Comments on: Giveaway: Fashionable One-Of-A-Kind Bags Made From Recycled Billboards!

By: CanCan (Mom Most Traveled)

CanCan (Mom Most Traveled) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:16:07 +0000

I find it pretty difficult to throw away anything “useful”.
I use my son’s art work from preschool to wrap presents.

By: theresa Southern

theresa Southern — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:02:54 +0000

My 5 year old son and I basically keep anything that can’t be recycled instead of throwing it in the trash. Most of it is repurposed into a variety of art projects but sometimes I use things randomly around the house for repairs, to decorate, or just plain functionality (for example, some old string became a towel “bar” in the kitchen).

By: Julie in NC

Julie in NC — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:55:46 +0000

I have always repurposed & reused items. My furniture is all secondhand. I once had a ‘bookshelf’ made of milk crates & wood siding from an abandoned house. My current bookcase and computer desk both came from a thrift store that runs a program for homeless alcoholics. Our couch & other bookcase came from a place called the “Swop Shop” that sells consignment furniture. I use an Altoids tin for a wallet.
Currently I am taking a sewing class & making a beautiful (I hope) Renaissance outfit; hat, vest, skirt & overskirt. (I already have the shirt from a thrift store last year, and my boots are old favorites that I’ve had 15 years.) All of the material was clearance curtains & tablecloths from work. It would have cost me around $75 from the fabric store, but I’ve got only about $6.50 spent in material; add the $15.50 for thread & other notions and I’ll have a great outfit for the Renaissance Festival AND Halloween costume for under $25!!!
I recycle at work, too! At the service desk I got tired of other employees taking register tape (I HATE to see needless waste!) to write notes on; I saved an old plastic display box & cut up old ad signs & coupons for scrap paper; that was over a year ago & it’s still being used; I love when we have colorful handouts for scrap paper, it makes it more interesting. I believe my scrap tray was the inspiration for the new scrap paper conveniently left in a cubby near the schedule, too!
NOW, about those bags; I really would like to have the JackJ Tote. I ride a motorcycle & always carry a bag for my (aluminum) water bottles and any purchases. The clerks in my grocery store know when they see me to just hand back my items to be stashed in my bag; no plastics for me, Thanks. My current bag is a clearance ($2) backpack from work & I’ve been through two already in the last year. I would LOVE to have a really good durable, Made in USA, recycled bag for my daily ride to work & wherever life takes me. Billboards are made to stand up to wind & rain & snow, so this would be great for me; I ride year-round. I have gear for every season; much of it second-hand.

By: Karen near Seattle

Karen near Seattle — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:42:17 +0000

We also recycle everything we can at my house. I love to use interesting colorful tin cans with holes punched in the bottom as plant pots. They last a long time before they get too rusty. (Use plastic lids or old pottery plates underneath to catch the drips from watering). I use them also for water pots when painting watercolor paintings. I recycle old t-shirts and sweatshirts by putting them inside the pot holders I make for the kitchen. I tear old cotton clothing and towels into rectangles to use as rags (we save $$$ by not buying paper towels. Don’t forget to save the buttons)! Once when we were flat broke I made laundry detergent and hand cleaner from recycled wood stove ashes by making home made lye from them and rain water. Added some fat and voila! (Don’t try this at home without having had your grandma tell you stories about how she used to do laundry before there was such a thing as laundry detergent)!

By: Gladinette

Gladinette — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:23:01 +0000

GG2G is the best ! I love their stuff, practical yet stylish! My hubby and I recycle everything we can, and for our new baby we opted for cloth diapers, homemade food, and locally made toys and clothes!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:06:47 +0000

The best bags around! I use mine every day as a pocket book and I often use the extra space to stick small bought items (book, tape, bananas to name a few recent items) instead of taking a bag. At the grocery, if I forget my cloth bags, I take all the food out in the cart and put it straight in the car-it really doesn’t take that much longer and I’m more likely to remember the bags next time. My husband uses old glass baby food jars to organize nails, screws, etc. and old yogurt cups make great paint holders for the kids. Wrapping paper is never bought, always reused, AND all those announcements that come home from school are cut into fourths and used regularly for notes.

By: Ed Perchaluk

Ed Perchaluk — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:49:33 +0000

Promo CDs that I receive in the mail become coasters in their second life.

By: Thea Rose

Thea Rose — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:56:33 +0000

I like to make journals from 6 pack holders The cardboard for jackets and scrap paper inside. Also I love pickle jars…for anything

By: Elicia

Elicia — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:26:59 +0000

My husband and I bought a small A-frame cabin with no modern conveniences 7 years ago and have been updating, remodeling and adding onto it (when the baby came!) ever since using as many recycled materials as possible along the way. The best thing about using recycled building materials is that many of them were ‘donated’ to us if we just came and hauled them away from wherever they were. All of our windows, all of our doors (both exterior & interior), some of our major kitchen appliances, approx. 1000 s.f. of subfloor, solid marble countertop, most of our tile, most of our plumbing fixtures, all of our cabinetry and all of our furniture (great looking by the way!) has come from construction sites and remodeling in the area where we live where these items would have been headed for the landfill if they had made it to the extremely large ‘roll-off’ dumpsters at the sites. It has taken a long time and a lot of ’sweat equity’ but we have a fabulous house that we couldn’t have afforded to just buy outright as it is now. And, if we decide to go somewhere else and recycle another old house, we can sell this one to someone who can afford a ‘ready-made’ house like this one and they’ll never know that the beautiful marble countertop was saved from a dumpster!!!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:39:38 +0000

I use old jelly jars for storage of little things like buttons, beads, ect.