Recycled Crafts: Paint Chip Mobile

Want to liven up your living space? Grab some paper scraps and get creative. For inspiration, we asked expert crafter Kayte Terry to share a few ideas from her book Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper (Workman, 2012).

Project #1: Paint Chip Mobile

Why let these strips of color go to waste? Use paint chips for this easy-to-make mobile that catches the breeze in a colorful way.

What you need:

• pencil
  
• 1" circle template (like a spool of thread)
  
• 30-40 paint chips
  
• scissors
  
• access to a sewing machine
  
• thread 
• string or yarn
  
• 2 wooden embroidery hoops (one 5", one 8")
  
• hot glue gun, glue

With the pencil, trace 310 circles on the wrong side of the paint chips using the 1" template. Cut them out with scissors. Take the sewing machine, set to straight stitch, and pick 10-14 paint-chip circles to make your first chain. Line up a half inch apart and feed them through, adding a new paint chip circle until you've finished the first chain. Repeat until you have 20 chains, and lay them flat so they don't tangle.

Now take the large embroidery hoop and cut four 4" lengths of string or yarn, double knotting them equidistantly around the hoop. Then do the same with the smaller hoop with 6" lengths of string. Gather and knot together the untied ends of string. Hang the smaller hoop from a c-clamp attached to a shelf or window ledge. Make sure it hangs level. Put the large hoop below the smaller one, matching up the strings, and tie the larger hoop's strings on the smaller hoop's with a double knot.

Take out the hot glue gun and, starting with the smaller hoop, glue one end of eight paint-chip chains around the outside of the hoop about 1" apart. Repeat on the larger hoop with the remaining thirteen chains.

You should have some leftover circles not used in the chains; use those to glue on the parts of the hoops that are not already covered with circles.

Hang and enjoy!

--image courtesy of Kayte Terry from the book Paper Made!

READ MORE: Make a Key Rack from other repurposed materials!

Travel Light

Jetting around the globe bloats your carbon footprint. Here are some items that help shrink that load.

To spot your bags on the carousel — and to make sure they find their way home if lost — tie MOTHERBOARD GIFTS' Circuit Board Luggage Tags onto your packs. They consist of cast-off computer parts and come in catch-your-eye colors. $20 for a set of three

The GREEN EARTH GUIDES lead you to public transportation, eco-minded businesses, and organic, vegan cuisine. Currently, the books cover France, Spain, Switzerland, Venice, and Vermont, with England and Ireland on the way. $3 to $16

Or you can eschew tips printed on dead trees by downloading all you’ll need onto your iPhone or Android: The TRIPSKETCH GREEN TRAVELER app, which donates 20% of its proceeds to environmental causes, recommends sustainable hotels, walking and paddling tours, “voluntourism” opportunities, outdoor parks, and farmers’ markets. Two other apps to know about are KAYAK’s, which filters car-rental options by gas mileage and whether they’re hybrid, and GETAROUND, a vehicle-sharing service.

Q&A: Kenneth Brower Remembers His Father

Kenneth Brower's father, David Brower, is widely regarded as one of the greatest environmental activists of his time. The elder Brower became the first executive director of the Sierra Club in 1952 and he spearheaded many of the Club's famous wilderness campaigns. He also founded several environmental organizations, including Friends of the Earth, the League of Conservation Voters, and Earth Island Institute.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the legendary activist's birth, Kenneth Brower put together The Wildness Within: Remembering David Brower (Heyday, 2012), a collection of interviews with some of the people whose lives and careers were changed by his father.

Sierra: What was the impetus behind writing The Wildness Within?

Kenneth Brower: I had a couple. One was the idea that this would be a piece of our centennial celebration; it triggered the whole centennial. I also owed Sierra Club a biography of my father. They've been very generous; I’m 8 years too late. The whole biography’s been intimidating, and I haven’t been able to get to it. I thought that this would start the process. I’m hoping to get some raw material together to get the biography going.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of who could tell this kind of story. I could do sequels one, two, three, and four on the people who did cross paths with my father. These just happened to be the ones who came up first. And the challenge was how to limit this, because I really could have gone on for a long time. I didn’t find them repetitious. I found that everyone had their own angle on my father; each person had such a different personality, and had different ways my father started them off with his mentorship.

What is your earliest memory of your father?  

 

20% Off Sierra Club Books for Father's Day

Father's Day is just around the corner. Luckily we have a few ideas to help you celebrate your dad on June 17. Check the Green Life blog all week to find more inspiration. 

10 Great Gifts for Dad from the Sierra Club

Browse the Sierra Club's online store to find outdoorsy volumes for dads of all persuasions. To celebrate Father's Day, we're offering a special deal: Use the discount code DAD2012 at checkout to get 20 percent off!

Here are ten of our favorite reads for dads.

The Bicyclist:

Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents

Jim Malusa

$16.95

 

The Fly-Fisherman:

The River Why 

David James Duncan

14.95

 

Q & A with Garbology Author Ed Humes

Sierra magazine recently sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes to talk about his new book, Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash (Avery, 2012).

SIERRA: Is there a way that we can change today's convenience mindset of disposable everything and come back to a society with less waste?

Edward Humes: J. Gordon Lippencott, the father of corporate branding, gave us the philosophical statement of what the economy would look like after WWII. It was based on getting people to violate their most basic instinct of survival — to be thrifty — and [embrace the idea] that it was a good thing to get rid of perfectly good usable products and replace them with something new. That was the core of this new economy of abundance. It’s an illusion that things will never run out. We are an experiment on waste as the driver of prosperity. 

Well, we do all seem to want to have the most up-to-date technologies. How can we change that?

With the up-to-date technology of days gone by, you could go to the store and buy a television set and bring it home and you could be assured that if something in it failed or some component was developed that was superior, it could be upgraded. There was a built-in longevity to a lot of our products that has gone away. We’ve accepted this idea that durable goods are no longer durable.

What is the most shocking thing that you discovered?

The whole idea that waste has become such a big part of our economy — that it is our top export. Scrap paper and scrap metal are our highest volume exports. We send more of that to China than anything else. They make stuff out of it and sell it back to us. That casts us in the role of China’s trash compacter.

The Joy of Gardening (for Kids): Make Applesauce

We asked gardening-education experts Whitney Cohen and John Fisher to share tips from their new guide The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids (Timber Press, May 2012). This week, Cohen and Fisher will help your kids develop their green thumbs.

Tip #4: Harvest Applesauce

Getting kids to finish their fruits and veggies can sometimes be a challenge — but there are a few healthy snacks that most kids will devour. One of them is applesauce. Cohen and Fisher's recipe guarantees the tough work of growing an apple tree will not go to waste: 

"Here's what you'll need: 5 pounds of apples; 1 (32-ounce) jar apple juice; food mill, if available; large pot with lid; large fork or wooden spoon

Here's what you'll do:

1. If you have a food mill, simply cut the apples in half or, if they are very large, in quarters. If you do not have a food mill, core peel, and cut the apples into halves or quarters.

2. Pour about 1/2 inch of apple juice into a large pot, add the apples, and place over medium heat and cover.

3. When the cooking liquid starts to boil, uncover the pot. Cook the apples for about 30 minutes, stirring and mashing with a large fork [or] wooden spoon . . . until the apples reach your desired consistency.

4. If you have a food mill, pass the mixture through to get smooth applesauce. If not, simply mash up and enjoy a chunky applesauce."

--photo by iStock/creacart

What are your favorite garden recipes?

The Joy of Gardening (for Kids): Squash Edition

We asked gardening-education experts Whitney Cohen and John Fisher to share tips from their new guide The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids (Timber Press, May 2012). This week, Cohen and Fisher will help your kids develop their green thumbs.

Tip #3: Personalize Your Pumpkins

Cohen and Fisher tell us:

"There are not many vegetables that you can write your name on, but you can with squash. When your green little pumpkin is about 3 to 4 weeks old and still on the vine, take a blunt, point object like a nail or ballpoint pen and etch in a word or drawing. In the following weeks, you will see what you drew grow with the pumpkin."

--image by John Fisher

Any other ideas for customized plants? Leave a comment.

The Joy of Gardening (for Kids): The Playground

We asked gardening-education experts Whitney Cohen and John Fisher to share tips from their new guide The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids (Timber Press, May 2012). This week, Cohen and Fisher will help your kids develop their green thumbs.

Tip #2: Encourage Play

When in doubt, throw in a slide. One success story comes from a quick-on-her-feet mom who realized that her children's slide could double as an entrance to the garden. Once inside the garden, kids can collect building materials (bamboo shoots and plum tree branches) to build a teepee or fort.

--image by Sharon Danks

Do you have ideas for creating a garden playground? Leave a comment!

The Joy of Gardening (for Kids): Safety First

We asked gardening-education experts Whitney Cohen and John Fisher to share tips from their new guide The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids (Timber Press, May 2012). This week, Cohen and Fisher will help your kids develop their green thumbs.

Tip #1: Create a Safe Environment

Before you let your kids loose in the family garden, make sure they (and you) know what's good to eat, and what's unsafe. Here's a list of common landscaping plants that have toxic properties:

"Bleeding heart leaves and roots; daffodil, narcissus, hyacinth, and snowdrop bulbs; caladium castor bean seeds; English ivy leaves and berries; euphorbia sap; foxglove leaves and seeds; hydrangea bulbs, leaves, and branches; iris stems and rhizomes; larkspur; lily of the valley leaves and flowers; monkshood; oleander; poinsettia; rhubarb leaves; rhododendron; yew berries."

--image by Stacy Scheel

Have more ideas for keeping your garden safe? Leave a comment!

Book Review: Rebuild the Dream

The problem with the American dream is that too often we're caught sleeping. At the very least, in the bliss of freedom, we let our attention wander as the things in life that matter most fail, are neglected, or are simply taken away.

In his new book, Rebuild the Dream, former special advisor to the Obama White House Van Jones drafts a thoughtful plan for the reconstruction of the simple American ideals and principles that secure the dream of a better life for everyone willing to work hard and play fair. With a vision centered on the benefits of a fully integrated green economy and practices of sustainable living, Jones's book offers a detailed analysis of the circumstances that led to rise of the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement. The author also provides a game plan for political activists looking to transform hope into lasting change and get the U.S. economy working again for everyone.

Invited by the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Jones recently visited Madison to address a crowd of true believers. Drawing upon themes in his book, the co-founder and president an the organization of the same name made a solid connection with an audience eager to return to better times. 

"We don't have to wait," Jones told them. "Once again we can be a nation of neighbors who were raised to look out for one another."