During the GreenCupboards.com office decorating competition, our team put our heads together to think up new ways to decorate using the guidelines of the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Here’s some of fun ways we stayed green.  Feel free to use this as a guide for your own holiday decorating!

Magazine pages and a cereal box transformes!

Magazine flower Wreath: Don’t throw away those old magazines!  Reuse each individual page to make a paper flower (or three)!  These flowers can be attached to a round cardboard back (cut from a cereal box) to create a colorful festive holiday wreath.

t-shirt bows!

T-shirt bows: Want to add a vintage flare to your Christmas gifts this year?  Instead of tossing your stained or worn out t-shirts, use them to make creative bows!  Cut old clothes into strips and make them into bows!  Tie them around packages; attach them to garlands and doors!  These vintage bows are a great personal touch to a gift.

recycled paper makes for fantastic snow flurries!

Paper Snowflakes: Forget the snow machine!  Cut snowflake shapes from used papers and hang them up to make your home a wonderland.

popcorn and cranberry garland

Popcorn and Cranberry Garland: Instead of spending holiday cash on fluffy lavish garlands, create your own.  Sit down with the kids or your loved one and spend the afternoon stringing popcorn and cranberries together.

newspaper for wrapping presents!

Newspaper Gift Wrap: Year after year we spend money on wrapping paper just to throw it away on Christmas morning.  This year, save some time and use your money on something more worthwhile!  Old newspaper serves as the perfect wrapping paper.

newspaper ads for a paper chain!

Paper Chain: In need of a fun holiday craft?  Fold old ads and attach loops to make a long chain to hang over your door frame or mantel.

string tree!

Wall-String-Tree: If a tree is what you’re missing, never fear!  You can create a forest of trees with a few tacks and some string.  Tack a line of string in a tree shape on your wall and decorate it however you like!

Happy Holidays!

Home made of reused 747 materials

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about those three R’s. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
Set up by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these are a part of the waste hierarchy as methods of waste minimization that was created in the 1940’s. They’re simple ideas, but how often do people actually take them to heart? And what do they mean?
I have a vivid memory from when I learned the generic fourth grade chant “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!” For some reason, I was under the impression that the “Reuse, Recycle” part were ways to “Reduce” our impact on the planet. So I did some research, gave myself a refresher course, and for those of you who need some clarification, here’s how the EPA defines their mantra.

“Reduce the amount and toxicity of trash you through away.
Reuse containers and products.
Recycle as much as possible and buy products with recycled content.”

For the sake of sustainability, I’d like to add that we should be reducing our impact at all costs in all areas, including the amount of water and electricity we use.
There are a million instances of people using these practices in day to day life, but architect David Hertz stands out as a man who has recycled to the largest degree.
So what do you do with those out of commission 747 planes? Reuse! Hertz used an old plane to construct a chic new age home in Malibu, California. How did he do it? By cutting apart the plane and using its main material: aluminum. To give it a unique flare, Hertz left the wings of the plane intact and used them as the roof for his new building. Extra materials were used for structures around the house, such as the fire pit made from the engine cowling.
Yet again, modern innovation is taking what may have been destined for a landfill to a new level. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Sources:

http://earth911.com/news/2011/10/04/photos-junked-jet-becomes-a-malibu-home/

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/reduce.htm

http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/history-of-recycling.html

Images:

http://earth911.com/news/2011/10/04/photos-junked-jet-becomes-a-malibu-home/2/

http://archnewhome.com/tag/malibu-property