Seattle Recycled Arts Festival

This past gorgeous sunny Saturday in Seattle, I decided to check out the Georgetown Carnival. It's a pretty sweet street fair, featuring vendors, food trucks, a main stage for musicians... I headed over because I had heard about a recycled fashion show. Turns out the fashion was just one part of a larger Seattle Recycled Arts Festival. They "define 'recycled art' as art created using at least 75% reclaimed materials", and their craft vendors and juried art made up a substantial part of the carnival. The festival is one day only, but the featured artisans below can be found online or at other shows year-round.

Some of the highlights:

Fashion Show (Pardon my low photo quality. I wasn't as close as I wanted to be!)

This stunning crochet dress made from reclaimed laces by Kim McCormick of Kimmi Designs. In addition to her Etsy store, you can find her work @KimmiDesigns on Facebook or Instagram, and at Pretty Parlor on Cap Hill in Seattle.

This tank made from a purse and wrap skirt made from a *shower curtain* by Staci Bernstein. Also @spellcasteraggiev on Instagram.

Top and pants also by Staci Bernstein. 

Dress from vintage tees by Edie Everette

Artisan Booths

Upcycled yard art by Simply Quirky Yard Art. Bonus points to Julie and Carline for sending my purchase home in a reusable shopping bag. The piece I brought home above, and a sampling of their other pieces below.

Jewelry made from recycled chandelier crystals by Capable Father. Also @capablefather on FB and Instagram. I love the green and gold necklace I brought home (pictured at bottom) and the other red and white pendants on display (top). The colors? These are "handmade papers [he sources] from a women's cooperative in Nepal that uses sustainable non-tree methods".

At $45 for the yard art and $35 for the necklace, you would pay similar prices for commercially-produced alternates, but I was happy to support small businesses using upcycled materials.

Spotlight - Ocean Sole

I'm recently joined this fun Facebook group that shows off interesting thrift store finds, and was amazed to see a colorful lion (like the ones pictured below!) that the owner described as being made from "some type of foam". I recognized the lion from some cool videos I had seen last year and did a quick search to see if I could learn more.

The company is called Ocean Sole, and believe it or not, these colorful creations are made out of flip-flops! Ocean Sole was founded by Julie Church, who noticed children making toys out of washed up flip-flops on the beach, and recognized the potential for families to make income from the sandals, while also having a positive environmental impact.

Ocean Sole is providing:

• full time income to 100 Kenyans
• some income for 1000 Kenyans
• education initiatives benefiting 10,000 
• recycling of 750,000 flip-flops

The sandals are collected, washed, melded together, then hand-carved, sanded, and finished. Check out this short video on the process:

I'm just loving how creative these creatures are, and they seem like a fun gift for the animal lover or conservationist in your life. The small sculptures average about 6" in the largest dimension and $23-29, and the medium are about 11" and $42-49. (Feeling bold and have a large space? The XL giraffe is 54" tall and $675!)

For more information, or to support them, check out the original website here, or the US shopping site here.

Neighborhood Spotlight: West Seattle

A couple weeks ago, I headed to West Seattle to visit this one shop I love and never get to enough. I park my car and on my way to the store, I got distracted by *all the reuse stores*! We're talking thrifting, consignment, antiques. The West Seattle Junction (California Ave SW and SW Alaska St) does not disappoint. 

I popped into the Stop 'N Shop, a small shop that benefits the West Seattle Senior Center, and is mostly housewares. I was going to just take a quick look around and get back on my mission when I saw these great Chinese Laundry flats, normally $60 new, for just $8.

With the brown leather and black suede, these are simple flats that go with everything from work to weekend. I wore them to work today with some dark skinny jeans.

In addition to the Stop 'N Shop (4504 California), here are some other reuse stores in the Junction:

Antique Mall of West Seattle (4516 California)
Funky Jane's Consignment Shop (4455 California)
Pegasus Book Exchange (4553 California)
Thunder Road Guitars (4736 California)
Western Jewelry & Coin Exchange (4210 Alaska)

The merchant association also has a great website to check out some of the other shops and restaurants, and directions to get there. Want to try public tranportation that's also scenic? Try the water taxi from downtown Seattle!

Savings: $52

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Well, it's officially time: the pumpkin spice lattes have been swapped for eggnog, the preview ads for Black Friday are beginning, and it's getting dark at 4pm. I guess that means we're starting to think of holiday gift shopping!

There are lots of ways to think about reducing your footprint this holiday season:

• choose quality items that will have a long life
• choose gifts with reduced packaging
• buy experiences, such as tickets to a concert or gift card to a favorite restaurant
• do a swap: each person in the gift exchange chooses a loved book or movie to pass on
• shop local

Shopping local not only stimulates the local economy, but also reduces the fuel to move goods from place to place. One of my favorite shops is The Handmade Showroom, located at Pacific Place Mall in downtown Seattle. Open 8am-9pm on Black Friday, they are right in the heart of other conventional retail that you may be visiting on Black Friday, and feature dozens of artisans and crafters from the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the shop itself being a small local business, all of the products within are from small local businesses.

They have a bit of something for everyone on your shopping list: sauces and confections for the foodie, cat beds and toys for your fur-babies, jewelry and accessories, kids dress-up costumes, screen-printed t-shirts, housewares... Want to level-up your conscious shopping? Some of the artisans use reclaimed or recycled materials! Top it all off with a letterpress greeting card.

A glimpse into the kids's section: 

Some of your local small businesses may be participating in Black Friday, but keep in mind that many of these business will taking the day to spend with their families. Small Business Saturday was started by American Express in 2010 to encourage shopping small and local and is observed on the day after Black Friday. Search social media for #‎SmallBusinessSaturday or ‪#‎SmallBizSat‬ to find participating businesses.

Finally, if you are crowd-shy and avoid shops this time of the year, consider checking out online marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon Handmade. These marketplaces feature small businesses and artisans, and highlight where the artisan is based from.

Happy holiday shopping, everyone, and may you discover a cool small business near you!

Zero Waste on Etsy, Part II: Wool Dryer Balls

I did some more shopping with my Etsy gift card, this time purchasing wool dryer balls. The purpose of these balls is to replace your dryer sheets. The main reasons to consider a change from dryer sheets are they are made from polyester (see my earlier post about plastic microfibers in your laundry) and people with allergies or fragrance sensitivities wanting to move to more natural materials.

How they work: the wool causes friction when rubbing against your clothes, acting as a fabric softener and reducing static. An extra benefit is the wool soaks up some of the moisture, reducing dryer time.

(Image from FiberFeltnMore)

I got my 3 pack from seller FiberFeltnMore for just over $11 including shipping. They are simple felted wool, 3" diameter balls. I went for the plain offwhite - there are tons of designs out there.  Some makers even put cute little sheep faces on them!

T and I do about 3 loads of laundry each week, so I was able to do some tests. I put one ball in per load (though some people put in multiples). Sure enough, the clothes came out soft and wrinkle and static free. And, our regular dryer time is 56 minutes; with the balls it dropped by 7-10 minutes. Woot!

T's biggest complaint? He likes the fragrance from dryer sheets. He associates it with fresh and clean. You are supposed to be able to add a couple drops of your favorite essential oils to the balls for a bit of frangrance, so I'm going to play around with that.

Without doing the math for how much electricity my dryer uses, here's the overall weekly impact: 25 minutes of time and electricity and 3 sheets of single use disposable plastic. Win!

Zero-Waste on Etsy: Part I

I've been joining a lot of Zero Waste and Buy Nothing groups online to get more ideas on how I can save money and reduce my footprint. One of the biggest areas that I feel I can cut back is on single-use plastics.

Working in a city, downtown, it's too easy to get take-out for lunch, or even if I bring my lunch, silverware from the office kitchen. Having identified an area for improvement, I just need a non-disposable replacement.

I've also been lucky enough to get some Etsy gift cards recently! Thanks, Mom, Dad, and Aunt T. :)

Shopping on Etsy, there are quite a few artisans making bamboo cutlery sets. They vary in design and pieces included. I enjoyed this pear-print set from Bagitconscious for $17. Shop owner Lizzie also makes reusable sandwich bags and more. This set included the cute printed carrying case and bamboo fork, spoon, and knife. I added the reusable straw and straw cleaner brush.

The case rolls up and is closed with a contrast tie.

I enjoy that the bamboo cutlery is super lightweight, so it won't add to my already hefty purse, and I don't need to be weighed down by or worry about losing my "real" silverware from home.

I can also feel good shopping on Etsy, knowing that I'm supporting a small business. More to come in the next several days - I already have two more purchases on their way!