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We have gotten these three wonderful pediments from the East Coast.

Got Peanuts?

We're always trying to do our best to reduce materials in our landfils and curb consumption of non-biodegradable items.

Recently I was in Hawaii visiting family and doing some research on how they handle trash locally. It got me thinking about how we here at Island Girl Salvage can do a better job as well. One area of interest is packing materials. In Hawaii there are organizations that receive used packing materials from residents and then these materials such as boxes and peanuts are made available to businesses to use for shipping their products. It's a win, win for the environment because these items stay out of the landfils and the local businesses because packing materials are quite expensive. If everyone recycled their unwanted packing materials we could keep some of the handling costs down.

When I returned home to Chicago I started looking around here for the same kind of setup. Unfortunately, I can't find any. That's where all of you come in. We'd like to receive your unwanted packing boxes, peanuts and bubble wrap. In return we will eliminate packing and handling fees on any item that we are able to reuse the received packing materials.

You can rest easy knowing that we are all doing our part to save the environment.

Thanks,

Tab

Vintage Bark Cloth

Is that your grandmother’s pillow on the couch? Or is it a trendy new accessory featuring vintage fabric from the 1940s wartime period?

The thick textured fabric – a.k.a. bark cloth -- that seemed mod amidst the décor of homes in the 1940s – 1960s is now showing up in more than just garage sales. In fact, bark cloth fabric is making waves today with its tropical Hawaiian floral, Oriental prints and colorful patterns.

Although the origin of using the inner bark of trees, such as fig, breadfruit and paper mulberry, to make sturdy “tapa” cloth dates back to the 6th century B.C., it was around World War II that the fabric became more world renown. Many servicemen stationed in Hawaii saw first hand the brightly colored bark cloth curtains, home furnishings and even shirts and in turn brought them back to the mainland and abroad. In the late 1940s and through the 1960s, bark cloth became a staple fabric in the home interior textiles market. The most collectible of these are the atomic “Eames era” prints that made a name for themselves in the 1950s and 1960s.

Here are just some of the samplings that we have had here at Island Girl.

Salvage Challenge from This Old House

This Old House is looking for your stories on what you have done with Salvage. Click here to learn more. Below is an excerpt from the site.

See yourself in This Old House Magazine! Send us your ideas, tips, and photos of your projects for a chance to be published in our special June 2008 reader-generated issue.

Rescued Railing
I purchased a 1917 foursquare fixer-upper. One of the previous owners had turned it into a duplex, putting in a second front door, tearing the stair railin... more – Posted by Jean J.

Show us the creative things you've made with salvaged materials, and tell us how you did it.

Tab in Hawaii

Some of you may know that my grandparents have lived in Hawaii my entire life. I've flown over to Kauai every year to visit for as long as I can remember. Last year we lost my Tutu (grandmother in Hawaiian) so the visits are now more frequent and less vacation like. This trip I'm working on the yard. The tropical plants just run ramped over here so someone has to constantly trim trees and plants back and that's me this year.

There is so much rubbish to dispose of and yet there isn't a really good system for composting or recycling over here. I came in to do some checking online and it seems that quite a bit of the recycling is voluntary. It doesn't appear that the green trend has reached over here yet.

One program I did find seems really great and could probably work anywhere in the world. Kauai Recycling for the Arts (KRA) is a non-profit educational organization. Check them out at http://www.kauaiglass.org/

Kauai Recycling for the Arts was created to help educate our community about the importance of recycling in a fun and exciting way – through the use of ART! Kauai Recycling for the Arts will be turning yesterday's trash into tomorrow’s treasures! Kauai’s only landfill will reach capacity in 2009.The landfill crisis that faces the residents of Kauai is closing in on us quickly. It is a known fact that by the year 2009 Kauai’s only landfill located in Kekaha will have reached capacity. Each of us who have the privilege of living as well as visiting this beautiful island bears the responsibility of participating in alternative solutions to burying and dumping our trash on our island paradise. We are Kauai’s first hot glass recycling facility. A team consisting of local artists, educators and environmentalists generously donated their time working with the County of Kauai and Allison Fraley, County of Kauai’s Recycling Coordinator to create Kauai’s first hot glass recycling facility. The hot glass studio is located at the Kauai Resource Center at 3460 Ahukini Rd. in Lihue, just past the airport. In February 2004, Kauai Recycling for the Arts, a nonprofit educational organization was awarded the contract to operate the glass studio.

What do we do?Kauai Recycling for the Arts offers programs that demonstrate the exciting techniques of transforming glass bottles, that you usually throw in your trash can, into a hot molten liquid that KRA artisans then form into art. We offer the community beautiful products that also help to reduce landfill waste. After seeing this process once, we are sure that you will never look at your trash the same way again! You can help too!We invite everyone to participate in this exciting innovative project by taking a workshop, volunteering, or becoming a supporting member of KRA! Your kokua (help) is appreciated!

Ma halo,
Tab

Addendum to the Recycling Afterlife

I was visiting my sister a few weeks ago and we got to talking about recycling and what can and cannot be recycled. The conversation was happening while trying to get the young ones ready for bed (brush your teeth and put on your PJ's) and she turned and said "what about toothbrushes" Can I put them in the recycle bin? I did not know the answer. But a little googling later and I did find some interesting information.

Radius Toothbrush "our cellulose handle is processed from sustainable yield forests into 100% renewable resource plastic." There is a lot of information on their website on each of the individual products.

Recycline This company makes more than toothbrushes, and they use post consumer yogurt containers for the handles. They also have a built in recycling program for their products to make it easy for us.

A Fresh Squeeze

The Recycling Afterlife Beyond the Bin

Brought to you by A Fresh Squeeze a really great local site. "We started A Fresh Squeeze in the spring of 2006 with the idea of making it easier for Chicagoans to live a greener life."

Sure you recycle, but what actually happens to your recyclables? We caught up with Mike McNamee, director of recycling collections at the Resource Center, to demystify the post-drop-off process.

The Resource Center, the city’s only non-profit recycler, uses more than 99 percent of the materials they pick up to make new products. But that journey from the bin to retail store shelves is a long one.

Like many recyclers, the first stop is the sorting facility. At the center’s main yard, four employees separate clear bottles from green ones, aluminum cans from steel and so on—all by hand. It’s a task so intimate that, when a customer dropped her engagement ring into a recycling bag, the team sifted through a pile of newspapers the size of a small house to find it.

A few days to a few weeks later, McNamee says the sorted recyclables are taken by truck to various local facilities he calls intermediaries. They sort the materials further and then sell and ship them to companies throughout the world.

Eventually, that glass is smelted and made into more bottles. And plastic is usually compressed into bales and turned into anything from carpet and clothing to landscaping material. “It’s like mining in reverse,” McNamee says. “You’re taking materials that could’ve been thrown out and using them to manufacture something.”

But the journey doesn’t have to end there. To incorporate recyclables back into your home, look for products with recycled content. Take the handcrafted, eco-friendly home products from Chicago’s Bean Products for example. Their furniture made of recycled soda bottles brings the process full circle—from the bin back into your home.

To find a Resource Center drop-off site near you, click here. Or learn how you can become a part of the city’s Blue Bag recycling program at the Department of the Environment website.