3 in 1 “Spork” + knife

We all know by now that disposables suck. Most of them are made of plastic, and wind up in the trash after a single use. But in the fast-paced world we live in, it is unrealistic to eliminate disposables and eating on the run (can you even imagine?). Enter the Spork Original from Light My Fire. Dishwasher safe and extremely durable (according to their website), the Spork Original reduces the need for three separate utensils.

To give credit where credit is due, my friend Mary Margaret had the idea for a knife fork (a “fife” or a “knork”) a couple years ago… I think we decided that having a knife blade (albeit a dull one) on the side of your fork was a little sketchy. That’s an accident just waiting to happen.

{via TreeHugger}

More vintage furniture – Kanibal Home

Kanibal Home is a wonderful new online store that sells of one-of-a-kind, vintage objects. Kanibal carries a mix of fine art and furnishings, many of which have been reupholstered, redesigned and repainted. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Send them an email, and Kanibal will track it down for you. I’m loving the black and yellow fabric on this chair:

{via Design*Sponge}

Chairloom

Reupholstering an old chair, couch, or cushion can give new life to some of your old pieces of furniture. Chairloom is a Pennsylvania-based company that specializes in the “eclectic antique revival” of antique chairs and couches. You can purchase reupholstered and revived pieces on their website catalogue, or contact them about revitalization of one of your own pieces. The company appears to have a love for bright, bold and beautiful fabrics – me too!– and the result is gorgeous vintage furniture with a modern twist.

Recycle old sneakers

Ever wonder where old sneakers go to die? Wonder no more! Nike has a program called Reuse-a-Shoe that takes non-metal athletic shoes (of any brand, not just Nike) and recycles them into soft-surface playground and sports field material. Old and manufacture-defective shoes are separated and ground up into three distinct types of material — each of which is used in a different way to make new sports surfaces, like soccer and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, tracks and playground surfacing. Nike has donated over 150 sports surfaces since the program began in 1993.

Go to Nikebiz.com to locate a drop-off site near you. If there aren’t any in your area, mail them to:

Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-A-Shoe
26755 SW 95th Ave.
Wilsonville, OR 97070

I’m off to dig out some old sneakers from my closet…

Produce ECOBAGS

We all know by know that plastic bags are bad…. so I’m trying to eliminate plastic bag usage from my life. I am super excited that the cotton produce bags I ordered from Ecobags arrived today… Yay! I’m looking forward to my next trip to the grocery store so I can use these instead of those crummy plastic ones!

Produce bags, 5 for $13 ecobags.com

Silicone muffin cups

Try using reusable baking cups instead of disposable foil or paper versions. These non-stick cups are oven, freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe, and are supposed to last for 1000 bakings. That’s a lot of muffins — or cupcakes!

$11.95 for 6 at Wrapables.com; $9.99 for 6 at TheKitchenStore.com

Bottled Water

The U.S. goes through a staggering number of plastic water bottles — 3.3 million per hour — but recycle only one in five. Why are we continuing to drink bottled water, when it is often no healthier than tap water, is incredibly expensive, and is harmful to the environment?

Buy a reusable bottle to carry with you throughout the day. I love Nalgene’s 32oz bottle — just drink two full bottles to get the recommended 8 cups for the day. Easy!

What to do with ‘old’ furniture

A friend of mine is moving out of her apartment next week, and has a few pieces of furniture — left behind from her roommate (who already moved out) — to get rid of. Here are a number of ideas we came up with for reusing or recycling furniture:

• Search for local charitable organizations that accept furniture donations
• Goodwill and the Salvation Army accept furniture that is in good condition
• Contact your local school’s drama department or community theater to see if they could use the furniture for sets
• Have a yard sale
• Go online. Post an advertisement to sell or giveaway your furniture on eBay, Craigslist or FreeCycle
• Repair or refurbish. Reupholstering an old chair, couch, or cushion can really give new life to some of your older pieces

Sometimes old furniture is beyond reuse or repair. Wood and metal furniture can often be recycled. Contact a waste collection and/or recycling company in your area.

Envirosax Reusable Grocery Bags

Did you know that we use an average of 500 plastic bags every year? Most of those plastic bags are used one time, then thrown away (what a waste!). Why not find a bag that you can reuse?

I am obsessed with these Envirosax Reusable Grocery Bags! You can buy them individually, or as a set of 5 different patterns/colors, and they would make a great gift (hint, hint!). At 19.5 x 16.5″ one bag holds the equivalent of two plastic bags. Now I just have to decide how many I need to order…

Envirosax Reusable Grocery Bags, $33 for 5 at delight.com; $7.95 for one at envirosax.com

Rechargable batteries

Over 15 billion (shocking!) alkaline batteries are thrown away every year, causing significant CO2/Resource waste in manufacture and toxic landfill. Just to give you an idea of how many batteries that is– those batteries could make a column of batteries to the moon and back.

Enter the rechargeable USBcell, recharged simply by plugging into any powered USB port. Currently only AA batteries are available, but they hope to have AAA, C/D, 9V, and device batteries (cell phones, digital cameras, etc.) available soon.

They are a little pricey, but you won’t have to replace (and re-buy) batteries when they die. And an added bonus: Both the packaging and the USBCELLs can be recycled! When the batteries have reached the end of their usefulness, you can send them back (free of charge!).

rechargable batteries approx. $20 for 2, usbcell.com