the ReFab Diaries

What do tennis balls, pantyhose and broken crayons have in common? They're actually recyclable. Not through your city's recycling service, but in other cool ways!

So in honor of Earth Day, here are 20 things you might be surprised to discover can actually be returned for repurposing, recycling or upcycling. Here's to keeping more stuff out of landfills.

• Reduce my reliance on single/limited-use plastic items
• Slowly replace things with non-plastic alternatives
• Stop bringing plastic into my home - especially single-use crap!

Stretch goal: no single-use plastic in my life

New York-based visual artist and musician Rachael Sage has been creating mixed-media artwork, drawing and painting since grade school. Working primarily with acrylics, ink and - of course - glitter, Rachael deems her hometown NYC to be her greatest inspiration.

She's also a singer-songwriter and producer who runs her own record label, MPress Records. A soulful vocalist and innovative multi-instrumentalist, Rachael has shared stages with Sarah McLachlan, A Great Big World, Judy Collins, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Jamie Cullum, The Animals and Ani DiFranco.

Goals - Week 13:

• See the potential in waste
• Reduce recycling
• Remain hyper aware of how much packaging I generate

Stretch goal: keep upcycling! 
Read on for links to 40+ tutorials for upcycling common packaging items.

Goals - Week 12:

1. Reduce my reliance on plastic in the kitchen
2. Slowly replace things with non-plastic alternatives

• Reduce my textile waste
• Support organizations that recycle the usually un-recyclable
• Finally get rid of 8 pairs of old bras I've been "storing"

• Reduce my reliance on single/limited-use plastic items
• Slowly replace things with non-plastic alternatives
• Stop bringing plastic into my home

1. Reduce packaging waste
2. Shift my shopping habits to incorporate more bulk
3. Retrain myself and local stores: reusable bags/containers need to be "allowed"

It's Sunday and I'm feeling nostalgic. Maybe it's seeing all my friends' (and cousins') children growing up and starting to look exactly like them! Anyway, I have albums of old photographs and negatives from a time when that's how we did things. 

And today I went looking for some ideas for "keeping" these things in a different way:

Goals - Week 8:

1. Reduce my household carbon footprint
2. Spend my money on renewable energy
3. Walk the damn walk

Stretch goal: Get everyone else to switch!  :)