Funky Fall Freebie!

We have some fun and funky fall bags hanging out around here and thought a freebie was in order! How about it?

Remember those sweatshirts that people would make in the 80's with the cutout fabric and then they would put puffy paint around the edges. Yup, sigh. I never wore one (in public anyway) but my mom had several. One for every holiday. Really. Well, a bolt of that fabric with a fall theme came through Green Bag Lady. Instead of scaring all of you off by making puffy paint sweatshirts, we opted for funky bags. Blast from the past? Yes, please.

We also have some sweet little halloween bags for kids. So enter the whole family (up to 3 entries) if you like!

To enter this freebie do the following:

•LEAVE A COMMENT, IN THE COMMENT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THIS FORMAT: name(at)something(dot)com it is important to spell out dot and at so you don't get spam, if you DO NOT leave an email address, you will not be entered in the freebie.

•In your comment, tell us your favorite thing about fall.

•DEADLINE FOR THE FREEBIE IS 10 PM (CST) Saturday, October 1, 2011. (winners announced Sunday October 2)

•NINETEEN LUCKY WINNERS WILL BE RANDOMLY CHOSEN FROM THE 

COMMENTS TO WIN!

•Since we have kids bags, each family can enter up to THREE times. Please tell us in the comment which family member is entering, but use the SAME email in all your entries, thanks!

Don't forget to leave us your email and your favorite thing about fall! Good luck--Teresa

New to Green Bag Lady? Click HERE.

Just In Case vs. Just In Time

I posted about THIS ARTICLE sometime back in the nether reaches of this blog. The gist of it is get what you need for right now and don't worry about what you might need in the future. Ever since I started Green Bag Lady in January of 2008, I have witnessed this on countless occasions.

There have been many times (especially in the beginning stages of this project) when we were just about to run out of fabric. I would be racking my brain to think of new ways of getting more only to get home and have 3 bins sitting on my back patio. Yessssssssssss!

After this happened a few times, I learned to let go and let the universe take over knowing we would always have the fabric we needed. Even when I was feeling stressed about work, family, AND Green Bag Lady. My dad stepped in and said, "Why don't you let me do the shipping and emailing." Um, yes, please. Huge weight off my shoulders. I don't know what I would do without him now!

Other times when we needed huge numbers of bags for an event, people would suddenly offer to help. Even if they sewed 10, 50, or 100 bags, it all added up to just what we needed.

So, what does this have to do with a photo of a rubber band ball? Bagette Barbara called with a sewing machine question yesterday. I stopped over at her house to lend a hand. Next to the machine was the rubber band ball. Before I left she asked if I had any need for it. Why, yes, I do! I told her that just the other day I reached for the rubber bands in my office only to find they were all too old and broke every time I tried to stretch them. Ugh. I kept meaning to ask my office manager to order more, now I don't have to! Thanks Barbara for being Just In Time.

Thanks to all of you, Dad, Bagettes, fabric donators, bag users, blog readers, etc. You are ALL Just In Time. Teresa

How well do you know plastic?

Source
Take this short quiz over on National Geographic to find out. I got one wrong. Let me know if you get them all right! Good luck! Teresa

Dear Mother Earth…

Dear Mother Earth--

You rock my world, I mean…you ARE my world.

Hugs--Teresa

P.S. The lightening in the video is my fav!

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, El Salvador, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Lake Titicaca, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line), a satellite (55sec) and the stars of our galaxy. 

FAB…

These lights on Fab from ABYU make me smile…then the price makes me frown…then the fact that they look simple enough for anyone to make puts the smile back on my face…

What are you still doing sitting there reading this crazy blog? Go, finish that laundry detergent and make yourself a super cool lamp, go, make it, then send me a photo…gotta love me some upcycling! Teresa

Alabama Chanin Market Bag!

DIY market bag from Alabama Chanin

Need a craft project for October? How about this handsome DIY market bag from designer activist Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin? It’s all organic cotton, worked in Chanin’s signature reverse appliqué and available in gray and black or white and navy. The kit includes all the supplies to complete the Market Bag from her book “Alabama Studio Style: More Projects, Recipes and Stories Celebrating Sustainable Fashion and Living” (STC Craft/A Melanie Falick Book, 2010, $35). If you already have the book, instructions are on Page 107. If not, you can add the book to your order for $27.50 and find therein plenty more inspiring sewing projects — and recipes too.

DIY market bag, $72.65 from Alabama Studio Style DIY. 

Reposted from the Los Angeles Times HERE.

Thanks to Harmony for telling me about this. Have a great weekend everyone! Teresa

Yay Method!

Lisa P. Jackson of the EPA, Adam Lowry of Method and Karen Mills of the SBA. The ocean bottle is on lectern on the left.

Method, the company that used green chemistry to turn age-old concepts for making and marketing soap on their head, has come up with another innovation that explodes a long-held idea -- that the trash trapped in the North Pacific Gyre is unredeemable.

Working with Envision Plastics in Southern California, Method came up with a model for collecting and upcycling some of the debris that's swirling in the currents of the gyre, a swath of ocean covering 20 million square kilometers.

By some estimates, the amount of plastic awash in the ocean is twice the size of Texas and in some areas the ratio of plastic to plankton is now 10 parts of plastic to 1 part of plankton, according to Jared Blumenfeld, the head of the EPA in the Pacific Southwest.

Read rest of article from Lisa Guevarra at greenbiz.com HERE.

Upcycled iPhone Stand…so awesome…

Check it out, posted by twitter user @danlane:

So cool. No modification, just purely repurposed recording tape cases, that NO ONE uses anymore. Awesome!

From HERE.

You all know I love this kind of thing! Make useful stuff out of stuff not being used! Teresa

Art from Trash…

Linda Wise
ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a manager for a garbage company in Eureka, California. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of waste humans generate. Objects seem to lose their usefulness so quickly in our society. But many things are still useful. The reality of waste is that there really is no such thing as waste. Most items that are discarded still have usefulness. Today waste is used as a raw resource that can be transformed into building materials, playground mats, new containers, compost, energy and in my case, ART! When I go to the dump, I don’t see waste. I see the potential for sculptured deer, cows, goats, warrior women, benches and gates. I let the objects that I find give me direction to what forms my sculptures will take, some abstract, some functional, some serious and some are whimsical.


Cool, huh?? Teresa

Dear Mother Earth…

Source

Dear Mother Earth--

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!

Your BFF, Teresa

Bless Bag

Cool bag that makes into a bracelet! Wow! Steep price tag though. 

However, I am not opposed to ANY of you that would like to start wearing your Green Bag Lady bag as a bracelet. You won't forget them in the car and the price tag is just right! Send me a photo and I'll post it! Teresa

Plethora of Produce Bags WINNERS!

Congratulations to the following lucky folks…

Winners of the 10 sets of 3 produce bags are:

Julie Drevinskis, CANADA
Cecillia Xiao, CANADA
Laurie Dyer, UT
Paula Trevisan, ARGENTINA
Sharon Murray, FL
Donna Painter, MI
Violeta Petrova, BULGARIA
Laura Willett, WA
Nalani McClendon, IL
Amanda Spinelli, MA

Please look for an email from Bagette Dad. He will be asking for your mailing address so we can send you your prize. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER. We have issues with emails going to spam. Thanks and enjoy!

The emails will look like this:
Green Bag Lady, ProduceBags_9_2011

Also, due to a travel schedule, it will be at least a week before any mailings. Please be patient.

Plethora of Produce Bags Freebie!

Lots-o-produce bags!

We've had a bunch of thin fabric come through Green Bag Lady lately. I pile it up, take it home & wash it. When the pile gets big, I make a slew of produce bags out of it. I have been busy lately, 92 bags busy. We are going to take lots of them to the Farmers Market here and encourage people to use them instead of the plastic ones, but I have 30 earmarked for you!

How about 10 sets of 3 for TEN of you? Sound grand? :)

Also, if you enter this freebie and don't already have a shopping bag from us, we will send you one. Win, win!

To enter this freebie do the following:

•LEAVE A COMMENT, IN THE COMMENT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THIS FORMAT: name(at)something(dot)com it is important to spell out dot and at so you don't get spam, if you DO NOT leave an email address, you will not be entered in the freebie.

•In your comment, tell us what produce you buy most often (apples, oranges, lettuce, etc)

•DEADLINE FOR THE FREEBIE IS 10 PM (CST) Tuesday, September 20, 2011. (winners announced Sept 21)

•TEN LUCKY WINNERS WILL BE RANDOMLY CHOSEN FROM THE COMMENTS TO WIN a set of three produce bags!

Don't forget to leave us your email what produce you buy most often! Good luck--Teresa

New to Green Bag Lady? Click HERE.


PS, thank you for your lovely comments so far. To answer a question asked in the comments:


Q: Are the produce bags just for transport or can they be used in the frig?


A: They are for both, I keep my lettuce in them in the frig all the time. If I use them for this or for any wet produce, I wash them.

Victory for ChicoBag! YAY!

Source

Bag Wars | Plastic Bag Giants Superbag and Advance Poly Split from 

Hilex Poly, Drop Out of Lawsuit Against ChicoBag

Hilex Poly, standing alone, settles case with ChicoBag and agrees to change position on windblown litter and recycling rates.

Chico, Calif. – The ChicoBag Company, a reusable bag company, has announced today that the lawsuit filed against it by Hilex Poly Company, LLC, Superbag Operating, LTD., and Advance Polybag, Inc. – three of the largest domestic manufacturers of disposable single-use plastic bags – has ended. The plastic bag giants, which have also sued municipalities over bag bans or fees, had initiated the suit against ChicoBag alleging that the company’s “Learn the Facts” page, (which contains widely accepted third party statistics regarding the impact of single-use plastic bags on the environment) was false and misleading, and had resulted in ‘irreparable harm’ to their companies. When ChicoBag challenged these three plastic bag companies to back up their allegations and asked for the true recycling rate for plastic bags among other things, Superbag and Advance Polybag provided little in response and subsequently dropped out of the case. Hilex Poly, the lone plaintiff without the support of its peers, agreed to settle the case the trio had brought against ChicoBag.

Rest rest of the article HERE.

On this same topic from 5 Gyres Blog:

For all the money and PR spin that industry spent trying to hurt a little guy, they ended up shooting themselves in the foot with an RPG, and I think the preliminary ruling in Marin, California earlier this week by Judge Lynn Duryee sums up how industry spin efforts are going:

As the county points out in its opposition, "In the pantheon of lost causes, defending the plastic grocery bag would seem to be right up there with supporting smoking on planes or the murder of puppies. The ubiquitous thin white bag has moved squarely beyond eyesore into the realm of public nuisance, a symbol of waste and excess and the incremental destruction of nature." In jurisdictions with a marine environment, such as Marin, plastic bags are especially damaging to the environment. Plastic bags have no recycling market. It takes 500 years for them to decompose. And they have created a major solid waste issue for Marin. It was therefore a reasonable legislative and regulatory choice for Marin County, after years of study, to ban plastic bags while imposing a fee on paper bags. Such a regulation assures "the maintenance, restoration, enhancement or protection of the environment" which also does not have a "reasonable probability of a significant effect on the environment due unusual circumstances" In reviewing the County's legislative actions, the court finds no abuse of discretion. The count appropriately concluded that the ordinance is exempt pursuant to Guidelines sections 15307 and 15308.

Judge Lynn Duryee is one of my new favorite people! Teresa

Russia Bag!

Teresa! Hello from Russia!

My name is Margarita. Many thanks to you! I love my Green Bag! It's very convenient & ECO!

And I send photo with me and my Green Bag #16889. 

Thanks again! I'm glad.

Indonesian Islanders Try to Turn the Tide Against Trash

Residents of 'Lucky Java,' Swamped With Garbage From Jakarta, Heed Push to Turn It Into Treasure

All Photos Source: Wall Street Journal

By ERIC BELLMAN

UNTUNG JAWA ISLAND, Indonesia—Used diapers, plastic bags, foam mattresses and tons of other garbage wash daily onto the shores of Untung Jawa Island, posing a monumental trash problem. Island leader Eko Suroyo prefers to see it as a trash opportunity.

Untung Jawa—literally "Lucky Java"—lies five miles across the Java Sea from Jakarta, one of the world's biggest cities. Because greater Jakarta can't handle all of its waste, some of its 20 million residents dump their debris into canals that flow through the city and into the sea—putting much of their trash on a crash course with the beaches and mangroves of this half-mile-long island of 2,000 inhabitants.

Having failed to turn back the tide of trash, Untung Jawans are taking another tack.

Read rest of Wall Street Journal article HERE.

Check out SOURCED…

Check out SOURCED bags. All made from upcycled materials including truck tarps, seat belts and tires. Awesome! Teresa

G-E-N-I-U-S, Geeennniusssss!

I cannot express to you how much I loooove this kind of thing. Make useful stuff out of the stuff that is out there being useless!!!!!! This guy, Illac Diaz is one of my heroes! Teresa

via Recyclart

California Event Bags!

Dear Teresa,

Here are the pics from the Pitzer Event at Electric Works. We had the bags laid out on a table in the foyer so they were the first thing people saw. It was thrilling to watch people pour over them and make their selection.

Best,
Judith
(of Richard and Judith from this post and this post)

On a side note, I am thrilled that Barefoot Wines made a short film about Richard and Judith, you can find information about it on Facebook HERE. Will you join me at the premier on September 20? And, if you look close, you can see the Green Bag Lady bags I made for Richard and Judith to help with their beach plastic collecting. :) Teresa

Washington Bag!

I received my bag and I absolutely love it although by looking at the photo I may never get to use it.  My granddaughter Estie saw me opening it and grabbed and said she wanted it.  She loves the fabric and the color.  She says it's perfect for school - and she says thank you!

Dona Reynolds
www.worldofcharitystitching.blogspot.com

In rememberance…

Painting by Jasper Johns: source

of everything that happened on this day 10 years ago…

sigh

Teresa

Plastic Tumbleweeds…Guest Post from Bagette Dad…

Today, as I was coming back from lunch, a plastic bag blew in front of my car. What a shame I thought, but wait a minute, I can do something about that.

So I STOPPED THE CAR, got out and went back to get it. It blew high in the air, and I expected it to get away, but it blew right back to me. I caught it in the air (score 1).

On the way back to the car, I picked up another one (score 2) and some other stuff, see photo. It only took a minute, but that's one less plastic tumbleweed blowing in the wind. (grin)

So here is my challenge: actually STOP(safely of course), GET OUT and retrieve a plastic bag.

Send us a picture, and I will send you a Green Bag Lady bag. You can keep the one you caught :)

STOP THE CAR! Make a difference!!

Have you caught a bag today?

Bagette Dad

First of the Season…

Here in Nashville we went from 100 degrees to 60 in a 24 hour period. Yikes! One day short sleeves, the next a sweater. I'm still waiting for it to warm up some. Hope springs eternal, right? On Monday I finally couldn't stand it anymore and had to make a pot of soup to take the chill out of my bones. I have been making this soup for years, since big girl was tiny. I never followed a recipe, just threw things in a pot, but my family loves it. I finally had enough requests for an actual recipe that I wrote it down a while back.

Teresa's Vegetable Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils
1 cup green lentils (both washed)
1/2 medium onion diced
12 cups vegetable broth (I use this kind and LOVE it, organic, fair trade, I get it at Whole Foods, I even brought some on the boat with me)
3 bay leaves
3 stalks celery diced
3 1/2 cups chopped broccoli (can be frozen, if so, one bag)
2 cups peas (can be frozen, one bag)
2 cups carrots (cut in circles)
1 1/2 cups small pasta (ABC's, O's, small shells, stars, etc)
*if desired, you can also add mushrooms, beans, corn, etc.

Pour all broth in stock pot on stove on high, add rinsed lentils and
bring to a boil for 20 minutes until lentils are soft, add onion,
carrots, bay leaves, and celery, cook on Med-high for 15-20 min.
Reduce heat to Med-low add Broccoli, peas, and pasta and cook until
pasta is tender. Reduce heat to low and let all flavors simmer and
mix, add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked/diced chicken or turkey if
desired.

Goes great with buttered bread! :)


Happy Friday! Teresa

Alabama Chanin + Organic '11 Winners!

Alabama Chanin

Congratulations to the Alabama Chanin winners:


Winner of her choice of Natalie's books is Laura Poulette who said:
"I appreciate the jaunt across the south the cotton takes before it reaches Alabama-so many steps. First time visitor to your site, what a cool project!"


Winner of the workshop spot is Susan Beckett who said:
"I am from Florence and did not know that Project Alabama started as a documentary about the making of the 200 shirts. I would love to see the documentary??? I would really love to take the workshop next spring!"


All of your comments were so warm and thoughtful I wanted to curl up in them and take a nap! Welcome to all the new people to Green Bag Lady. Look around and stay awhile. Like us on Facebook to be updated on all our giveaways.


Happy thoughts to all of you. Have a wonderful weekend, I know Laura and Susan sure will! Teresa

Alabama Chanin + Organic '11 FREEBIE!

Source

The very lovely Natalie Chanin is with us this week for a fabulous Organic '11 Freebie! I first met Natalie here in Nashville at a workshop hosted by my local fabric store. It was wonderful…she was wonderful. The day after the workshop, I got a nice email from her thanking me for the bag (of course I gave out bags) and how much she liked the Green Bag Lady project. I was (and still am) honored.

Natalie's work in the fashion industry in amazing. If you don't know much about her, please read this interview about her commitment to sustainable clothing. All of the clothing is MADE BY HAND. Yes, you read that correctly, not with machines, by hand, in Alabama.

This is a quote from Natalie from the interview, "Our company is really unusual. The entire process is linked from start to finish. Every piece is cut by hand, painted by hand, embellished by hand and constructed by hand. We only work with a certified organic cotton jersey grown by farmers in Texas. The cotton fiber is sent to North Carolina for spinning into thread, then to South Carolina for knitting into the fabric before being sent back to North Carolina to be dyed and lastly sent here to the studio to cut, paint and preparing for our artisans here in Florence. Every garment is numbered and signed by the artisan who constructs it."


We have 2 prizes for this freebie, one is a book. You can pick either of Natalie's books shown in the photo below. (this way if you already have one, you can get the other)

Both books are beautiful and contain a variety of hand sewing projects. Below is the shirt I completed from the workshop I attended. It was really fun to make!

The second prize that Natalie is offering is so generous, I'm jealous of the person that wins. It is a spot in their upcoming Saturday workshop on May 5, 2012 (valued at $149) in Florence, Alabama! WOW!*


To enter this freebie do the following:

•LEAVE A COMMENT, IN THE COMMENT LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THIS FORMAT: name(at)something(dot)com it is important to spell out dot and at so you don't get spam, if you DO NOT leave an email address, you will not be entered in the freebie.

•In your comment, tell us something you learned about Alabama Chanin from the interview.

•DEADLINE FOR THE FREEBIE IS 10 PM (CST) Thursday, September 8, 2011. (winners announced Sept 9)

•TWO LUCKY WINNERS WILL BE RANDOMLY CHOSEN FROM THE COMMENTS TO WIN! (If you would not be able to attend the workshop, it's ok, you can still enter to win the book, just let us know in the comments)

Good Luck + a huge thank you to Natalie and everyone at Alabama Chanin for their spirit and generosity! Teresa

Natalie also has a lovely blog I encourage you to bookmark. Hmmm…so nice…

*winner is responsible for travel to and from the workshop, prize includes only the workshop fee

Entries limited to US residents, thank you.

Not familiar with Green Bag Lady? Click HERE.

Guest post from Bagette Dad…

I estimate that a Green Bag Lady bag holds as much as they put in 3 plastic bags.

It should last 3 years. And, if used each week that's:

3 x 52 x 3 x over 17000 bags that are NOT in landfills.

DO THE MATH! Make a difference!!

Have you hugged your bag today?

Thanks Teresa!!!

Bagette Dad


P.S. a few people have begun to report that their bags are wearing out. Maybe we should offer to replace them at 1/2 the original price :)
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Thanks for the post Dad. If any of you have bags that are worn out, please send us a photo and your bag # and we will replace it! Email Bagette Dad at bagettedad(at)gmail(dot)com--Teresa

Skype to Thailand…

Remember this post? I got to Skype with Wendy's class last night. Look at them, aren't they adorable? It was so great to talk to them in person and answer their questions. The school is making a big push this year to be more green and I got to be a tiny part of it! Yay!

I'm suddenly hungry for Thai food. I should just go visit the country and see all these cuties in person! Have a great Labor Day those of you in the USA. Teresa

Nice email on the last post…

I thought you all might enjoy this from Bagette Barbara…


Hi Teresa,

I read your Fair Trade blog post. Since moving to Nashville where there are so many second hand stores to buy clothes and so many yard sales to buy "stuff", the only new items I buy at department stores is underwear, bathing suit and sneakers.  Working at home and the volunteering I do do not require any fancy clothes. I have 2 outfits that I can wear when I officiate at weddings and have been able to do just that since I never see the people again, and that saves a lot.  We had 3 yard sales in Maine before moving so we have been on a mission not to accumulate more stuff to have to move again.  Also, since our income was reduced with Glenn becoming a student and me not doing title searching, that helps keep me out of stores too. :-)

I think we have a tendency to spend more as we earn more, but I have always been happiest when I need to conserve, reuse and give homemade items as gifts.  And that, my friend, is my story. :-)

Barbara

Fair Trade Clothes

Photo by Lewis Hine
Source

What are you wearing today? I'm sure you carefully picked out pants, shirt, sweater, shoes, etc because of the way they looked and how you feel when you wear them. But, did you think about who made you those clothes and where they came from? Probably not. I'm guilty too, those $5.99 t-shirts on the shelf at Target are SO tempting! Oooh, a new color that I love and it's so cheap!

But, as Aimee Friedrichsen of the blog "Someone's Gotta Pay" points out, we have cheap things in this country because someone else in another country worked long hours for little pay. Something to think about. My challenge to you is this, the next time you go to the store, ask yourself some simple questions before you throw that t-shirt in your cart:

•Do I REALLY need it? (this should be the first question you ask)
•Where was it made? (look at the tag)
•Could I get this second hand? (not underwear of course)
•Is there an alternative to this item that is made in the USA or by ethical Fair Trade means? (may take a little research)

Maybe by the time you are done asking yourself these questions you will:
A) be so confused and exhausted that you will just skip the t-shirt
B) decide you really don't need it
C) hate me because you don't have a new t-shirt
D) hear your wallet and conscious singing "Halleluia"
E) all of the above

Ever since I started thinking about this, I have been on a mission to "wear what is already in my closet." Just yesterday I put on a shirt that has been hanging around for a while. Guess what? I really enjoyed wearing it! I spruced it up with some bling and was off to class. Sure, it is fun to buy things once in a while, but most of us have WAY more clothes than we need or even wear.

Give away what you don't need/wear to a worthy organization. It will make you feel good that someone else is getting use out of it!

All this being said, I posted about the IOU Project before. It is so great that you can buy clothes (and now SHOES!) and know EXACTLY who made them and where they are from. So cool. If you hop on over to Aimee's blog she is giving away an IOU scarf. Yay! I love the one I ordered (über versatile) and now you can have one too! Enter HERE. Maybe you can spruce up what you already have with the scarf and be on your way! Teresa

Maine Bags!

Hi Teresa, When I visited Maine recently, I took these 3 photos of some of our Green Bag Lady bag recipients, Sal, Julie and Cheryl. 


Julie says, "Why is it we are so tuned out of the impact of our choices on the earth that nurtures us all?  One great bag at a time - you are building awareness for us all.  Say no to pla