Recycling "strikes" the animal kingdom in the form of eating what the Chevys and Toyotas leave behind. You might want to clean it and cook it first, but you've got to admit, it's a really cheap way to get your protein. And it's a way to use resources that would otherwise just go to waste.
Personally, I'm a vegetarian, and so roadkill is off limits. Other foraged foods, though, like wild blackberries, mushrooms, apples, etc., are fair game. They're getting harder and harder to find, especially in a city, but one man, Fergus Drennan, a.k.a. Fergus the Forager, has undertaken a unique personal challenge. On April 1, 2008, he began eating nothing but foraged foods, including roadkill, for a full year.
Even if you're not ready to go on the Roadkill Diet, you can find out more about this unique culinary experiment by heading on over to: www.wildmanfood.com
Book Bike
Gabe Levinson want people to read. To that end he's put together a giant tricycle stocked with books. Every Saturday, he hops on the Book Bike, pedals it to a Chicago park or two and hands out free books. Built by Haley Trikes of Philadelphia, the Book Bike is complete with display cases that open wide and allow Gabe to display over 100 books. Where does he get them? From publishers, of course. Publishers he's talked into providing him with free books to distribute to the reading public.
To find out more about Gabe, the Book Bike, and his other projects, point your browser to: somethingtoread.net
To order a Book Bike of your own, visit: haleytrikes.com
To find out more about Gabe, the Book Bike, and his other projects, point your browser to: somethingtoread.net
To order a Book Bike of your own, visit: haleytrikes.com
The Reconomy Recommends: Weener Ware
So, I was wandering around an art fair this weekend, and, of course saw plenty of the 3P's -- painting, photography, and pottery. Not that there wasn't high quality work there, it's just that I got a big dose of the old been-there-done-that feeling. Then, I happened upon Weener Ware!
No, it's not what you think -- neither hand made sweaters for dachshunds nor custom cock rings were on display. Weener Ware is miniature art inside recycled bottle caps. The artists, Jeanmarie Petro and Barbara Tinger, have paired the art work with the bottle caps and then turned them into necklaces, earrings, hair clips, and other assorted wearable and unwearable accessories. Weener Ware is funky, unique, and a definite conversation starter. It's one fine example of making art from recycled materials, and so, as you might imagine, it is near and dear to my heart.
But don't wait until serendipity leads you and the Weener Ware women to the same art fair. Check it out online at: www.weenerware.com
No, it's not what you think -- neither hand made sweaters for dachshunds nor custom cock rings were on display. Weener Ware is miniature art inside recycled bottle caps. The artists, Jeanmarie Petro and Barbara Tinger, have paired the art work with the bottle caps and then turned them into necklaces, earrings, hair clips, and other assorted wearable and unwearable accessories. Weener Ware is funky, unique, and a definite conversation starter. It's one fine example of making art from recycled materials, and so, as you might imagine, it is near and dear to my heart.
But don't wait until serendipity leads you and the Weener Ware women to the same art fair. Check it out online at: www.weenerware.com
Architectural Salvage
Every city of any size has at least one architectural salvage store. They run the gamut from junk stores that carry mostly beat up old doors and rusty plumbing fixtures to high end shops that carry everything from mammoth clocks to luxurious bathtubs, from carved teak garage doors to stone gargoyles. The stores, besides be just plain fun, are a great places to haunt if you're building a new home, remodeling an old one or just looking for a piece or two of architectural flair. Prices, as you might expect, are considerably lower than new, with things like solid wood doors going for approximately 25% of the new price. And then there are the one-of-a-kind items that Hope Depot will never have.
Check your local phone book, look on the web, or talk to folks in thrift stores and auctions to find the architectural salvage merchants in your region. Happy hunting!
To take a peek at what one mammoth warehouse in Scranton, PA has in store go to:http://oldegoodthings.com
Check your local phone book, look on the web, or talk to folks in thrift stores and auctions to find the architectural salvage merchants in your region. Happy hunting!
To take a peek at what one mammoth warehouse in Scranton, PA has in store go to:http://oldegoodthings.com
Recycled Packaging
Michael Brown was out for a bike ride in Jamestown, R.I. when he became disturbed by all the plastic bottles that littered the roadside. There's got to be away to recycle them and use them for something useful, he thought. A few thoughts later Packaging 2.0 LLC was born.
Now Michael's company creates recycled packaging materials from old plastic bottles under the trademarked SmartCycle label. They produce over 5 million packages annually for clients such as Whole Foods and Microsoft. Michael himself is so gung ho that even wears shirts made from old plastic pop bottles! Proving once again that everything can have a new life and be reincarnated rather than buried in the local landfill.
To get find out more about Packaging 2.0 LLC head over to:
http://www.packaging2.com/index.php
Now Michael's company creates recycled packaging materials from old plastic bottles under the trademarked SmartCycle label. They produce over 5 million packages annually for clients such as Whole Foods and Microsoft. Michael himself is so gung ho that even wears shirts made from old plastic pop bottles! Proving once again that everything can have a new life and be reincarnated rather than buried in the local landfill.
To get find out more about Packaging 2.0 LLC head over to:
http://www.packaging2.com/index.php
Deconstructionism
Deconstructionism isn't just for effete Frenchmen anymore! More and more, people who want to remove and old building are deconstructing, rather than destroying, it. Instead of smashing everything to smithereens with a giant wrecking ball, these new (dare I say postmodern?) deconstructionists are meticulously disassembling buildings and recycling the parts and pieces rather than trashing them. Sort of reverse building with the raw materials being returned to reconomic flow.
To find out more check out:
Unbuilding by Brad Guy and Bob Falk or
http://thereusepeople.org
To find out more check out:
Unbuilding by Brad Guy and Bob Falk or
http://thereusepeople.org
Recycling Significant Others
We all know what BYOB stands for, or do we? Giving new life to an old acronym Recycled Date Parties now use BYOB to stand for Bring Your Old Boyfriend. And that's exactly what the women that attend these parties do -- they bring an old boyfriend, introduce him to other women who are in the market for a "new" boyfriend, and let nature take its course. It's a living, breathing, human example of the old saw "one person's trash is another person's treasure." And another simple approach to do-it-yourself recycling (DIYR), recycling that cuts out the middleman.
Why should you pay E-Harmony, It's Just Lunch, or your local singles bar, buckets of money to find a new Mr. Right, or even a new Mr. Right Now? What are friends for, if they can't share their cast aside lovers with you? One caution: Like most used cars, none of these recycled Romeos come with warranties. Recycled Date Parties are strictly caveat emptor.
Now, what I'm waiting to see is the first group of guys who are brave enough to host a BYOG party!
To find out more check out:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-used-date-perspective,0,3888939.story
Why should you pay E-Harmony, It's Just Lunch, or your local singles bar, buckets of money to find a new Mr. Right, or even a new Mr. Right Now? What are friends for, if they can't share their cast aside lovers with you? One caution: Like most used cars, none of these recycled Romeos come with warranties. Recycled Date Parties are strictly caveat emptor.
Now, what I'm waiting to see is the first group of guys who are brave enough to host a BYOG party!
To find out more check out:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-used-date-perspective,0,3888939.story
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
