Reuse that old luggage!

melissa — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:11:13 +0000

Have you been dying to figure out how to make a chandelier out of plastic store hangers? Wondering what to do with all those empty cookie tins you receive over the holidays (since you know you shouldn’t just throw them out)? Have you agonized over what to do with your Samsonite luggage now that you have to pay just to put it on the plane? Well ReadyMade magazine has the answers to these questions, and then some!

I happened upon ReadyMade while trying to decide what magazines to subscribe to for Zachary’s school fundraiser. I did not want another year of Entertainment Weekly, but needed to select something. In a happy accident, I subscribed to a mag called “ReadyMade”. According to their site,

ReadyMade is a bimonthly print magazine for people who like to make stuff, who see the flicker of invention in everyday objects — the perfectly round yolk in the mundane egg.

Whoever their promo writer is needs to be fired. ReadyMade is so much more than this! Sure, they do show you über-cool things to make out of new and used materials (which I’m particularly interested in), but they also have cool ideas for people who live in small spaces; their holiday issue has some groovy Christmas ideas; and they spotlight interesting people and eclectic music. For 90 minutes I was in 3 R’s nirvana! They really do show you how to make a chandelier out of those clear, plastic store hangers. And those cookie tins make a sweet multi-tier serving tray for other goodies to display. As for the luggage, check this out:

You really can turn your old luggage into a dog bed. Check out the ReadyMade website for the instructions.

What stinks is that this mag is only bi-monthly. Now I have to wait 2 more months for my next slew of projects-I’ll-probably-never-finish, since I’ve already dog-eared every other page in the first two issues I have.

Those Aussies know how to collect garbage!

melissa — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:49:16 +0000

I’ve become somewhat of a “green” nazi. Not in a crazed, militaristic way, but in a I-will-go-back-out-to-the-car-for-my-canvas-bags way. I have about 20 of them in the trunk of my car, and if I forget to take them into the store, I will gladly pay .99 for another one. They are just so damn handy.

But I digress. I wanted to post this amazing diagram of a Sydney trash collection site. Per the article from “Wired” magazine:

“…a facility in Sydney that combines every trash-sorting technology imaginable–wind sifters, optical scanners, magnets, electrical currents. It diverts 75% of the city’s waste stream to recycling, conserving landfill space and cutting down on greenhouse gases.“

Yes, you read that correctly. 75% in Sydney, Australia—the most densely populated city in Australia. We’re talking around 4.2 million people who, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, average 1 tonne of solid waster, per person, per year. So, 4.2 million x 1 tonne = 4.2 million tonnes / 75%…I can’t even do that kind of math. Where’s my abacus?

The process is truly amazing:

click to enlarge and read

Pretty awesome. Too bad we can’t do something like that over here.

The Web-Betty Blog » recycle

Reuse that old luggage!

Those Aussies know how to collect garbage!