On Sunday April 24, Studio 360 did a radio program and green designing. It was really interesting and the description on there website is below. To listen to the show just follow the link below.
http://www.studio360.org/2011/apr/22/
To celebrate Earth Day, Kurt Andersen looks at creative approaches to our environmental challenges. President Obama is still pushing on environmental issues even in the face of Congressional gridlock. We hear from scientists, engineers, and artists developing cutting-edge solutions that just might change their corners of the world entirely.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Wear “Green” Clothes After St. Patrick’s Day-guest post
Hi guys, this is a guest post from the lovely Krista Peterson. Enjoy!!!
Every March we find ourselves rummaging through our closet, turning our dresser upside down, and pulling the cushions up from off the couch so that we can find that one green shirt we’ve got stored away for St. Patrick’s day. Well, did you know, wearing “green” clothes can be a fashionable, fun, and environmentally conscious way of expressing yourself even after St. Patties Day? And I’m not just talking about the color. Clothes that are “green” are made from eco-friendly, organic materials that are often recycled and reused. Aside from pulling off a funky, cool new look, you’ll be doing your health and the environment a big favor.
Some huge reasons to make the switch over to green clothing are the health benefits. Did you know that eco-friendly, organic clothes contain virtually no toxins that can damage your skin and cause allergies? Other store bought clothes, especially those made in China, can contain formaldehyde and asbestos. Side effects of extended contact with these toxins include asthma, headaches, depression, insomnia, and in extreme cases: mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs.
Sporting “green” clothes and accessories also does the environment a huge favor. Often times, worn out clothes will end up sitting in landfills, taking up precious space where a school, park, or library could have potentially been built. Certain materials, such as nylon and leather, can take up to 40 years to decompose! Taking the time to repurpose your old clothes into creative, unique fashions can make a bigger impact than you may think. And not only is it an environmentally conscious practice, it can be a fun activity for the whole family.
And when people start asking you where you got such a cute outfit, you can proudly explain to them how you made it from scratch! Organic clothing is becoming the latest trend when it comes to expressing yourself while protecting your environment. Avoiding asbestos and formaldehyde is pretty important too; especially when you consider how short the mesothelioma life expectancy is. Switching over to a “green” lifestyle can help you make healthier choices every day. Even when it comes to the big ones: like deciding what to wear!
Every March we find ourselves rummaging through our closet, turning our dresser upside down, and pulling the cushions up from off the couch so that we can find that one green shirt we’ve got stored away for St. Patrick’s day. Well, did you know, wearing “green” clothes can be a fashionable, fun, and environmentally conscious way of expressing yourself even after St. Patties Day? And I’m not just talking about the color. Clothes that are “green” are made from eco-friendly, organic materials that are often recycled and reused. Aside from pulling off a funky, cool new look, you’ll be doing your health and the environment a big favor.
Some huge reasons to make the switch over to green clothing are the health benefits. Did you know that eco-friendly, organic clothes contain virtually no toxins that can damage your skin and cause allergies? Other store bought clothes, especially those made in China, can contain formaldehyde and asbestos. Side effects of extended contact with these toxins include asthma, headaches, depression, insomnia, and in extreme cases: mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs.
Sporting “green” clothes and accessories also does the environment a huge favor. Often times, worn out clothes will end up sitting in landfills, taking up precious space where a school, park, or library could have potentially been built. Certain materials, such as nylon and leather, can take up to 40 years to decompose! Taking the time to repurpose your old clothes into creative, unique fashions can make a bigger impact than you may think. And not only is it an environmentally conscious practice, it can be a fun activity for the whole family.
And when people start asking you where you got such a cute outfit, you can proudly explain to them how you made it from scratch! Organic clothing is becoming the latest trend when it comes to expressing yourself while protecting your environment. Avoiding asbestos and formaldehyde is pretty important too; especially when you consider how short the mesothelioma life expectancy is. Switching over to a “green” lifestyle can help you make healthier choices every day. Even when it comes to the big ones: like deciding what to wear!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Students Rebuild: Japan
http://canelsonauthor.com/official/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/jp9.jpg (source) So I am sure all of you have been thinking about the people in Japan, so here's an easy and fun way to help the relief efforts.
Students Rebuild is an organization that helps with relief efforts of natural disasters. For Japan, they are asking people to make paper cranes of any size or paper. Their goal is 100,00 cranes to represent 100 wishes. Each crane will donate $2 and then be made into a fantastic art installation. The deadline is April 15 so HURRY!!!!!
For more informatioin go to their website: http://studentsrebuild.org/japan/
Saturday, April 9, 2011
How to make a skirt out of a sweatshirt
This is an extremely easy and quick project. I'd had this sweatshirt that I wore all the time, practically every day, but then then it got this really big hole (I don't even know how it happened!). I've seen skirts make out of sweatshirt material in stores, and really liked them, but why buy something that you can make easily? Especially when it is better for the environment!
Anyway, here's how I made it:
(learn how after the jump)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
tutorial coming soon...
Guess what I'm making!!! (Hint: it's recycled)
p.s. tutorial coming soon!!! (But not for the project in the pictures)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A History of Composting at our School
Our school has had an off and on relationship with composting. Sometimes we've had to stop because of fruitflies, sometimes because students were confused about which bin was the compost bin, sometimes because of lack of food scraps. I don't actually know if there was composting the year before my class started middle school (maybe I'll interview a teacher or a former student...).
Anyway, when we started middle school there wasn't composting. Actually there might have been and I just don't remember, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't. Then, about midway through the year a parent helped start a worm bin. We started off pretty well, but then it sort of dwindeled, I think because most girls didn't want to touch the worms. At the end of that year, a small group of girls started Girls Go Green. However, we focused on paper, not really on compost.
The next year, the green team was started by the same parent who had started the worm bin. We partnered with Washington Green Schools, and had monthly meetings. We did a variety of things, but as this post is about composting, I will focus on that. At first we had a big compost bin in the kitchen, but unfortunately girls were confused about which bin was the compost bin and which was the garbage. Plastic was mixed in with the food scraps, too much to sort out. We also had fruit flies.
Learning from our mistakes, we put out a smaller compost bin, with a lid that not only would keep out the fruit flies, but also cause students to think more before they/we put things into the compost bin, thus keeping out plastic. We had this untill the end of the school year, but there was one flaw: due to the small size of our school, we eat in the classrooms, so students would just put their lunch waste into the trash cans in the classrooms. We tried covering the trash cans with cardboard one lunch to make students think before putting foodwaste into the trash cans, but it didn't really help.
The next year, this year, the school got small compost bins for each classroom. The only problem was that they were messy and smelled bad, so nobody was really emptying them, creating a lovely living envifonment for fruitflies. So it was decided that we would put them away for the rest of the fall and wait untill the fruitfly season was over.
And then, one fateful day, our wonderful math teacher decided to start them up again. She went out and got biodegradable garbage can liners for the compost bins to reduce disgustingness and held the first green team meeting in months. We decided to empty them as many times a week as possible and created a scedual of who would be in charge of emptying them each day.
And so that is where we stand now, and our current system is working very well right now.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to put that into words and I hope you enjoyed it.
By the way, I made some bags and a wallet out of a leather jacket I got at a clothing exchange. Does anyone want to see pictures?
Anyway, when we started middle school there wasn't composting. Actually there might have been and I just don't remember, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't. Then, about midway through the year a parent helped start a worm bin. We started off pretty well, but then it sort of dwindeled, I think because most girls didn't want to touch the worms. At the end of that year, a small group of girls started Girls Go Green. However, we focused on paper, not really on compost.
The next year, the green team was started by the same parent who had started the worm bin. We partnered with Washington Green Schools, and had monthly meetings. We did a variety of things, but as this post is about composting, I will focus on that. At first we had a big compost bin in the kitchen, but unfortunately girls were confused about which bin was the compost bin and which was the garbage. Plastic was mixed in with the food scraps, too much to sort out. We also had fruit flies.
Learning from our mistakes, we put out a smaller compost bin, with a lid that not only would keep out the fruit flies, but also cause students to think more before they/we put things into the compost bin, thus keeping out plastic. We had this untill the end of the school year, but there was one flaw: due to the small size of our school, we eat in the classrooms, so students would just put their lunch waste into the trash cans in the classrooms. We tried covering the trash cans with cardboard one lunch to make students think before putting foodwaste into the trash cans, but it didn't really help.
The next year, this year, the school got small compost bins for each classroom. The only problem was that they were messy and smelled bad, so nobody was really emptying them, creating a lovely living envifonment for fruitflies. So it was decided that we would put them away for the rest of the fall and wait untill the fruitfly season was over.
And then, one fateful day, our wonderful math teacher decided to start them up again. She went out and got biodegradable garbage can liners for the compost bins to reduce disgustingness and held the first green team meeting in months. We decided to empty them as many times a week as possible and created a scedual of who would be in charge of emptying them each day.
And so that is where we stand now, and our current system is working very well right now.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to put that into words and I hope you enjoyed it.
By the way, I made some bags and a wallet out of a leather jacket I got at a clothing exchange. Does anyone want to see pictures?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
St. Patrick's Day
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I hope everybody wore green! After all, not only would you be celebrating the holiday but also showing off your environmentally friendly-ness. I would like to apologize, though, for not having posted in months. This is what I, and the other green girls, have been doing:
1. History Day-- the competition of which is tomorrow!!!
2. Science fair
3. Being on the crew of two plays(Harvey and Midsummer Night's Dream--which opens next week!!!!)
4. Pi day (March 14, 3/14 get it?)
5. School, for over six hours each day(we do, of course, love it)
6. Sports
Yes, I know, lame excuses. But what is a middle school(soon to be graduated-ahhh!) girl to do?
(source)
I hope everybody wore green! After all, not only would you be celebrating the holiday but also showing off your environmentally friendly-ness. I would like to apologize, though, for not having posted in months. This is what I, and the other green girls, have been doing:
1. History Day-- the competition of which is tomorrow!!!
2. Science fair
3. Being on the crew of two plays(Harvey and Midsummer Night's Dream--which opens next week!!!!)
4. Pi day (March 14, 3/14 get it?)
5. School, for over six hours each day(we do, of course, love it)
6. Sports
Yes, I know, lame excuses. But what is a middle school(soon to be graduated-ahhh!) girl to do?
(source)
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