Fusing plastic bags

Here’s a neat idea for reusing plastic bags. I like the idea of sewing up the “fabric” to make grocery totes. If you try it, post your results here and remember to keep a window open while you fuse!

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The Library has a rapidly growing collection of books and dvds on the broad topic of green/sustainable living.   A sampling of recently acquired titles includes:

• Earthbag Building  TH1421.H86 2004 
• Easy Green Living  TX324.L68 2008 
• Geothermal and Solar Energy  TJ808.E54G46 2007 Video disc 
• The Everything Green Living Book TD171.7M375 2007
• Green Remodeling  TH4816.W33 2008
• The Natural Plaster Book TH8135.G84 2003
• Solar Energy: Saved  by the  Sun  TJ810.S28 2007 Video disc
• Water and Wind Power  TJ808.E54W37 2007 Video disc

Check out the display in the Library.

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Elizabeth Royte passed along information about a couple of programs that may be of interest. Cut and pasted from a recent email:

Here’s something on RecycleBank, the program that gives vouchers for goods in exchange for recyclables. Some communities with Recycle Bank include:

• Wilmington, Delaware (first full city program, reached 95% participation and 40% diversion)
• Everett, Massachusetts (went from 95 to 825 lbs/HH/yr.)
• Cherry Hill, New Jersey (uses a community reward model instead of the individual incentives [I really like this])
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1st community to test Recycle Bank in 2004).

RecycleBank is now in 10 states and claims that the communities using this system are averaging a 40% landfill diversion rate.

People who are interested in sustainability issues might want to sign up for e-mail from the Grassroots Recycling Network (grrn.org). They have a list called GreenYes (it’s listed in the left-side nav bar on the home page) where people write in with questions, experts lurk, answer, debate. They cover all kinds of recycling, EPR, composting, language for local ordinances, etc. It’s a searchable database and it made reporting Garbage Land a whole lot easier. I highly recommend it.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

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Follow along as Jon Rolls in the UK embraces a week of Zero Waste. Today is day three for the Rolls household.  http://jrzerowastechallenge.blogspot.com/

Could you do this for a week?

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This blog, from a women in the UK, is an interesting read.  She began by taking part in a Zero Waste challenge in March and her book, The Rubbish Diet will be published in 2009. http://therubbishdiet.blogspot.com/

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Title is followed by call number. Find more titles by searching our catalog. 

Cast-off recast: recycling and the creative transformation of mass-produced objects by Timothy Corrigan Correll and Patrick Arthur Polk, editors.  GN406 .C37 1999

Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart.  TD794.5 .M395 2002

Deceit and denial: the deadly politics of industrial pollution by Gerald E. Markowitz.  RA566 .M265 2002 

Design e²: the economies of being environmentally conscious. Director, Tad Fettig; produced by kontentreal, LLC.  GE195 .D47 2006 Video disc

Economics of waste by Richard C. Porter.  HD4483 .P67 2002

Garbage and recycling by Mitchell Young, ed.  TD791 .G37 2007

Gone tomorrow: the hidden life of garbage by Heather Rogers.  HD4483 .R64 2005

High tech trash: digital devices, hidden toxics, and human health by Elizabeth Grossman.  TD799.85 .G76 2006

Illinois Dead Animal Disposal Act. Administered by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Welfare.  KFI1568 .A3 2007

Recycling and the politics of urban waste by Matthew Gandy.  HD4482 .G36 1994  

Simply green giving: create beautiful gift wrapping, tags, and handmade treasures from everyday materials by Danny Seo.  TT160 .S374 2006

Waste and Want: a social history of trash by Susan Strasser.  HD4482 .S77 1999

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Copies of Elizabeth Royte’s captivating book are available for checkout at Champaign Public Library and Parkland Library.  If you fancy your own copy, buy one at the Parkland College Bookstore and get a 20% discount.  You can even have it signed by the author after her talk at Champaign Public Library on October 15 or at Parkland on October 16.

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“The Story of Stuff” is a well-done, thought-provoking movie that shows what happens when our system of making stuff, distributing stuff, buying stuff and disposing of stuff meets a finite planet. Don’t have 20 minutes to watch the video? Read the annotated script, sign up for their blog or look over the many resources this site provides.

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