Recycling My Trash 101

Bellingham is an amazing community, vibrant with local business, artists and craftspersons. Here we thrive, 20 miles from Canada and an hour and fifteen minutes from Seattle. I moved here by accident in 2003 and now I can't leave, it seems. There are some great things that happen here that I love and one of them is an organization called Sustainable Connections, there is much to say about SC, but that is not the topic of this post.

However Sustainable Connections inspires some great actions in this community and one of them, starting in 2008 was the Toward Zero Waste Challenge! Sounds exciting doesn't it! I signed up to participate and when I had my trash audited I was recycling over 85% of it. I am proud of this little detail and here is partly how I do it

The Poster spells it all out! I guess we have some pretty great recycling here because SSC takes many different materials away for a second chance! There is so much more than just container recycling!
The plastic film box in the corner, I even bring plastic from home to put in here, down to the little tiny bags the screws come in for the Bottle Openers.
This is the little recycle station next to my press, these small boxes haven't been emptied in weeks and weeks!
The Recycle Mothership where Trash, Paper and Food Plus (anything that can be composted) all hang together! I bought the system at IKEA and love it!
The rules for the Food Plus bin!
I even recycle all my food waste in this small bin, emptying it regularly to combat fruit flies!
I used to do a lot of test prints on fabric and then throw that fabric away or use it for rags. Now I do them on kraft paper and use it to gift wrap my Etsy orders when I ship them. Pieces I don't use go in the Food Plus bin.
Test prints that I still do on fabric are turned over to the amazing Moth and Squirrel where they are turned into incredible bike hats!
Little hat for baby...
Made from Bird Collage and Bike Parts test prints...
Mom & Pop hats...
... I see some Breadfarm ink on this one!
So in conclusion...there are a lot of ways to make a difference be it in your business, community, how you spend your money or what you do with your garbage. Scoutie Girl today asked the question of quality vs quantity and the importance of the handmade community. As much as I support my local community I also try to protect it by doing what I can with what I cannot craft into something better.