Fingers crossed!

Here’s a nifty idea hatched on the East Coast that I hope will soon head its wagons west …

Greenbean Recycle (or “GB Recycle,” as all the cool kids call it) is an innovative approach to keeping cans and bottles—both plastic and glass—out of garbage cans.

Image by Benoit Rochon via Wikimedia Commons

The gist:

• Recycle a can in a vending-type machine
• Get an instant deposit in your Paypal account
• Learn the energy benefit of your one simple action

The Greenbean machine will happily keep tabs on recycling competitions between you and friends, too.

Photo by Jarrod Jones, MIT Department of Facilities

“When users see their names on a leader board, they are more engaged to come and continue recycling,” says inventor Shanker Sahai. “Recycling is a boring chore and sometimes you don’t know how your effort makes a difference or even if it is recycled and re-used, so by showing a user that even one bottle or can makes a difference in real time, the user is encouraged to keep recycling.”

And, hey, the Greenbean makes fun crushing sounds.

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Run through a quick mental list of all the “stuff” you own …

Now, which of the items you cataloged do you cherish?

You might name the quilt your grandmother stitched by hand,

The Old Quilt by Walter Langley via Wikimedia Commons

your lucky boot laces,

a seashell charm given to you by your toddler.

From chipped plates to wedding dresses, the one thing that most of our cherished possessions have in common is the fact that there are stories behind them.

In other words, it’s not so much the item that matters, but the history it holds.

This realization fueled the founding of Madesmith, a unique branding agency and distributor of gorgeous goods—jewelry, clothing, shoes, skin-care products, and home goods—handcrafted by artisans in the U.S. whose stories are an integral part of the entrepreneurial process.

Madesmith founders Sheila Iverson and Sumeera Rasul believe that stories are vital to crafting connections between consumers and the real people who make the things we buy, transforming shopping into a more mindful experience than we commonly get at the local discount store where cheap merchandise is often made thousands of miles away.

“When you shop at Madesmith, you’re not just buying a mug; you’re making a connection with the 28-year-old ceramic maker Clair Catillaz,” explains Patrick James of CoExist. “You’re not just buying a kitchen knife; you’re understanding the link between the hobby of a 29-year-old actress and the life’s work of her blacksmith father.”

Photo courtesy of Madesmith.com

Every week, Madesmith shares stories of makers and designers who produce handmade objects sustainably. “We know that you appreciate old-fashioned craftsmanship just like we do, and through these stories we aim to bring you closer to the makers, their locally made products, and the process,” says Sheila Iverson. “Get to know who makes the thing you use, and how it’s made.”

To celebrate 125 years of Oakesdale and 25 years of Old Mill Days …

you start with a cowgirl hat, braids, and boots …

Or if you’re my mother, you pose in front of the coolest pink truck you can find while wearing your “miller” outfit.

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Some folks looking at a landfill look down their noses.

Yet, I can’t help but regard “trash” and wonder,

what if?

What if all of those legless chairs, busted blenders,

tattered clothes, and dented fenders

had been patched instead of pitched?

Photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons

Are you as tired as I am of how toss-away we’ve become?

Then you’ll love the idea of a Repair Café.

Launched in Europe a few years ago, this reconstructive revolution is sweeping the globe, rescuing all sorts of useful stuff from death-by-dumpster.

“Lots of people have forgotten that they can repair things themselves, or they no longer know how,” says founder Martine Postma. “Society doesn’t always show much appreciation for the people who still have this practical knowledge, but the Repair Café is changing all that.”

Repair Cafés are free meeting places that are all about repairing things together. They furnish tools and materials to repair clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, and more. Plus, visitors have the opportunity to connect with fix-it specialists who’ll lend a hand and share their know-how. It’s an ongoing learning process, Postma says, and valuable skills are getting passed from person to person. She believes that the Repair Café environment teaches people to see possessions in a new light and to appreciate their value.

Photos courtesy of Repair Café Pittsfield, Massachusetts https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe/349694531801567?ref=stream

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As I was thinking about a possible Smokey the Bear theme for decorating my new trailer (with a small trailer, you can have several different decorating themes on hand for different trips—this theme would be for traveling with my grandgirls) …

An entry in the recent Instructables Green Design Contest caught my eye:

Photo courtesy of IamWe via http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Free-Things-Box/

This simple little stroke of genius

(and generosity)

is just the sort of gesture we can all accomplish with just a dash of creativity and community spirit.

It’s called a Free Things Box.

The box’s inventor, a Dutch fellow named Berto, designed his freebie box to be placed in a person’s front yard or in a central location within a neighborhood.

What goes in it?

Small items that are no longer wanted by their owners but are still useful.

Think books, tools, toys, DVDs, garden seeds, fabric scraps, knick-knacks, etc.

“You can arrange with residents of the street that they can also put freebies in the box,” says Berto. “More people become aware to keep things out of the trash and from the landfill.”

Neighbors can add or take anything they want as long as they follow these simple rules:

1. The box is only open during daytime hours.
2. Take only things you can use.
3. Take one thing at a time.

In Berto’s video (below), he shows how to make a sturdy weatherproof (and vandalism proof) box, complete with a “window for a quick look.”

Do you think this would work in your neighborhood? I’m definitely getting a box going here at the farm.