Make Mittens from old sweaters

Everyone has an old sweater stuck back in the closet that you know you’ll never wear again – especially one of those tacky Christmas sweaters that your mother-in-law gave you as a gift. So why not give it new life? And what better way than turning them into mittens. Here’s a great how-to from Backwoods Home Magazine. Now, go build a snowman!

Turn a shirt into a fashionable wrap

You can make a fashion statement with a great wrap and it’s much easier than you may think. If you’ve got an old button down shirt in your closet… think outside the box and turn it into a wrap with these instructions from about.com.

Old T-Shirt into a tube top

I know… it’s hard to give up an old T-Shirt. But this way you’re really not giving it up, you’re just repurposing it. Try these easy instructions from ehow.com and you’ll be wearing a sexy (and if your summer has been as hot as mine), cool tube top in no time at all. I’m going to try this how-to from ehow.com over the weekend.

Fashioning a Bikini out of an Old T-shirt

Here’s one more interesting tip of how to fashioning a bikini out of an old t-shirt at DIY-Guides website. This one looks pretty good.

Turn an old pair of jeans into a skirt

This is a great idea for your favorite pair of jeans that you just can’t wear any longer as jeans or better yet, a pair of jeans that for one reason or another – you really just don’t like. You can turn them into something you do like, a denim skirt.

Whatever length you choose – short or long, you’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to do. Like this how-to from savyseams

Scarf and hat from an out-dated sweater

I started with a sweater, so let’s end with a sweater… not to mention, I saved the best for last. This idea is for the little ones in your life. You can turn one of your old sweaters into the cutest scarf and hat for your kids. And what a great gift idea! Try this how-to from Skip to my Lou for easy to follow instructions.

Note: You can always repurpose old clothing with new looks by adding appliqués, belts and jewelry.

So as you can see, there are several ways to save money, but most importantly be eco-friendly. I’m sure there are plenty more ways to turn out-dated clothes into a new fashion statement. You’re only limited by your creativity and imagination.

Remember these three words:

• Reuse
• Recycle
• Repurpose

And you can always donate or giveaway. Now, it’s time to go raid my closet and see what I can re-invent.

Lara Miller, Chicago eco-designer, designs clothing for women that is not only sweet and lovely, but ultra wearable…the perfect combo.  Her tops, dresses and skirts for spring are made from an organic bamboo and cotton blend for maximum comfort and, better still, are machine washable.  Each piece, angular in construction, seems to meld to the body in flowy femininity. 

NIMLI offers several items from the Lara Miller Spring Collection like the clean and simple Frances Dress and the spectacular Tiered Ronnie Dress (shown at right).  Choose a modern neutral (iron) or juicy color (raspberry).

Image credit:  NIMLI

Though we were sad to see Plenty Magazine (and website, too) come to an end, there is good news.  The Mother Nature Network (MNN) is stepping up to the plate, glad to welcome all PlentyMag.com viewers to their site.  Plenty’s existing content is being merged with MNN’s information and visitors to the Plenty site will be redirected to MNN.com.  Plenty reached all of their subscribers last week, notifying them to stay tuned to MNN for up to date coverage in the world of green. 

MNN, a new environmental site founded by Rolling Stones keyboardist (and tree farmer) Chuck Leavell, offers up big servings of green info on everything from climate matters to beauty & fashion and the latest happenings in Ecollywood.

Along with updated blog posts, MNN includes a forum, where you can share your tips and stories, a newsletter and MNNTV, which offers video advice on all aspects of green living.

So, though Plenty Mag is dearly departed, its spirit lives on in MNN.

Image credit:  The Mother Nature Network

My name is Kim Rowe and I am the Co-Creator and Producer of golivegive.com, a green volunteer travel show.

We want to show people how they can vacation green and volunteer while traveling. We shot our first episode in Los Angeles and provided viewers with a green hotel, organic restaurant, eco-friendly fashion and a volunteer option they can do in a day.

We will, from now on, be publishing our episodes right here on Green Blog for you to enjoy. You can check out the first episode below or on golivegive.com.

On April 17th we are off to Hawaii where we will be profiling Jack Johnson’s Kokua Foundation. In store for our viewers is an inside look at Jack Johnson and the Kokua Festival that he sponsors and plays at annually. We will go behind the scenes to show you all the amazing things he’s doing for Hawaii and how you can get involved in the cause. We’ll also be scouring all over the island to provide you with the best possible green hotel, restaurant, entertainment and adventure options on Oahu.

Our show hopes to integrate the ideas of ‘going green’ and ‘traveling in style’ while demonstrating that becoming more than just a consumer on vacation can be a very rewarding experience. Please contact me at happyearth@golivegive.com to find out how you can get involved in the cause. I will also be updating you on amazing green vendors to check out when you travel, so stay tuned!

Thanks!

Here is a short interview with Lauri Apple, the creator of FoundClothing.

You run a site called FoundClothing, which basically is an online archive of clothing and accessories that you find in the trash or left on the streets, take home, wash and wear.

How and when did you come up with this whole idea?

I had the idea for the Website in March 2006, while I was sitting in the lobby of my law school procrastinating. I had been thinking about how long I had been finding clothes — since 1994 — and that there might be potential for a project of some sort based on my activity. I went home that night, took photos of all of the trashion in my closet, posted each photo with details about where the items came from and when they entered my life, and had a site.

The idea itself originated in 1994, when I passed the trash area behind a resale shop by my house and found a bunch of vintage clothing, including a great fur-trimmed jacket that I still have. After that, I remember looking at trash a lot more frequently, and going on scavenger hunts with my roommates (we were all very frugal, pro-recycling types).

What made you consider starting a whole website dedicated to just this cause?

It seemed likely that other people were out there, doing the same thing, and I wanted to give them a place where they could also show off their finds. Also, it was my own spin on the whole idea of “foundness” — we have Found Magazine, for example, but there was nothing about found clothes. We wear clothes every day, and use our clothing to communicate messages about ourselves, and we lose and throw away clothes, and all of this activity should be documented somehow. Finally, the site advocates recycling and conservation of resources. I mean, why are people STILL throwing away clothing — perfectly useful, designer goods — when we have Goodwill and Buffalo Exchange and so many resale shops?

Does this make you feel you’re contributing in the drop of the number of garbage and thus protecting the earth?

In small ways, yes. Of course, I’m just one person, and I don’t go hunting for things — it often just comes to me. I’ll be walking down the street, minding my own business, and suddenly get this feeling — “look inside that can.” This happened to me the other day on the way to meet a friend for coffee. I looked inside the can and there was a giant Steve Madden bag full of button-down shirts, sweaters and other clean, lovely things to wear. It’s kind of eerie.

Anyway, I encourage other people to do what I do — that’s the way we’re going to really impact the waste stream. Also, I hope it bothers people to see these great items that almost ended up in the landfill — I hope people look at my site and are disturbed by these reminders of wastefulness and consumerism run amok.

Do you have any favourites among the clothes you’ve found?

Many: My fur-trimmed jacket. My Armani sweater with sequins. My favourite jeans. My BCBG Max Azria dresses. My black Club Monaco skirt.

I often get the feeling of “dirtiness” when I wear clothes that other people have used. I can’t seem to get away from that feeling until I have washed and used the clothes a few times. Do you ever get that feeling?

No. I ALWAYS wash everything before wearing it. Also, when you go to the store to buy clothes, you don’t know who or what was trying the items on before you — it could have been someone with a skin infection or terrible hygiene habits (not to gross anyone out, of course).

What kind of feedback have you gotten since the launch in March 2006? Have you gotten any FoundClothing “followers”?

My feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People from Australia to Addison St. in Chicago have emailed me their stories, pictures and encouragement. I do seem to have a few followers. Lately I’ve been putting more personal information up there, which is always tricky because I tend to be pretty open about my life, and you wonder how much information is too much. But that’s a problem every blogger faces, I suppose.

Do you think your site influences people on acting generally in a more eco-friendly way?

Hopefully. Perhaps it takes away the stigma of wearing trashion for some people who are on the fence about it — people who think there’s nothing wrong with wearing trash clothes, but who are uncomfortable with what others might say.

Did the media coverage increase the number of visitors of the site? Did people get any more interested?

This part has been a bit disappointing. When an article or TV segment appears, I see a spike in readership. Then it falls back down, always a bit higher than the previous baseline, but I have yet to figure out how to keep people coming back. I don’t know if it’s because some of the press I’ve received have treated my Website as more of a novelty than as an issues-based Website, or what. If anybody has ideas on how to resolve this, please email me.

Are you thinking of making some sort of expansion of the site and its activities?

Yes, I would love to write a book about the site. The focus would be on the issue of abandonment. We abandon our clothes, we abandon each other — the book would tie these two themes together.

I read sometime ago that a person living alone is contributing more to climate change than people living together. What are your thoughts on that?

I think it depends on the living arrangement. A person living alone who does not own a television, stereo, or other major appliances, or a car, will use less resources than a couple that lives in the suburbs and drives everywhere. I try to keep my carbon footprint on the Cinderella side of things: No TV, no stereo or radio, no car. No CD purchases, no books — everything digital or from the library. No meat. I also turn the lights off! Keeping the lights on in empty rooms is one of my pet peeves.

From your experience, do people throw away just too easily objects that are still useful?

Yes, all the time. All kinds of objects. And a lot of people don’t think about making it easy for others to salvage these objects. If you’re going to throw something away, set it aside. Don’t put it in with the banana peels and the band-aids. Think about other people!

Do you believe that new media, like the Internet and blogs like yours, will play a big role in helping us all becoming greener?

It seems to be. Now, people in small towns can hop online and buy green. They can have more and better choices. People use the Internet to trade information on everything, and I’ve definitely benefited from this – often people in the UK and other countries send me photos of their own trashion finds. I couldn’t do what I do without the Internet — it enables me to both talk about my finds and display them, for almost-free. It’s a wonderful thing.

It currently looks rather grim, but, do you think we will successfully combat climate change and stop its worst effects? And how do we do it?

It’s going to take a major philosophical shift. People are going to have to get over their sense of entitlement, as well as their expectations that everything must be air-conditioned, convenient, and large. Living simply, scaling down one’s lifestyle and recycling are the keys to fixing the climate change problem. Also, tougher standards to rein in the factories that make all of the stuff we over-consume.

http://foundclothing.typepad.com

So you have switched your incandescent light bulbs to CFLs. Your food is organic, you buy locally produced products. And you have become a recycling master in your neighbourhood. Now what?

Now is the time to get a green, organic and sustainable wardrobe!

The Greenloop has everything you could ever need in fashion and accessories. They sell some really good looking reusable shopping bags, shirts, pants and shoes, and then some more.

The online store has clothes and accessories from designers like Emily Katz, Grace & Cello, Deborah Lindquist and many more.

You don’t need to have any kinds of second thoughts when shopping on the Greenloop. They truly have a “green” spirit. Greenloop is, for example, a member of the 1% for the planet organisation, where companies donate 1% of their profits to environmental organisations. They are also approved “for people and planet” by Co-op America.

Besides that there is one thing that’s a bit more “green” about the Greenloop. They offer all their customers carbon neutral shipping. That means they purchase Green Tags (or RECs) for each order placed and thus “making each shopping experience even greener”.

Another great thing with Greenloop is that they offer PayPal as a payment solution. I like that as it offers secure and convenient transactions and payments (you don’t have to give out your credit card info).

So check out the Greenloop and see if you find something you, or someone you know, would like to wear. Cause I already know where I am going to buy my next shirt.