recycle your paper into cute little hermes birkin valentines!

another cool way to recycle your paper. visit the hermes website to download templates to make your very own kelly bag. just pick your location, click on “travel the world of hermes,” and select the paper bag pic (”i want it, i’ll have it!”).

what a cute craft to give your valentine, especially filled with some organic chocolate goodies.

thanks for the pics tatertotsandjello and prettyinthecity!

recycle your credit cards into free name rings - courtesy of amex

if you’ve decided to take american express up on their offer to buy you out for $300, recycle your old credit card by turning it into a priceless piece of name jewelry.

here’s how.

this is a card i received in the mail from macy’s after i specifically told them never to send me one again. ahhh, macy’s. my first instinct was to cut it into a million pieces and tell it to begone. but when i thought about all the design work, glittery gold and red pigments (actually quite pretty), energy and plastic it took to make this card, i couldn’t bear to just throw it in the trash.

so here’s what i did:
1. first, cut the part of the card with your name on it off in a long strip.
2. then, cut it to a size that will fit your finger.
3. next, bend the strip around a marker or something that has a similar circumference to your finger to form a loop.
3. last, poke a hole into each side of the strip, and use strong thread to link them.
voila!

you can also use the part of the card that has your account number (after you’ve canceled your account, please) to make a bracelet symbolizing man’s plight (addiction to shopping).

i added an extra lil suttin’ suttin’ to mine with a dior ribbon that i found in a garbage pile right outside of the flagship store on 57th street. all it needed was a good wash.

other ways to deal with unwanted credit cards: when a paper shredder just won’t do

what to do with all your stolen toiletries

i’m always impressed when people can resist grabbing as many soaps, shampoos and sewing kits from their hotel rooms as their luggage can hold. i have yet to develop such willpower and rue my weakness everytime i look at my drawer full of miniature bottles. instead of throwing them away, here are some ideas about what to do with them:

use the showercaps to cover leftovers. it saves saran wrap and is a lot easier to work with.
this one’s obvious - after using up all your shampoo on a trip, clean out the bottle and save it so that you can refill it for your next trip.
building off of that last one, i just started a “waters of the world collection.” fill your empty bottles with water from your destination as a souvenir of your travels.
use the shampoo as dish detergent (or just use it as shampoo!) instead of buying it at the store.
melt all of the soaps down in the microwave and make them into one giant soap. you can buy molds here.
krissy just mentioned something that blew my mind: why don’t hotels just refill those big shampoo/conditioner/soap dispensers that hang on the shower wall instead of giving out individual bottles? it would save money and materials. i’ve stayed at a couple places in europe that do this and i did not even miss the bottles at all! while we’re on the topic, i was excited to see that many hotels are adapting to a system where guests must insert their keycard into a slot in the room for the electricity to work. this way, the tv, ac and other devices do not drain energy when no one is in the room. you can’t leave the lights on either.

shower cap…forgot to take a pic of it in use. kind of defeats the purpose, i suppose.

freecycle friday: theory dress shirt!

this week’s freecycled goodie is a royal purple dress shirt by theory (size s).

seven rivers: why didn’t anyone think of this before?

people are annoyed with me - often.

no, it’s not my nasally voice, my toetapping or even my shoulder cracking that’s to blame. of all things, it’s MY REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BAGS AT STORES. really, people? really?

first it’s denial - she didn’t say she doesn’t want a bag, she’s just mumbling.

then anger - why??? why would you not want a bag? how can you carry things without a bag?

finally, acceptance - okay, fine. suit yourself. dumbass.

you know what, this is ridiculous! if i want to carry home my kalbi in a freakin’ piece of lettuce instead of getting a huge styrofoam box and paper bag with another plastic bag to hold it all, that’s my business. CAN I LIVE???

when i made it home, there wasn’t even a hair on this thing.

with all that fuss over not wanting to use wasteful packaging, i DO purchase bottled when i’m on the go. before you judge me, i just want to say that i really have no choice. you see how much water YOU can hold in a piece of lettuce! anyways, i was really impressed when sarah, a reader, tipped me off about seven rivers. they’ve got this great idea to make machines that dispense pure, clean water all around the city, eliminating the need to buy bottled or drink out of other questionable water sources (extra deep puddle on 3rd ave).

seven rivers is competing right now on ideablob to win 10 Gs to develop their idea. show them you like it by voting for them now!

the really really free market - today!

in case you didn’t get it the first time, it’s free, really. everything!

note: all the information in the pic is old, so please see deets below.

Date: Sunday, March 15th
Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: Hudson Guild Fulton Center (119 9th Ave bet. 17th & 17th St)
Cost: Free

“Really Really Free Market is about as close to karma based sustainability as possible. Several times throughout the year, people get together to share food, music, clothing, services, etc. with one another in a commerce free environment. Bring whatever you’d like to share, or just come down for a day of dancing, hanging out, eating, workshops and general anti-corporate antics.”

how to recycle one of your totes into a hacked snowboard bag!

what’s a girl to do when she needs a snowboard bag and can only afford to spend $28 a week?

why, hack one, of course!

this army-colored oversized tote that the c.l.a.s.s. eco-materials showroom gave away to guests at their nyc launch party was the perfect size. you can use a similar bag or even sew two small duffel bags together.

first, i cut away the bottom of the bag to create two extra pieces that would form the sides of the snowboard bag.

cleo matches my board!

then, i just sewed the two extra pieces to either side of the remaining portion of the bag, et voila!

total cost: $0
total energy used: a little to power the sewing machine, but not nearly as much as it would take to make a brand new snowboard bag

other useful hacks:
check yourself before you wreck yourself: how to recycle those padded inserts that come with your bra
turn your plastic bag into a sewing machine cover
need a new laptop bag? make one out of a recycled t shirt!
laid off? recycle your business cards for waste free catharsis
make your old tank tops into reusable totebags/scarves

check yourself before you wreck yourself: how to recycle those padded inserts that come with your bra

don’t throw them away! if you want to save $7 (approx. cost of a pair of dr. scholl’s inserts), these are a great alternative. total cost: $0

check yourself before you wreck yourself: save $16 by not buying the neutrogena wave

freecycle friday: post your best ecotip to score this steel blue coat by luxe

this week’s freecycled goodie is a steel blue winter coat by luxe with military accents and furry hood (size s).

if you think you can give it a good home, comment on this post with your favorite eco-tip or product.

the comment with the most votes (your friends can vote by commenting with your name) will score this purty coat for free!!!

good luck!

do you have stuff to freecycle to the best ecotip? send an email to swyyne[at]swyyne.com to donate it to the most worthy tip!

freecycle friday: north face snowboarding jacket

i know, i know. it’s not friday today, but i thought i’d move freecycle friday to monday because there are already so many reasons to love friday, and monday really gets no love.

this week’s oldie but goodie is a women’s powder blue north face outer that i used to rock on the slopes (size l). if you think you can give it a good home,

comment on this post with your favorite eco-tip or product.

the best tips will be re-capped at the end of the week, and the one with the most reader votes by 6pm on friday will score this purty north face.

remember - pics of you demonstrating your tip get extra credit!

good luck!

how to recycle styrofoam

after doing some follow-up research on my last post about being jealous of japan’s styrofoam recycling, i found some important information that reinforces the idea that america still rules (sort of).

up until now, i thought that there was really no way to recycle styrofoam (a.k.a. polystyrene) waste in the u.s. but check it out: we currently recycle expanded polystyrene foam packaging at a rate of approximately 10-12% each year. so there must be a way, even if your city’s curbside program doesn’t do it.

here are 3 ways you can bypass the system:

1. you can always save your polystyrene for the next time you need to package something fragile, or use it to make something else - sculptures, crafts, organizational trays

2. mail it back to be recycled: the alliance of foam packaging recyclers shows you how.

3. carry it back: here is a pdf of places in your neighborhood that will take your styrofoam off of your hands.

4. sell it back: the recycled plastic markets database hooks you up with buyers who will pay you for your old styrofoam.

my grandpa pwns me by recycling styrofoam

this is my grampa.

he’s not my real grampa, which is probably why i didn’t inherit his tragically good looks, but look! we do share a love of plaid!

like most japanese grampas, ojiichan, which is what i call my grampa because i have no idea what his real name is, does not know much about planet green, eco-blogging, or even really what the internet is for that matter. so when i went to my grandma and grampa’s mansion (this means apartment building in japanese - so odd!), i was blown away by the magnitude of eco-innovation that exists in their little household. in japan, it is not unheard of for thick booklets of more than 20 pages to be distributed showing people how to sort their trash, and community crusaders have been known to dumpster dive to investigate the whereabouts of improperly sorted garbage so that they can return it to the non-compliant owners.

since i usually pride myself on being the annoying eco-cop in any group, i almost swallowed my muscat flavored gum when i confidently tossed away a thin, plastic wrapper from some noodles (you know, the kind that comes on cup-a-noodle), only to be pwned by ojiichan who showed me the six bags he set out to sort trash. six! he told me to throw the wrapper into one bag and a twist tie that i was trying to throw out into another. a twist tie!

but here is the clincher - japanese people recycle styrofoam!

jepsra’s mascot: his darn pants are part of his shell. he went as far as to recycle his shell! how can i possibly compete?

anyhow, i found this info on the japan expanded polystyrene recycling association or jepsra’s website, and thought it was both interesting and envy-inducing.

the collection method:

note: epsy plazas are recycling bases for styrofoam. the “eps” stands for expanded polystyrene and the “y” is to make it sound cuter.

how the eps gets recycled:

these are the most current charts i could find about eps recycling in japan. if anyone has any newer information, please share!

turn your plastic bag into a sewing machine cover

despite the utter yuckiness i feel for apple, i can’t help but be drawn to the disgustingly pretty things they churn out, and this here sky blue bag is no exception.

does anyone remember this one? i got it when i purchased my ibook way back when, and still remember feeling more in awe about the bag than i did about the computer! it’s been in my closet for years now and instead of trashing it, i wanted to honor it by making it into a cover for my sewing machine!

the steps are fairly simple:

1. cut off the bottom and top inch or so of the bag and turn it inside out.

2. trace the outline of the item you want to make a cover for, leaving about an inch and a half for the hem.

3. sew along the outline you traced and try it on for size. if it fits correctly, trim the edges off so that it looks like this:

4. turn your completed cover right side out and voila!

you can also cut a little side slit out for any plugs or wires that need to poke out.

now your sewing machine, toaster oven, or mao zedong bust can stay dust-free and you have saved another bag from the dump! pat yourself on the back, mister!

need a new laptop bag? make one out of a recycled t shirt!

those crafty folks at make magazine (they’re just so much cooler than me and there’s really nothing i can do) have done it again - this time with their recycled ishirt:

check out the useful pockets.

the before pic:

i truly wonder if this pic would have gotten the same reception had it been a pc instead of a mac. it just makes me miss my macdaddy all the more…but you didn’t hear that heppie. heppie? oh, who am i kidding, you really can’t even come up with an acceptable, non-veneral diseaseish name for an hp. hprince? okay, it’s over. i do have altec lansing speakers though so take that macs.

laid off? recycle your business cards for waste free catharsis

don’t throw those business cards away yet!

if you’ve recently been relieved of your duties, or if you decided to relieve yourself of your duties, your first instinct might be to do away with your leftover business cards in a less than dignified manner. after all, a job is not unlike a significant other, and most people think it’s healthiest to purge all reminders of an ex after a breakup, especially if it is a painful one.

but think back - you didn’t just throw all of hector’s stuff in trash did you? you responsibly peddled his flight of the conchords dvds on ebay and reuse his t-shirt as a kitchen rag.

you can employ the same strategy to recycle those business cards! after all, they bear your name and lend more credibility than scrawling on a person’s forearm. the fact that they are a free and do not promote arborcide (yes, that is really a word!) are icing on the cake.

step 1: cut away any parts of the card that mention your old company’s name or contact info. let this be a cathartic experience. breathe deeply or chant or something.

step 2: apply a thin layer of glue to the back of the card. i know, not as cool as step 1.

step 3: cut out a piece of recycled paper (i used old notepads that i had in my desk with my name on them) that match the dimensions of your card. you can get crazy with it and print designs, pics, or your logo on it first if you like.

step 4: gently line the paper backing up to your card and press in place.

step 5: flip the card over and write in any info that you cut in step 1 - but remember to use your personal info instead of your former employer’s.

et voila!

keep looking »

why is this a site?

swyyne has always been an experiment for me. with all of the other super eco sites out there, i've been feeling like i want to contribute something just a bit different. so for now, here are my random musings.