reuse those dryer sheets!

You can find more at Recyclebank. Recyclebank is a great interactive way to learn how to be green. You earn points and can redeem for things such as coupons, gift cards and magazines. To join click HERE. 

Lynn's Calendar Repurpose Project

This weekend was the most productive I have had in a good while. I completed two repurpose projects. One is an old, wooden window sash which I will post about later. The other is the calendar repurpose I spoke of in the last Good Garbage Gab. I had a stained glass window calendar given to me as a birthday gift last year. It is so pretty, I just had to find a use for it and I needed some art work for my living room, so I put the pictures of that calendar to good use.


Looking around I realized everything I have hanging or sitting is square or rectangle, I needed something different. It hit me... I had a box of old scratched records someone gave me a long time ago, and I also had a bunch of those OLD AOL "1099 Hours Free" CD's sent out when you had to pay hourly for dial-up internet. I put some of both of these items to great use in this project.

I cut circles out of the calendar trying to use every bit I could that had the beautiful stained glass pictures on it. I decided on four big ones and was able to get 20 small ones. Using Mod-Podge, I glued them on the old records and CD's.

With this many, I knew exactly where they were going to go. My couch sits on a wall that used to be a flue for a fireplace and there was big empty spaces on either side. I just knew these would work wonderfully to fill in those spots.

Here's a close up of each grouping and then an overall picture... I LOVE IT!!!! New pretty artwork for me and pictures from a calendar that I love, preserved.

Did you work on a calendar reuse project this weekend? Or any other repurpose project? We'd really like to hear about it! Email us pictures and we will feature your's in an upcoming Good Garbage Gab!

-Lynn

Good Garbage Gab... DON'T THROW AWAY THOSE CALENDARS!!!!

Art Journal

 Hope I caught you in time! Don't throw away those old calendars!!! There are so many things you can do with them once they have served their purpose on your desk or wall. They can become bookmarks, wrapping paper, coasters, art journals, puzzles for a rainy day and you could even print out new dates and use them to cover the old ones, saving the beautiful pictures to admire again during 2013. 

Bookmark

The that one that kept me organized during 2012, hung in my kitchen and was a gift for my birthday last year. It celebrated the wonderful stained glass in homes around the beautiful neighborhood I had just moved to, Old Louisville. The colors on it are gorgeous! The pictures fabulous and the stories are wonderful...I just can't throw it away!!! (Well I couldn't even if it was ugly, but that is beside the point.)  I love this calendar so much I plan to cut pieces out and actually mod-podge them to either small canvases or tiles or some other medium and group them together on my wall in the hallway, or the kitchen, of my little apartment. Instant artwork! I can't wait to get started on them. I will post pictures hopefully in a couple weeks to show you another great repurpose idea. 

For more ideas be sure to check out our Pinterest page, Calendar Reuse Pinterest Page.  If you use any of these ideas or come up with new ones, we really, REALLY want you to email us a picture of how you reused your calendar! I love seeing all the creative things being done out there and I know there are LOTS of creative people following us... so SHOW ME THE MONEY! Ummm I mean SHOW ME THE ART!!!!

And if you just aren't feeling crafty... Good Garbage is always willing to take them for you and they will someday become something wonderful again instead of sitting in the landfill wasting away. 

Celebrating Our Friends and Creating New Ones

T-shirt bag given away at DIY Louisville Ornament Swap

It's hard to believe that we have been at this already for nearly 4 months, but yet at the same time, it is hard to believe we have only been at this for nearly 4 months!!! In that time we have been out passing out brochures and business cards at  the Flea Off Market, Trolley Hops, the Bluegrass Bioneers event, the Mighty Kindness Festival and numerous other events and shops. We have had lots of coffees, some lunches and wonderful conversations. We have been able to meet some of the most amazing and talented people in Louisville and made lots of new friends along the way! We are very lucky! 

Today we hit 149 fans on Facebook! WOW is all I can say. But...I want to see now, how quickly we can hit 200! Please share our Facebook page and our Blog with all your friends and family and coworkers! We also would love to see you sign up to follow our blog. We will be posting lots of information here and as much as we love Facebook, it may not always get there and we would hate for anyone to miss out on all the great things happening with Louisville's first and only creative reuse center! All you have to do is enter your email address to the right of this post, confirm the email you receive and that is it!

Once we hit 200 Facebook fans we will be giving away a set (or two) of really cool t-shirt grocery bags and maybe a few other neat, repurposed items! If you also start following our blog you will have a second chance to win. We will announce the winner by the weekend after we hit the 200 fans! 

Photo courtesy of D.I.Y. Louisville 

Happy New Year!!!!!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, or another holiday you may have celebrated this season! We've had sicknesses, birthdays and lots of family time this week and still working hard to start the new year off right for Good Garbage. Good Garbage Gab will continue next week! 

Remember to continue saving things like bottle caps, corks, plastic containers, tp and paper towel rolls, and other items on our list found HERE. 

Wishing you a happy and safe New Year from our families to yours!

Like us? Well be sure to share our page with all your friends and family! We will have so much going on in 2013, everyone will want to continue watching us grow!! 

Good Garbage Gab - Creative Wrapping

One week until Christmas!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! How about you? Are you ready? This coming week I will be busy finishing up some handmade gifts, picking up the last few stocking stuffers, baking and  wrapping gifts!

There is nothing more fun to me than watching kids and adults ripping into a beautifully wrapped present. That is a big part of the fun for me! I really hate buying Christmas paper. Spend a fortune for it to last all of a minute before it's tossed in the trash. So, what alternatives are there? Just look around! You can use newspaper, comics, brown paper bags, and book and magazine pages. Add special touches by making your own bows from the same papers or scrap fabric. And if you are just dead set on bags... Then make your own from newspaper!!!

If you are making goodies like muffins, cookies, or candy, use some of these fun containers: aluminum box wrapped for muffins, Pringles cans wrapped for cookies and a toilet paper roll for candy! 

For instructions and more ideas, check out our Pinterest page. There you will find some great ideas for all kinds of repurposing! 

Please send us pictures of all your wonderful repurposed holiday crafts! We would love to share them on our blog and Facebook page! And if you use store bought wrapping paper (and don't fret, I am too, as I have paper I have purchased over the last 10 years I'm trying to use up), be sure to save the cardboard tubes. We will be using these for some wonderful gardening ideas and future crafts after the first of the year!

Anne and I want to wish you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas!!!! 

Good Garbage Gab - From Trash to Gifts 12/5/12

Today I'm hoping to inspire you to not only handcraft some wonderful Christmas gifts, but repurpose things you my have around your house to do so. Saving you money and of course, stuff from the landfill!!! 

Crayon Initial artwork

Do your kids or you have a lot of crayons that are broken? No, I'm not going to tell you to melt them into new mixed colored crayons... Take a piece of poster board, cardboard or construction paper, just as long as it is strong enough to hold the glued on crayons, an old frame (don't need a shadow box, just remove the glass from the frame), the broken crayons and some glue and make the initial of the gift recipient. You can write the name like here in the picture, or decorate any way you would like. These are great gifts for babies, families and babysitters.  

T-Shirt Scarves

Oh man... Did I ever get into a frenzy making all kinds of these last winter. I have so many different ones!!! They are awesome gifts this time of year and can be sewn or not. The one pictured here is actually unsewn and embellished with odd buttons and such that can be glued on. How? Just lay your t-shirt on a flat surface and cut a strip from the bottom (after you cut the hem off),  that is 4-6" wide. I usually do 4" just because that is the width of my straight edge. Take the circle piece and cut along one of the seams to make a long rectangle piece.  Cut the fringe and add the embellishments if you wish. Voila! Done!  

Jean Slippers

Who couldn't use a new pair of funky slippers???? This one I haven't done yet, but it is on my to do list for someone this Christmas!!! To see how to make these, come on over to our Repurposed Gift Pinterest page. Recycled Lovelies has a great tutorial. The blog is filled with wonderful ideas, but unfortunately she no longer updates it. Hopefully it will stay up for a good while! 

Come follow our Pinterest page and find lots of wonderful repurpose/recycle/reuse gifts as well as other great ideas. You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

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!

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

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!

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

Anne.GoodGarbage@gmail.com

Lynn.GoodGarbage@gmail.com

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