dutch marginal

from  designmom as a real reuser, recycler and upcycler, i searched before for the reuse of the sad pencils that do not work anymore. at that time i did not find much that i could use, but now you get a treasure chest full of ideas like this one: pencil ideas . i am decided for the following project to fulfill: pencil jewelry .

did you ever take a look on the etsy.com website? it is the ideal website if you are searching for sustainable made at home things. and if you search for the etsy shops in your hometown, maybe you will discover that almost next door, you can by the homemade things you searched for. internet makes shops less visible in the real world but if you know where to search on the internet, you can discover real pearls.

did you ever hear of mud dyed textile that they use for making kimono's on a japanese island. i never heard of this. they dye the silk with prune pulp for sometimes 30 times to get a deep purple. and after that, they put the silk in the mud to get a reaction between the iron in the mud and the colored silk, thus becoming a deep chocolate brown color. but the work does not stop there. they split the textile into separate threads, that will be woven in special patterns. one kimono takes sometimes a year from start to finish. what a craftmanship. read more here

ever wondered what to do with all those old books, you once read, or got through heritage maybe? i just saw this idea at the etsy website: vintage books as an interior art decoration a fantastic idea. and you know, recently i took such an old book, and loved the old-fashioned way it has been written in. how time changes.

ever heard of it? fairchain, radically good coffee. moyee. it is delicious, absolutely worth the extra price only by taste already. and than knowing that you support the fairchain of coffee, it gives you a good feeling. try it too. and probably you will want more. click the logo if you are curious.

did you ever hear of regrowing new vegetables from the scraps? i just came by regrowing carrot tops into new plants and discovered that you can regrow so much. of course we tried out seeds from vegetables and fruits before, even grew our own date palm but from scraps is something new to us. check out the internet if you are interested in doing so too.

i hate spoiling food so i always buy carrots without the greens on though then the greens probably have been thrown away anyway. but now, my daughter brought a big bundle of carrots with the green leafs from her own garden. reason to find out what to do with the green tops. and guess what. a world of recipes opened up, like pasta sauce, pesto, salad ... take a look yourself on the internet. and then to know it is very healthy, full of vitamins and minerals and even proteins. by the way, did you know you can also use the green leaves of cauliflower?

did you already notice the new project from greenpeace:  GREENBEES sign the petition if you feel like we really have to help the bees adopt a bee perhaps ( this link for dutch people) use organic seeds, buy organic food and make your balcony or garden bee-friendly guide to make a bees paradise (in dutch):  bees paradise and more tips (in english):  happy bees

i was wondering if all the little pieces of fabric i finally throw away after reusing as much as possible could serve a purpose. see above. quite some challenge. inspiration came from  this website .

microsoft is producing smart chips by building a datacenter besides greenhouses. the datacenter needs to be cooled and the greenhouses need to be warmed. bell pepper growers work with energy from cogeneration. the datacenter uses the extra cogenerated energy for cooling and gives its residual heat to the pepper growers. chips with pepper and tomato  (in Dutch)

worried about the smog that is taking over the sun in crowded places? check out this project by a Dutch artist and his partners: studio roosegaarde but rather then need an ion cannon for some clean air in parks, prevent the uprising smog, by cycling as much as possible and living sustainable. force industry around you to be as clean as can be.

more and more you read about companies reusing trash (from the oceans too) pharell williams will work with Adidas on a new collections, using his bionic yarn, from ocean plastic: to the bionic yarn website willeke nugteren is starting up 'bali plastik recycling'. at more and more beaches they collect old nets you can reap and put there to be reused. be sure to use as less plastic bottles as possible and otherwise reuse them and then let them be recycled. some ideas: urban vertical garden and many more ideas

an informative website regarding living more green, fair and fine. in dutch though:  www.hetkanWel.net nice articles like the change that everyone picking up one piece of litter everyday would make. or all kind of recipes for using old bread.

most people love to drink coffee. but how sustainable is that in these times. here  you will find an article on it. it supports me in investing in more expensive coffee. to drink, but: arabica, organic, rainforestfriendly, birdfriendly, fair trade. it is investing in plant earth and still enjoying the moment.

op de ranglijst van duurzame energieleveranciers, samengesteld door o.a. Greenpeace staan de kleine leveranciers Raedthuys en Windunie bovenaan. Eneco is met de vierde plaats de beste grote duurzame energieleverancier. Iets om te onthouden als je weer mooie aanbiedingen voorbij ziet komen. Greenpeace artikel over de ranglijst

also worried about the plastic problem in the ocean? fortunately, experts are busy with solving the problem. did you already hear about this project of Boyan Slat?: THE OCEAN CLEANUP knowing that problems like this are being investigated to be solved makes you more positive for the future ea rth, don't you think so?

ever wondered which mobile phone to buy for a sustainable world? maybe thought about the block phone? be a sustainable mobile user, use the old ones in your drawer, not so smart in use, but, by now, smart in look. producing a phone (or fridge, or whatever electric device) takes so much energy and resources that using an existing one, although less 'green', is still the greenest thing to do.

we all know the energy savings tips, but sometimes it is nice to read them again, just to reconsider our behaviour: besparen doet u zo! by Eneco, in Dutch

just spotted some very nice blogs and sites with nice recycling ideas. by MiekK blog mme Zsazsa ordent blog

just have been searching knitting garn for a poncho. it is not easy to choose the most sustainable one. finally decided for recycled polyester, not natural, but sustainable. searching too? check these mainly dutch websites: phildar ecolo yarns apart trikoo ecotex wolkokerbreishop