recycling

There are elements in our modern casa ti SIP house kit that I envision like the old bridal tradition:
"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue."

As much as I appreciate turnkey prefab, there's something in my farming Virginia soul that insists upon reusing items from the past, within our architectual structure.

Using the latest green building technology, merged with timeless passive solar design, I now begin to focus on the interior. In my mind, I meld industrial modern elements with nostalgic reused materials:

• the sophisticated strength of a poured, polished concrete floor (which also collects thermal mass, and with fly ash, reuses local byproducts!)
• juxtaposed with the natural embrace of sustainable pine walls
• deft, no nonsense modern lines of built-ins
• the faded tales told by old wooden doors through whom how many hands and lives passed through?
• And if we're lucky, a special, plain, reused farmhouse sink.

Strolling through research, I came across CoolStuffIsCoolStuff.com and other neat architectural salvage sites. I will be sticking closer to home and shopping locally at Caravati's, but did want to mention a special site, Second Chance.

There, not only do they repurpose materials and give old buildings new life, but they also give people another shot at opportunity and learning valuable skills.

From their web site, here's what they say:

"Job Training Second Chance is working with low-income residents of Baltimore to train them in a wide variety of skill sets, ranging from carpentry to craftsmanship. Our goal is to create skilled workers making a living wage with benefits for themselves and their families.

Through the use of public and private funds, we teach our workers to safely deconstruct a building without damaging its historic elements. They become self-supporting members of the community with new skill sets.

At Second Chance, we believe that second chances are not just for buildings, they are for people, too. "

Like the bridal saying, sometimes "something borrowed" might mean borrowing on the strength of community and pooled skills, and recognition that when community comes together to help others succeed, we all benefit.

Whether it be good friends helping out for a few weekend hours as we work on a house kit project together, helping my family but where the structure and land will be a benefit to all our friends, or craftsmen investing their time in training someone new to later help them on future projects and rely on them as part of their paid, skilled team.

Sometimes, pushing ahead with the advances of cutting-edge technology, what we also need is a good ole fashioned barn-raising.

This is what happens when my husband goes away... he really does keep me sane, you know.

Until recently, I could brag that our office only used *at the most* three reams of paper a year.

And then the children went on a drawing binge.

It's driving me bonkers- on one hand, I cringe, "Don't waste paper!!!" then cringe at myself: "How dare you call their artistic pursuits wasteful?" So I stack the drawings in a corner, guiltily...

Today I was pondering over how to finish our casa ti interior. I've always envisioned it with sleek, organic, simple plywood, which I thought would look really good with the more industrial concrete flooring. But I like to consider all options, and even published a post on how to make SIPs stew.

And then I thought... "Why not recycle those drawings?"

They are mainly scribbly ink drawings on notebook paper left over from college days, or grabbed from our office shelf. So the overall effect would be clean, white, but with scribbles and occasional bursts of color... I could easily attach it directly to the SIPs walls, then maybe minwax / beeswax it once hung... just for... fun!

I still see the end result eventually being plywood... but to in the meantime reuse the paper / childrens "art" for our house? Fantastic!

By the time you read this, it will be my birthday.
I'm ugly and old as dirt.

So, in honor of the sands of time passing, imminent doom and whatnot, I thought I'd show you these *recycled* coffin couches.

You know, I'm still a goth girl at heart, and I'm certain the Addams Family would approve.

Read the hilarious commentary here:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/28/coffincouchescom-rec.html

And the website: http://coffincouches.com/

"We at Coffincouches.com have the mindset of thinking "Green" and we know it is different but we strongly believe in recycling. Our niche happens to be 18 gauge steel coffins which we collected from local funeral homes primarily in Southern California. It is a health and safety law that funeral homes cannot resell used coffins to the general public. We approached funeral directors with the attitude of recycling. These coffins are not used for burial due to slight cosmetic inconsistencies. They are reconfigured and modified resulting in a finished product - a unique one a kind coffin couch. If you notice (although it may be too small) the six cast iron heavy duty legs are embossed with the universal biohazard insignia. The reason we utilized this sign was because safety was our utmost concern. If you are not aware, once a human body is placed in a coffin it is considered biohazard tissue. The legs have the embossed insignia for precautionary reasons in the event body fluids are exchanged on these coffins. Perhaps you would feel safe knowing that you are in designated biohazard scene!
Ha!!"

Ha, I like these guys! There's something... a touch o' goth rockabilly in 'em.

We are rebuilding a 1940's cabin on a lake in Northern Wisconsin, we considered tearing it down but decided it had too much character. Anyway we created a website for people to watch this project, offer advice, trade materials, etc. Check it out, and tell your friends. http://hippyshack.tripod.com

I am searching for lighting.

We have been fortunate to find most of our lamps in thrift stores.

But I have been thinking of the casa ti we're building... and darned it, I'm itching for a little design! So, yes, I haven't even started construction, but this girl's got lighting on the brain.

I ran across a site, that has a great selection: http://www.gnr8.biz/categories.php?cPath=1_20&page=all

What I like about their offerings is that the lighting is modern, yet not too cutesy whimsical, or too "let's just copy something retro" and that there are a lot of affordable products. What I *would* like to see are more environmentally friendly offerings... readers, do any of you have suggestions for these manufacturers to replace the polyether that is used in so many affordable, attractive lighting designs?

Here is one I could totally see over my dining table:



Love how the part that hangs down is at an angle so that you could easily see your fellow diners instead of, like many low hanging lamps, obscuring them.

And of course, just for fun, this train of thought led me to walk around snapping pictures of our own locally recycled lamps, ALL previously owned before finding their way into our household!

Here they are!

We actually have tons more in the basement in storage... it makes you realize *how much* you can do / decorate through recycling! (Pretty much any of the furniture you see was recycled as well) In fact, doing this just made me realize... I have never bought a new lamp! ... and... Wow, I have a lot of lamps!

The state of Virginia has come out with an official stance and plan supporting grey water recycling.
Counties should take notice, as well as builders and contractors.
Our wonderful contractor has already planned to install grey and black water pipes in our kit house, the casa ti which we are building in Charlotte County.

This functionality should also be written into any construction loans / green building loans that are being crafted.

(From http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.PrintView.-content-articles-RTD-2007-...)

Wastewater treated as a resource
State board approves its reuse for irrigation, industrial needs

Wednesday, Dec 05, 2007 - 12:08 AM

By REX SPRINGSTON
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Localities treat water from rivers and aquifers so you can drink it.
But a lot of that drinking water also is used to run factories, wash cars and flush toilets.
The State Water Control Board voted unanimously yesterday to try a new approach.
The board approved a program that encourages cities and counties to send wastewater from their sewage plants -- water from toilets and similar sources that is treated to reduce germs -- to be used for activities that don't require pure tap water.
Otherwise, that wastewater would be dumped into rivers.

"This has the potential to remove a lot of wastewater from the streams of Virginia and apply it to beneficial uses," water board Chairman Shelton Miles said. "It's the ultimate in recycling."
The program should lessen demand for tap water, enabling localities to cope better with growth, experts say.

For the average person, the program could mean a more reliable water supply during droughts.
"We've been reminded in 2007, and we were reminded in 2002" -- another drought year -- "how difficult it sometimes is to count on how much water we have," said Bill Hayden, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ provides staff for the water board.
The water-recycling program, which still requires some tweaks, should begin next year. However, it could take years for the program to take off, because new pipes will have to be laid to carry the recycled water.

Some of the recycled wastewater could be used in activities where people aren't exposed to it. That would include irrigating crops that people don't eat, such as trees and cotton; controlling construction dust; watering livestock; and cooling industrial equipment.
Wastewater that is cleaner but still not as pure as drinking water could be used in activities where people might be exposed to it, such as firefighting, watering lawns and the flushing of toilets in businesses.

The program will not allow recycled water to go to residential toilets, largely because there would be little control on home plumbers who might mistakenly connect wastewater to a tap.
Water recycling is being used in a few places in Virginia now.
The Hampton Roads Sanitation District, a regional agency, sends about 500,000 gallons of wastewater a day from its sewage plant in York County to the Western Refining Yorktown Inc. petroleum refinery on the York River, less than a mile away.
"The alternative is buying tap water, which is better used in supplying houses, etc.," said Dave Pavlich, the refinery's environmental compliance manager.

In the spring, Chesterfield County will begin sending about 8 million gallons of treated wastewater a day from its Proctor's Creek sewage plant to Dominion Virginia Power's nearby plant at Dutch Gap. The water will be used in a process that reduces air pollution.
That arrangement will keep nearly all of that wastewater, which contains nutrients that cause algae, out of the James River. Most of the water will evaporate, said Dominion spokesman Dan Genest.

State officials hope a formal program will encourage similar arrangements.
Water recycling has worked for years in states such as California, Arizona and Florida, experts say.

Sonia’s Marine-Grade Wood 25 Tools for Greener Living

As the measures of sustainability grow even more sophisticated, these products rise to the occasion.

By Paul Makovsky

Going green is no longer just a fad. It’s a sign that more people realize the individual part each of us plays in reducing our overall impact on the planet. The daily actions we can take have long been understood, including buying dur­able water bottles instead of disposable ones and bringing your own reusable shopping bag to the grocery store. However, when it comes to long-term design decisions such as product selections, matters are a bit more complex.

While most designers know to opt for low-impact materials with recycled content, it is finally becoming easier to consider the full life cycle. Suppliers are making their environmental management systems known and are advertising the sustainable sources of their wares. Many sponsor take-back, reuse, and recycling programs. Another encouraging sign is the increased provision of “environmental product declarations,” which measure performance against numerous criteria. The selections culled for these pages go beyond basic sustainability—in both style and execution.

More at: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2995

Finding a workshop related to fiber crafts (knitting, sewing, crochet ... etc.) is as easy as pie, no matter the area you live in, but what about recycling those computer chips and metal hangers? Spotted recently on the ReadyMade blog, the groovy green handiworkers of the Bay Area have started the Made From Scrap company, a workshop warehouse "designed and built by artists, instructors, and students, those who want to learn, investigate, tinker, recycle, teach, meet, and have fun."

Made From Scrap's first set of workshops have been announced, which start in mid-September. Their offerings include: from plastic bags to kites, from bottle caps to coffee table, from pallets to birdhouses, and many more. You're asked to bring your own materials (a specific list is included on each workshop's registration page), and the instruction itself is affordable, ranging from $25-30 each.

Being a new establishment, they are currently looking for a variety of workshop ideas and local teachers - no matter your skills or ideas, they can be integrated into a fun, useful, and eco-based project for others to learn from. According to the organization's website, "because the only criteria we have for our workshops is that they focus on re-using objects, imagination is the only limit!" If you want people to reduce how much they purchase and reuse what they already have (or can find in second-hand stores and yard sales), you have to give them the hands-on knowledge and resources they need to learn how to do so.

Not only is this establishment a great chance for your average consumer (crafty or otherwise) to learn about the breadth of recycling options, it initiates the possibility for workshops like these to be organized and promoted all across the US, as well as the world - I could easily see these types of classes booming in Europe. With the crafty, Do It Yourself movement becoming a true staple in our society, I'm quite sure that this is a key market to be embraced if we want to have any hope of surviving on this planet for the next few centuries. Very few will doubt that our lives are far too complex and busy to be truly enjoyed, so taking the time out to nurture and preserve our resources, as well as our creative inclinations, will not only help our ecosystem, but our spirit as well.

[From Victoria-E.com]