Let There Be Light

My next upcycling project for my apartment was our lamps. Since I met him my boyfriend had always had these terrible looking lamps in his bedroom. The stand was tarnished gold and for some reason the shade always made me think of the inside of a genies lamp. Worst of all they were covered in dust that never seemed to disappear. 

Needless to say, there was no way I was going to have these lamps in my new appt looking like that. So I decided to transform them. 

We bought a can of black spray paint and sprayed the bases and I went out and bought new lamp shades. The bases turned out to be amazing - the black really brought out all of the intricate detail (a feature that I hated before, but is now one of my favourite things about the lamps). 

Ideally I would have loved to cover the old metal frame of the lamp shade with some sort of inexpensive material like burlap however the existing frames were in pretty rough shape so I decided against it. 

Here is the finished product! 

In the end I think we spent approximately $35 to complete both lamps (would have been much less if I could have salvaged the shade frames) and they look great! Who could ask for anything more. 

Upcycling My Apartment

For some time now I have been obsessed with the idea of upcycling - Taking something used or something that could be considered waste and turning it into something fantastic!  For me the most fascinating type of upcycling is anything involving skids - possibly due to my past in retail. Skids are just so versatile - tables, deck chairs, planters, you name it… you can do it.  I must admit Pinterest has only fed the fire, giving me more and more ideas for projects that I have no time to complete or no where to put. 

Luckily I recently moved out of my parents house and into my own apartment! I am now a grown up. Even more fortunate… I have a man friend who is handy with tools.  When we moved in we had very little furniture for our living room - we spent a few weeks with out a couch… repainted a terribly ugly bookshelf… inherited a TV stand and we are currently using another TV stand as a side table. The one piece I knew that I wanted my man friend to make was a coffee table out of… you guessed it… skids. So he worked his butt off and pulled together this amazing table!  

I love it! From what I am told our coffee table cost about $25 - essentially the cost of the stain and varnish.  Way better than the majority of coffee tables we saw while we were couch shopping with a similar style costing over $150. 

Not only was the table cheap … it is also something that is unique to our apartment - something that no one else has (those of you that know me know that that is probably my favourite part). 

Next, I'm hoping that eventually we can find time to pull together some side tables to match. 

Hey! I Wanted to Eat That!

Those of you who know me well, know that I hate to waste food.  Especially restaurant food.  Whether its the handful of fries that everyone tells me "you can't heat up," the left over veggies that didn't get eaten or the toast that I never touch at breakfast, I always have the urge to get them 'to-go' (even if they weren't on my plate). Add in the fact that I rarely ever finish a full restaurant meal, so I almost always get a second meal out of it). I'm not sure if it's that I paid for the food so I am definitely going to get my money's worth or if it's that I know that it's going straight into the garbage and directly to the landfill.

Either way... in my mind food waste = money waste.  Check out this video that I created for my ecopreneurship class!

Plus... there is just so much you can do with left overs. Cut up the fries, toss them in the frying pan to crisp up, add veggies and an egg and Voila... Breakfast! Add a chicken breast to left over pasta and you have another meal.  The possibilities are endless so why not take advantage of them.

Here is my issue though... The containers. I really don't need a giant-sized Styrofoam or plastic take out container that for a little bit of food.  And to make matters worse... We can't even recycle these in Halton so when I get home I have to throw the container in the garbage anyways.  For me it turns into a toss up.  Do I waste the food (and the money) or do I waste the container?

In most cases, my desire to get another meal out of my purchase wins, so to combat this I have, on many occasions, brought a container with me. Now even though my purse is ginormous so that I can hold my water bottles and coffee mugs, toting a large container around on top of all that can be quite a pain! So instead I have been on the hunt for an alternative.

In my research, I've seen many people keep ziplocks in their bags, but because using less ziplocks this year is my resolution... I'm choosing to avoid that one. I could keep on of my lunchskin bags in my purse, but most meals would either end up smushed or result in food being spread throughout the inside of my purse. Not ideal! 

I recently came across an article on the We Hate To Waste web site called 'The Future of Doggie Bags' (http://www.wehatetowaste.com/doggie-bags/) and I found the solution to all of my food problems... Collapsible Silicone Containers! You know, like the collapsible strainers etc. Toss it in my purse before heading out to eat and it won't take up a ton of space and then pop it open and fill it with food before I leave.  It seems like the perfect solution!

I haven't purchased anything yet - I was trying to look for them at some of my local shops downtown but came up dry. So now I just have to find the right brand and order it online. I'm excited! Has anyone seen these around, or have them at home? Any other ideas to deal with your leftovers?

Wrap it Up!

So you've finished (hopefully) all of your Christmas shopping and now it is time to wrap. You could go out and spend more of your money on wrapping paper and tape, bows and ribbon (most of which will just end up in the trash) OR you could chose to go green with your gift wrapping this year.

Now, when I hear the term Eco-friendly gift wrapping, my mind automatically goes to boring boxes wrapped up in old newspaper. However, as I have recently discovered Eco-friendly wrap can be quite pretty. It just takes a little bit of creativity and items that you may have lying around the house. Not only will you eliminate a lot of the garbage produced by your family Christmas, but you will also save money too!

If you want to go the newspaper route, add a nice ribbon to make it look festive. You can use the comic section for wrapping children's toys or for something a little different, use old maps instead... maybe from a recent vacation or a trip you are planning to take. For a fun grandparents gift, wrap your presents in scrap paper and have the kiddies decorate the packages!

For those of you who are fantastic scrapbookers, use plain brown paper bags and jazz them up with fun paper cut outs, ribbon, glitter etc. You can also cut the bags up and fold them around your boxes like this... And once the presents are unwrapped the bags can be tossed in the recycle bin. You can even make your own bows to put on your presents!

Using fabric can also add a special touch... Use old clothes and pillow cases and tie them ribbon.  For big presents use a sheet! You can use the wrap over again or donate it when Christmas is over... Either way it will look great under your tree.

Fill a reusable cookie tin with hot chocolate, cookies or other home made treats.  Create a gardening themed gift by filling a watering can with hand tools, pruners and seeds and top it off with some tissue paper. No need for wrapping paper!

For those of you who are less creative, all is not lost! Instead of wrapping paper... just use gift bags and tissue paper instead.  Super Simple! They can be re-used over and over again and the tissue paper can be thrown into the green bin when you are done with it!

And if wrapping paper is truly what you want to stick with... not a problem!  Just try to find wrapping paper that is not only made from recycled material but also can be recycled (most paper has to go in the trash).  You can also find biodegradable wrapping paper that can be put in the green bin or compost bin!

For more eco-friendly wrapping ideas Try this Web Site! The key is to have some fun with it... and no matter what you create your friends and family will have tons more fun unwrapping it!

My Environmental Journey

I grew up in the country, which I believe has given me a different perspective on certain things that most people take for granted.

Water, for instance, was a very precious commodity to us growing up. We had a very small well which made doing laundry, washing dishes, showering and using the toilets very challenging for a family of five. On many occasions we would get part way through a shower only to have the water run out. We would then have to sit and wait in the cold, covered in shampoo for 15 minutes until we had enough water to rinse off. I remember having birthday parties where we would have to put a sign in the bathroom asking our guests to 'flush every other time please.' Try explaining that at the age of nine.

We also didn't have - and still don't have - garbage pickup. Instead we take our garbage directly to the dump... Paying for each visit. Because of this my family and I became experts at composting at recycling... Driving our plastics and paper across town to the sorting facility and braving the cold to the compost bin in our backyard. We have since been given recycling and green bin pick up but this need to divert as much as we can to minimize our trips to the dump has stuck with me.

It wasn't until I hit university that I started making conscious decisions to make my life more sustainable - which for me was a big deal. I'm going to be honest with you... I am a creature of habit and as such I HATE CHANGE! I have altered my life for the better in many ways but I admit that I am not perfect and I still have a long way to go.

Here I will share some of the simple changes I have made to my life and that you can easily make too. SIMPLE ACTIONS MATTER and the more small steps you take - the more you 'lean into green' - the bigger the impact you will have on the planet, the future and even your wallet!