Living | Indoor Air Quality Lab

Hand-Blown Glass Straws from Moxie Glass share

Moxie Glass makes hand-blown glass straws that are reusable, dishwasher safe, and so cute!

Some drinks are just better with a straw, aren't they? The trouble with those ubiquitous plastic straws is that they're a one-and-done situation, and you know how I feel about single use plastic! Glass straws are a great replacement for the plastic ones that are polluting our beaches and oceans.

Melissa sent me a set of her straws to try along with a reusable glass jar tumbler made just to pair with her glass straws. The tumbler is super awesome! Its screw-on lid has a hole in the middle where you insert the straw, so you can take your drinks on the go in a totally reusable, totally plastic free container.

Melissa from Moxie Glass - aka Many Minis - makes every glass straw by hand in her Colorado studio. The glass she uses is the same sort used to make Pyrex dishware! If you've ever owned any Pyrex, you know how durable this stuff is. Even I have a hard time breaking our Pyrex plates, and that is saying a lot. I'm the clumsiest clutz in Clumsy Town!

The review packet included a few different straws:

2 "bendy" straws - OK, they don't bend, but they're angled, so they kind of feel like drinking from a bendy straw
2 straight straws
2 embellished straws - a fish and a tree frog
1 wide-mouth straw

I tested them all out on a couple of different sorts of drink, and they are great! The wide-mouth straw is the one that actually comes with the tumbler she sent - it's a to-go smoothie cup, so of course I whipped up a green smoothie to try out in there.

It worked great! The wider straw didn't clog at all, and the smoothie I made was on the thick side. When I would take my breakfast smoothie to go previously, I was putting it in a to go coffee mug, and it was not super ideal. I can't wait to pack my next to go smoothie in it!

The other straws were a regular diameter for drinking regular drinks, so I just tried them out with some water. Drinking from a glass straw does feel a little bit different from a plastic straw, since glass isn't pliable like plastic, but I really liked using these!

She sent embellished straws with a tree frog and with a fish. The fish one is probably my favorite. When you pull it out of the package, it kind of looks like a crack pipe, but! When you put it into the tumbler, it's freaking adorable. The fish goes on the bottom, so he's swimming in your glass!

One of the things that's made me hesitant about glass straws is the thought of having yet another thing to hand wash. It turns out this isn't an issue at all. Even these embellished straws are dishwasher safe!

You can find Melissa's glass straws in her Etsy shop or on her website!

Posted: | Categories: alternative to plastic, Food+Drink, Gear+Gadgets, glass straws, Living, plastic alternative, reusable straws, single use plastic

Apr

Spotted: Wine Cork Pendants share

Check out these beautiful pendants made from reclaimed wine corks!

We love crafting with wine corks around here. That humble little cork in your bottle of vino has so many crafty possibilities! Whether your bottle has a plastic or a natural cork, it's worth collecting those suckers in a little bowl, because both make great, free craft supplies. The bonus? When you craft with your old wine corks, you're keeping that material out of the waste stream.

Over on the Fiskars blog, Lisa Storms shares a tutorial for making some super sweet wine cork pendants. You only need a few materials to make your own:

A sharp knife - I've found that a serrated blade is best for cutting cork
Paint
Paint brush
Stamps
a 5mm eye screw

You probably have most of these supplies laying around the house! Ready to make your own wine cork pendants? Click here for the complete tutorial!

Posted: | Categories: Clothes+Accessories, cork crafts, Craft Recycled, DIY, DIY pendant, Living, reuse, upcycling, wine cork crafts, wine cork pendants, wine corks

Apr

Spotted: Wine Cork Pendants share

Check out these beautiful pendants made from reclaimed wine corks!

Over on the Fiskars blog, Lisa Storms shares a tutorial for making some super sweet wine cork pendants. You only need a few materials to make your own:

A sharp knife - I've found that a serrated blade is best for cutting cork
Paint
Paint brush
Stamps
a 5mm eye screw

You probably have most of these supplies laying around the house! Ready to make your own wine cork pendants? Click here for the complete tutorial!

Posted: | Categories: Clothes+Accessories, cork crafts, Craft Recycled, DIY, Living, reuse, upcycling, wine cork crafts, wine cork pendants, wine corks

Apr

5 Ways to Reuse Cereal Boxes and Organize Your Life! share

[This magazine rack is made from recycled cereal boxes!]

Feeling guilty about the cereal boxes in your recycle bin? Pull 'em out and try some of these upcycled projects to give them a new life!

Recycling is great, but reuse is always better! Cardboard recycling is pretty efficient, as recycling goes, but it still takes energy to turn old cardboard into new paper products, and transporting cardboard from your home to the recycle center produces carbon emissions, too.

Boxes are a natural pick for storage, right? When I was researching some ideas for cereal boxes, I noticed that so many of them were organization-related! Next time you polish off a box of cereal, save the box for one of these home organization cardboard crafts!

1. Magazine Rack - Do you have magazines all over your house? Tidy those suckers up with a cereal box magazine rack!

2. Expandable File Folder - Get organized! Check out how to turn an old cereal box into a chic way to store your files.

3. Mini Album - Get your photos all in order with an upcycled album.

4. Fabric Storage Baskets - Cover old cereal boxes in fabric to make boxes for all kinds of organizing needs!

5. Closet Organizer - Tame a messy closet with the power of upcycled cereal boxes!

Have you guys made anything fun with reclaimed cereal boxes lately? Share your ideas in the comments!

Posted: | Categories: cereal box crafts, Craft Recycled, crafty reuse, creative reuse, DIY, Home+Decor, Living, reuse, upcycling

Apr

Earth Day: The Never-Ending Fight To Save Our Planet share

Happy Earth Day greenUPGRADER readers!!

Can you believe this day of earth-friendly behavior and learning has been around for 43 years? It's hard to imagine there was a time, not so long ago, when people knew almost nothing about chemical pesticides and industrial plants were free to dump their waste directly into lakes and rivers.

Thanks to the hard work of Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, and millions who share his passion for a healthier planet, we've come a long way since then. Although we might not always like how well they're enforced, laws like the Clean Air and Water Acts ensure that we have at least some recourse against those who would treat our only planet like a landfill.

Sometimes, fighting to protect the natural world can feel like a losing battle. For those who believe we are meant to be stewards of this marvelous blue marble, it's important to remember how far we've come, how much has been achieved. Browse the infographic below for interesting facts and figures from the first Earth Day until now.

And then do your best to get outside today...enjoy the beauty of this amazing place we call home! Feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your face. Breathe some fresh air. It'll help remind you why we're fighting so hard to save it.

Earth Day graphic produced by the Kars4Kids car donation program

Top image via alicepopkorn/Flickr

Posted: | Categories: Activism, conservation, Earth Day, infographic, Kars4Kids, Living, Mother Earth, News+Opinion, Pollution

Mar

Craft Recycled: Your Spring Garden share

Spring is so close that I can smell it! It's just about time to start planting those spring crops, and now is also the perfect time to add a few upcycled touches to your spring garden. Here are a few ideas to get you going!

1. Boot Planters

Going vertical is a great way to grow more in less space. Hit the thrift store and find some old rain boots to create these sweet, upcycled hanging planters.

2. Reclaimed Raised Bed

Raised beds are great for keeping weeds and pests at bay and in areas where the soil quality might be on the poor side. Instead of using new lumber, check out this upcycled garden bed using reclaimed wood instead.

3. Wine Box Containers

For smaller plants, like herbs, you can use old wine boxes to create beautiful, upcycled planters.

4. Bike Wheel Trellis

Gather up some old bike wheels and create a beautiful, upcycled trellis for your climbing plants, like beans!

5. Wine Cork Plant Markers

You think you will remember what you planted where, but there's always those one or two plants that slip through the cracks when you don't write things down. Grab some wine corks from your stash to make sweet, upcycled plant markers and never guess at your garden's layout again!

Are you adding any upcycled touches to your garden? I'd love to hear what you're planting and how you're designing your space in the comments!

Posted: | Categories: Craft Recycled, DIY, Gardening, Living, reuse, spring garden, upcycled garden, upcycling, Yard+Garden

Mar

Tutorial: Turn an Old Playpen into a Launry Sorter share

by Cristin Frank, author of Living Simple, Free & Happy: How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home, and Reduce Stress, Debt & Waste

Hi Green Upgrader readers! I'm Cristin from Eve of Reduction and I'm thrilled to announce that my debut DIY book, Living Simple, Free and Happy is now available for purchase on Amazon!

This guest post is one stop on my virtual book tour. This means, if you go to the book tour page and leave a comment, you can win a copy of the book (mailed to US residents, digital copy if winner lives outside the US). If you go ahead and purchase a copy (thank you!), please leave a review on Amazon and let me know on the landing page of my blog tour, you will be entered to win a free, online upcycling consultation with me, Cristin Frank.

And with that announcement I want to share an upcycling project that will help organize and simplify your life: upcycling an obsolete playpen into a lights and brights laundry sorter.

Anyone born before 1980 will probably recognize this wooden playpen from pictures of their toddler years - or the movie Back to the Future. Yeah, no one wants these any more. Well, except me...and maybe you by the end of this tutorial.

A neighbor of mine was getting rid of this playpen, so I took it off her hands before it became landfill fodder. I put it down in my basement and the next time I went down there, I was like, "What's that awful smell!" Yikes, this thing smelled so musty, to the point of reeking. The good news was, I was planning on hacking it up, which meant it would be in small enough pieces that I could seal it in a large black garbage bag with some kitty litter. The clay litter absorbs moisture and smells wonderfully and can save many old, musty pieces like suitcases, too.

I cut up the playpen into 8 sections so that they could be reassembled as two, four-sided laundry sorters.

You'll notice that I'm making 2 structures, each with 4 legs, but there are only 4 casters. To remedy this, I positioned two casters as the back legs, then repurposed a crib spindle to use as the front legs of the laundry sorters.

Because there were so many cut edges, and now the miss-matched wood from the crib spindles, I painted the laundry sorters to bring it all together.

Next, I reused a fitted sheet to make the laundry bags. This worked out great because I reused the fabric and elastic, plus the casing for the elastic was already sewn.

Click here to get the sewing pattern for the laundry bags.

The last detail was adding a bottom onto the sorters. I fully intended to cut up the original particle board bottom that came with the playpen, but the sorters left a very tiny ledge for them to rest on the inside and from underneath, I'd have to cut around the added front legs. I decided it would be easiest to simply use the remnants of the fitted bed sheet to tack down a fabric bottom. The fabric was really easy to work with.

If you like DIY projects that are easy, inexpensive, reduce waste and add beauty and function to your home, please check out Living Simple, Free and Happy on Amazon. It is also available at bookstores, home improvement stores and craft stores nation-wide.

The book includes 10 upcycling tutorials that take easy to find furniture items and transforms them into customizable, organizational solutions from your home.

What else do you get?

Simple techniques that eliminate clutter and keep it from returning
A personalized plan to help you reclaim your time
Practical (and profitable) ways to sell unused items in your home
Tips to eliminate debt and curb consumption
Dozens of exercises that help you identify and honor your talents, values, and goals

Please remember to leave a comment on my blog tour page to be entered to win a copy of Living Simple, Free & Happy. There you also see my blog tour schedule and can check in to learn more about upcycling, simple living, decluttering and writing a book.

Please know that I look forward to reading each and every comment, and Becky, thank you so much for being a gracious book tour hostess!

Posted: | Categories: Books, craft books, Craft Recycled, crafting books, crafty reuse, creative reuse, DIY, DIY laundry sorter, Living, reuse, upcycling, upcycling books

Mar

Tutorial: Turn an Old Playpen into a Laundry Sorter share

by Cristin Frank, author of Living Simple, Free & Happy: How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home, and Reduce Stress, Debt & Waste

Hi Green Upgrader readers! I'm Cristin from Eve of Reduction and I'm thrilled to announce that my debut DIY book, Living Simple, Free and Happy is now available for purchase on Amazon!

And with that announcement I want to share an upcycling project that will help organize and simplify your life: upcycling an obsolete playpen into a lights and brights laundry sorter.

I cut up the playpen into 8 sections so that they could be reassembled as two, four-sided laundry sorters.

Because there were so many cut edges, and now the miss-matched wood from the crib spindles, I painted the laundry sorters to bring it all together.

Next, I reused a fitted sheet to make the laundry bags. This worked out great because I reused the fabric and elastic, plus the casing for the elastic was already sewn.

Click here to get the sewing pattern for the laundry bags.

The book includes 10 upcycling tutorials that take easy to find furniture items and transforms them into customizable, organizational solutions from your home.

What else do you get?

Simple techniques that eliminate clutter and keep it from returning
A personalized plan to help you reclaim your time
Practical (and profitable) ways to sell unused items in your home
Tips to eliminate debt and curb consumption
Dozens of exercises that help you identify and honor your talents, values, and goals

Please know that I look forward to reading each and every comment, and Becky, thank you so much for being a gracious book tour hostess!

Posted: | Categories: Books, craft books, Craft Recycled, crafting books, crafty reuse, creative reuse, DIY, DIY laundry sorter, Living, reuse, upcycling, upcycling books

Mar

Spotted: Bicycle Wheel Trellis share

We love offbeat gardening ideas around here, and this bicycle wheel trellis is just a stunning example of creative reuse!

Bike wheels are pretty durable, but a big accident can mean that your old wheel goes kaput. Maybe it gets cracked or bent too far out of shape to be trued again. Whatever the reason, once a bike wheel is dunzo, it's...dunzo. It's not easy to recycle, but just because it's not useful for pedaling anymore doesn't mean it's not useful at all!

Over at the Kirksville Permaculture Education Center, they shared a gallery of photos of this beautiful trellis. What a lovely way to reuse kicked bike wheels!

Of course, most of us don't have a a bunch of bike wheels sitting around our house, but I bet your local bike shop has lots of spent wheels laying around! Next time you're in the neighborhood, pop in! Chances are they'll be happy for you to take those off of their hands. In many places, businesses have to pay to dispose of trash and recycling, so there's a good chance you're helping them out as much as they are helping you.

The Kirksville Permaculture Education Center site didn't have instructions on how to build this trellis, but it looks super simple. Here's how I think it went down:

Materials

Wooden H-frame - you can buy one or build your own from reclaimed wood
8 used bike wheels
zip ties or popped bike inner tubes

Directions

1. Stake the frame in the ground wherever you want your trellis. Make sure it's nice and secure, because those tires and the plants that grow up them are going to add a lot of weight.

2. Use your zip ties or the inner tubes to link the tires together and link the tire grids to your frame.

3. Plant something that climbs - like grapes, luffa, or beans - at the base of your structure, and watch it go!

Want to see lots more photos of the bike trellis? Click here!

Posted: | Categories: bicycle crafts, bike crafts, bike wheel crafts, Concept+Design, DIY, DIY garden, Gardening, Innovation, Living, upcycled garden, Yard+Garden

Feb

Craft Recycled: 5 DIY Grocery Bags share

Is your stash of reusable grocery bags a little slim? Beef it up with these DIY ideas!

Did you know that you should be washing your reusable bags? Those totes are much better for the planet than the single use plastic sort, but without proper care they can harbor food-borne illness. That doesn't mean you need to switch to disposables, but it does mean that maybe it's time to add a few bags to that rotation, so you'll still be able to grocery shop when one set is in the wash.

You could pick up reusable bags at the store, but then you'd have the same boring bags as everyone else! We've rounded up a few grocery bag tutorials to make sure your stash or totes is as unique as you are.

1. Embellished Grocery Bag

You can use this tutorial from Sew Homegrown to spruce up one of the bags in your stash or fancy up any tote you pick up at the thrift store. Not only does she show you how to add cute, geometric embellishments but she walks you through adding a pocket! Perfect for stashing a magazine or your coupons!

2. Upcycled Denim Bag

The Queen of DIY shows you how to make a reversible grocery tote from an old pair of jeans! A bonus? Denim is super durable, so this bag is sure to last you ages!

3. T-Shirt Grocery Bag

Got some old tees in your stash? Use them to make a DIY mesh grocery bag - no crochet or knitting skills required!

4. Vintage Pillowcase Bag

A reclaimed pillowcase is perfect for hauling those groceries around, and SpiderWomanKnits shows you how to make a super sweet upcycled grocery tote from a vintage one. Just make sure you choose a pillowcase that's in good shape. Some of the older vintage pillowcases can have very delicate fabric, and you want your bag to be durable!

5. Flour Sack Grocery Bag

Have you ever bought flour in one of those awesome cotton sacks? Here's how to turn that flour sack into a grocery bag! You could use the same instructions to turn a burlap coffee bag or rice bag into a tote, too!

Image Credit: DIY Grocery Bags photo via Bigstock

Posted: | Categories: Craft Recycled, DIY, DIY grocery bag, DIY grocery bags, DIY grocery tote, how to make a grocery bag, Living, Shopping+Services

Category Archives:Living

Hand-Blown Glass Straws from Moxie Glass share

Moxie Glass makes hand-blown glass straws that are reusable, dishwasher safe, and so cute!

Spotted: Wine Cork Pendants share

Check out these beautiful pendants made from reclaimed wine corks!

Spotted: Wine Cork Pendants share

Check out these beautiful pendants made from reclaimed wine corks!

5 Ways to Reuse Cereal Boxes and Organize Your Life! share

Earth Day: The Never-Ending Fight To Save Our Planet share

Craft Recycled: Your Spring Garden share

1. Boot Planters

2. Reclaimed Raised Bed

3. Wine Box Containers

4. Bike Wheel Trellis

5. Wine Cork Plant Markers

Tutorial: Turn an Old Playpen into a Launry Sorter share

Tutorial: Turn an Old Playpen into a Laundry Sorter share

Spotted: Bicycle Wheel Trellis share

We love offbeat gardening ideas around here, and this bicycle wheel trellis is just a stunning example of creative reuse!

Craft Recycled: 5 DIY Grocery Bags share

Is your stash of reusable grocery bags a little slim? Beef it up with these DIY ideas!

1. Embellished Grocery Bag

2. Upcycled Denim Bag

3. T-Shirt Grocery Bag

4. Vintage Pillowcase Bag

5. Flour Sack Grocery Bag

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