alexander mcqueen to paris fashion world: wake up and smell the rubbish!
swyyne is in paris this week (sorry about the shortage of posts, i’ve been busy eating things like pig snouts and cockles!), and what better time to report about fashion’s favorite misfit alexander mcqueen trashing fashion at paris fashion week?
mcqueen challenged fashion’s throwaway culture with a runway made of broken glass, ravishing costumes made of trash and hideously lovely models.
check out the full scoop here.
pics courtesy of inhabitat
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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.
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first, i cut away the bottom of the bag to create two extra pieces that would form the sides of the snowboard bag.
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cleo matches my board!
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then, i just sewed the two extra pieces to either side of the remaining portion of the bag, et voila!
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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
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freecycle friday winner yoon choi!
congratulations to the winner of the very first freecycle friday ever - yoon choi!
here are [some of] yoon’s eco-tips:
eco-tip #1: I use all the leftover veggies, meat, noodles, dumplings, and even kimchi to make a big soup at the end of the week. This can be served with rice, over rice and even mixed up with rice noodles.
eco-tip #2: I save plastic bags from the grocery store to collect cat litter.
eco-tip #3: Recycle paper. It’s so easy. Just separate them from the other recyclables.
eco-tip #4: I wash and reuse wooden chopsticks, plastic containers from take out places and keep all unused tissue from restaurants in my car for the kids.
check out our lovely runner up linda’s eco-tip here.
see more free stuff here.
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freecycle friday: post your best eco-tip to score this north face jacket
it’s finally friday!
this week’s freecycled goodie is a women’s powder blue north face outer (size l).
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 north face.
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good luck!
check out more free stuff here and remember to check back on monday for next week’s freecycle friday giveaway. i promise it will be a good one.
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white castle tries a different color on for size - green!
white castle, how can i explain how much i love you? we’ve been through so much together - sleepless nights in college when i found solace in your deliciously steamed slyders, a bad batch of clam strips that i eventually overcame and a fender bender caused by my fervor for your chicken rings (can you believe that the guy understood that i was in a rush to get to white castle and drove away with no questions asked?).
you’re america’s oldest burger chain, and you’ve stayed in the game because you know how to evolve. i’m proud of you for your recent switch to 100% recycled crave cases and sacks and encourage you to keep up the good work. don’t be discouraged by people who might call the move greenwashing. you were able to overcome the public’s hesitancy to eat ground beef in the 20s with your sparklingly immaculate towers of white, and kept them coming back for more with your juicy little burgers and unwaveringly crunchy onion rings.
in case anyone is interested, white castle also takes the following steps to conserve energy and reduce waste:
they have been committed to reusing and recycling the outer bun cartons since 1965.
the company has used duro-last white roofing for new restaurant construction since 1992. duro-last reflects over 86% of the sun’s energy, reducing energy costs. duro-last is a charter partner in the energy star roof products program, sponsored by the u.s. environmental protection agency.
white castle recycles thousands of pounds of metal each year and approximately 1200 pounds of recyclable plastics per year.
led lighting used in 55 white castle restaurant locations reduced co2 by 948 tons per year. each unit retrofit reduces co2 emissions by 17 tons per year.annual electricity savings is $2,550 per store from an investment of approximately $10,000 per store.
plans are underway for more environmentally responsible initiatives including storm water bioretention and use of more green building materials in the construction of restaurant buildings.
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verterra plates
how satisfying would it be to gather up all the fallen leaves in your yard and turn them into something beautiful and useful instead of throwing them away or burning them?
the folks at verterra seem to think it is. they collect fallen leaves from plantations, spray them with high pressure water, sterilize them and morph them into these minimalistic disposable plates. they also recapture over 80% of the water they use and the whole process uses only a fraction of energy that recycling does. what a bunch of overachievers!
the smooth, gradiated finishes remind me of those big, wooden salad bowls from the 70s.
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green is the way to “go”
ecocoffins by creative coffins are crafted from unbleached pulp which is made out of at least 60% recycled paper and wood pulp sourced from sustainable forests. each coffin weighs under 10kgs which drastically reduces the transportation (oil) costs associated with death baskets. why anyone would choose a traditional sarcophagus when these radical designs are out there is baffling to me.
hey, if you’re going to go through all that trouble customizing your ipod, why not your final resting place?
imagine your friends and family gathered around this beauty.
this is the one i’m eyeing for my own final resting spot. it’s called the comedian. “rest in peas.”
get it? chuckle.
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toby ann stavisky, your letter was less disappointing than your website
as you may recall from my post entitled toby ann stavisky, your website really disappoints me, toby ann stavisky’s website really disappointed me.
not only was the “your opinion counts” page on her site a blank page, the “email senator toby ann stavisky” button resulted in a dead link! if only you knew how much that hurt, toby ann.
i’m not trying to toot my own horn, but a couple of days after my post, i checked back on the stavisky site and things were looking up. the dead link to ms. stavisky’s email had been repaired and i was able to write to her about the bigger better bottle bill.
here is the letter that she (intern working on a $30/week stipend) wrote back to me!
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the letter is somewhat vague, but ms. stavisky states that she “supports measures to improve the environment.” indifferent satisfaction was my first reaction until my mailbox was bombarded with a pile of flyers and brochures about toby ann’s campaign that did NOT appear to be printed on recycled paper. so it seems that the cycle of pain continues.
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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.
look for stuff
feed yourself