recycle2shop.com

Good news for the world’s oceans - Electrolux has just announced that they will be ‘mining’ plastic bags from various oceans to make vacuum cleaners.  Trust the Swedes to do the right thing and make sustainable vacuum cleaners. 

Here’s what we do with coloured plastic bags ………eco-chic earrings.

Recycle2shop at the Market nearly got blown away again last  Sunday - gusts of wind wreck havoc with our displays, but we carried on regardless.  We are at the Government Street Market in Victoria every Sunday, no matter what the weather is doing and as we are so close to the harbour, the winds are unpredictable.  Living in ‘paradise’ has to have it’s downside.

Guy Dauncey and  BCSustainable Energy Association  a.k.a  BCSEA (he also writes EcoNews in Victoria, BC) is successfully developing the province-wide SolarBC program, to accelerate solar hot water use; the Green Landlords Project to tackle energy inefficient buildings that house low income people and advocating for better government climate action policies.  Visit BCSEA’s website for some eco success stories.

Canada still has not comprehensively addressed car recycling; only 45% , according to Automotive Recyclers of Canada (ARC), are “de-polluted” (polluting fuels and fluids removed and recycled) by registered members; 75% of a car, which is mostly metal, is recycled but not all  - plastics, glass, foam etc. goes to landfill.  There is a product possible for every part of a car as long as we are willing to invest long term and close the recycling loop.

Some towns, cities and regions are successfully recycling all car recyclates…look to Edmonton as the world leader in recycled materials reclamation.  Edmonton is aiming for 90% recovery of waste by 2013.  As a recycling obssessive, Edmonton is nirvana.  Those of us who live in places that keep filling up landfill, we just have to keep advocating government to ‘clean up’ - or we can support people like Guy Dauncey and BCSEA who advocate for us.

Grolsch Goblet

LetsRecycle reports that the cost of exporting UK recyclates to Asia has increased due to increased shipping container charges.  The West’s dependence on Third World imports of our waste material is destructive on so many levels.  Canada needs to adopt Zero Waste, which is about making recycling profitable, providing jobs and opportunities here…instead of dumping ‘over there’.

Recycle2shop.com encourages Canadian artists, craftspeople and entrepreneurs (social and other) to use recyclates (waste material) to make new products…known as ‘upcycling’ .  This closes the recycling loop -  keeping our waste in Canada, as well as the profits made from waste upcycling.

On the buses: another great ride with a thoughtful driver - this one giving precise directions to a confused tourist, waiting for a late running passenger and slowing down approaching each stop (some bus drivers think they are in a rally - or have I groused about that already?).

Bus travel can be travelling theatre:

- A young guy telling his friend and consequently the entire bus, the difficulties and successes in his lovelife at college - thankfully without the addition of procreative descriptors.

- Man gets  up and offers his seat to woman, she refuses - yowzers!

- Bus driver calling out the name of a stop and every uni student saying “thank you” as they alight.  I wonder if the drivers get bored with saying “you’re welcome, every time”?

There are people going to work, shopping, travelling (suitcase in hand to transfer to the Ferry/ Airport buses); everyone transported in every way for the cost of a cup of coffee.

Plastic bags recycled, warm the cockles of my heart (where does that phrase come from anyway? From my not so extensive word search, this phrase is supposed to have been in use since the 17th century and has to do with the heart shape of a cockle - which is a delicious little bivalve).

Anyway, back to the vases - they are made with coloured plastic bags which are cut up or torn into their cool designs.  A glass jam jar fits inside to hold the flowers.  If the jam jar is tall enough this can become a T light cover…the light flickers through the plastic cover.

If you are a designer, artisan, small business and you use recycled materials, please contact us so we can show your products and a link to your website or location.

Listening to a Bioneers talk on Village900 radio we hear about a company, Novomer, that has discovered how to make plastics from CO2 greenhouse gas - recycled CO2.  How amazing is that!  That’s the sort of thing that ‘Nature’ evolves: CO2 is used by plants to make food - a ‘poison’ recycled.  The question being: is this plastic useable in the areas that we actually need plastics - medicine for one (artificial limbs, heart valves, hip joints)?  Biodegradeable plastic will be of no use in plastic that is meant to last a lifetime.

Spent the last weekend at the BC Womens Show at the Pearkes Centre.  It was way too nice out for people to be stuck indoors.  The few that did attend were all very interested in products made from recycled materials (known in the ‘trade’ as ‘recyclates’).  Surprise and delight being the main reactions - yes, recycled can be elegant, trendy and sophisticated.

My Bokashi composter is working a treat. If it’s the 2nd Saturday this week then it must be recycling day down at the Fernwood Community - that’s for my bags of plastic bags and tetra packs (Recycle2shop sells Christmas ornaments made from those Tetra Packs).  These pretty vases/T-light covers are remade from coloured recycled plastic bags for sale on our ebay store.

[re]design is a social enterprise based in the UK for “designers who don’t want to make landfill”.  Their latest show is called Doing It For The Kids (a slide show) and is described as sustainable play design.  They have striking images of ‘toys’  recycled toys make great gifts, all made from recycled materials.  We are looking for Canadian designers to feature on our website…if you are or know of one, please contact us with their information.

Anyone with a eco friendly garden/bit of earth can compost everything out of the kitchen…bread, bones, fat, protein, in fact all the leftovers that cannot go into green composters.

All you need is the Bokachi system:    The system needs a bran mix invented by the Japanese - basically bran and molasses with the magic ingredient - micro-organisms; these ferment the kitchen scraps in any plastic container (recycled, of course).  There is no smell and once your container is full - leave for 2 weeks and then deposit in your compost or dig into the ground.

More details available soon on our ‘why recycle’ pages.

Leona is off to the mainland for a conference - carpooling, naturally.

Waterproof Baby Fleece Blanket and Cushion Made From Recycled Plastic

Recycle2shop has been at the Government Street Market in Victoria every Sunday in the summer and sadly we only have 2 more market days to go.  People are fascinated by all our ‘upcycled’ products and totally supportive of recycling.  Our fleece (made from recycled plastic bottles) products elicit amazement and “how does that work?”  We talk recycling - hey,  people are actually giving me permission to rabbit on about the wonders of recycling.

Recycle2shop went to UVIC

Yes, we took the message to GreenStart at UVic, Wednesday and Thursday during their first week of classes.  They were all too poor after buying books to spend on extras so it was all about the message.  Met a passionate recycler from CRD who is engaged in wood recycling (as opposed to burning) and more on that in weeks to come.  If you would like to add your views to the  CRD proposal you have until September 18th.