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Recycling: Stewards of the Earth
By Julie | January 14, 2008
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." – Genesis 1:26
Marc and I have only been recycling for the past few years. I know that’s sad to say, considering we’ve been hearing the term, "Reduce, reuse, recycle," our entire lives. We didn’t grow up in families who recycled. None of our former roommates recycled. For some reason we just never gave it a lot of thought.
Then we had our first child. And we still didn’t start recycling. But, I became somewhat paranoid about all the chemicals around the house our son could get into. For awhile we started buying non-toxic cleaning products. A little while later, we started making most of our own. From this, I realized how much packaging we weren’t disposing of because we weren’t using all those cleaners. We use one container, or bottle, and we refill it when it’s empty. Not as much to throw away. Thinking about our lack of waste, made me think about recycling. Thinking about recycling made me think of Genesis 1:26, the verse where God puts Man in charge of taking care of "all the earth". This verse made me feel I had a moral obligation, according to my beliefs, to recycle, to try to leave the earth in better shape by my presence, not worse. I know not all Christians see it this way, and that’s fine, we don’t all have to agree. But, this is what prompted me to begin recycling.
Its funny how changing one simple habit can change the way you think about things. As soon as we started recycling I started actually paying attention to what we discard. I started thinking about the diapers we were throwing out. A short time later we found some cloth diapers, and switched to those. I find myself hanging on to things now that could have further uses. Little things, like I used to buy travel size containers to put our shampoo and soaps in when we got out of town. Now I just pay attention to the containers we are throwing away. If I see one similar to those bottles I used to buy, I keep it. I reuse it. Ice cream and coffee containers I save. They become a craft project for my son to paint. When he’s done we put a sealant on them, and use them for storage around the house, or gift boxes.
We’ve picked up on a lot of fun habits from recycling, and have done some fun brainstorming. Because it has become a bit of a habit, I have stumbled across a lot of craft projects online, made from recycled materials. Tonight, I skimmed through and found some of my favorite links to share with you. If you’re feeling creative, here are some ideas. Since these come from recycled materials, most of them should be fairly inexpensive. I find it incredibly cool to see what people come up with:
This is a plastic bag There is a link to a picture of the project in this link. This is a bag, made completely from plastic bags and duct tape. The plastic bags are cut down, and then melted together to make a sew-able "material." I’ve never tried it, but I want to. Someday I hope I’ll have time.
Bag made from a record album cover: This link has a lot of pictures, and step by step instructions for making a "bag" from a record album cover. Such an awesome thing to see!
Recycled Record turned into a Purse: If you scroll down on the page you’ll see the actual purse, in fact two different people have posted their completed projects. If you’re inclined to try making your own, scroll down, and click on the first page, then you’ll find the tutorial.
Purse made by weaving magazine pages: One of my favorites, another I plan to try. You can even use old clothes for the lining and handles to use even more recycled material.
Rug made from recycled plastic bags: This link has a step by step tutorial, both written out, and using pictures. Using recycled plastic bags cut into strips, you can actually weave a rug. A must see!
Bowl made from raffle tickets: Check out the picture in this link! This is an actual bowl, made from a roll of recycled raffle tickets. As much as I’d like to try this, it is highly unlikely I’ll ever just happen to have a roll of raffle tickets lying around.
Star ornament made from magazines: What a picture in the link! A Christmas star ornament made from recycled magazines!
CD turned into a notebook: Check out the picture. I love the idea of this, because we always have a ton of extra, old CDs just lying around. Yet, we never know what to do with them.
Rings made out of coins: This one still amazes me. These are rings, made out of coins. You know, if you have extra penny, or quarter lying around, just turn them into a ring. Pretty amazing!
Origami shoes: This is one of my favorites for two reasons: 1. I love shoes! 2. I love to decoupage! Plus, the pictures are pretty darn cool. This link has pictures of shoes that have origami paper decoupaged onto them. The end result is stunning!
Gap skirts, or are they?: You’ll have to see these pictures. A woman revamped her jeans into a skirt. Later she was walking through the Gap, and found them selling some identical to the one she was wearing, she took a picture. But, it’s nice reminder that re-using what we have can save us money, and we can still be fashionable. Not to mention, have a lot of fun.
Have a great day!
Topics: Crafts, Links | No Comments »
