Hey there Green Thinkers!  Thanks for your patience in our brief interuption.  I took a few days off to spend some time with my mom face to face vs. virtual and during her visit we took the opportunity to spend some quality times in a very handy-fashion.

Remember when I posted previously about giving some of our older furniture some new life in order to give our new place a breath of fresh life?  Well, Mom, the man, & I undertook the  task of giving a face lift to our tea cart.  Check out the steps below:

1.  Find an old characteristic piece to give a great make-over.

The original version.

2.  Empty contents & sand it down to remove all the old shiny stuff, aka finish.

3.  Add primer.  The primer will allow your paint to show its true cover & hide any blemishes your old piece may have had and sanding couldn’t take care of.

Primed to make it prime!

4.  Wait until it dries.  Add paint, your color is your choice!  Consider using a low voc environmental version.

The makeover, a little lipstick goes a long way!

5.   Add a clear coat for the shine!

6. Pick out some cool vintage looking hardware (depending on your piece).

The jewelry

7.  Reload & enjoy!

from Ug...to AHHH

We are so pleased with our ‘new’ furniture! I had some other projects at hand, but I think we are going to enjoy our new things for a little longer before undertaking anything more for awhile.

Some other things to make your DIY projects even more eco-friendly:

• Remember to get your environmental, water based paints & clear coats. 
• Don’t forget that your tools.  We used a roller with a reusable brush. Since we used all water-based coverings, we were able to rinse it out before each coat & not have to create a lot of waste.
• Consider looking at old antique shops or thrift stores to look for your furnitures bling aka hardware.  Maybe you even have something lying around that you could convert.  If you are re-doing a dining buffet, consider using old silverware as handles, looking for some cupboard knobs – take a tip from my Aunt & collect unique stones from your garden to glue to a screw & install.

DIY projects are so fun, inexpensive & a great way to avoid excessive purchasing & waste. 

Have you repurposed anything lately? Share it with us!  We would love to share how you’ve turned something drab to fab, ug to ah, a big blurb to something to superb…you get the drift.  Shoot us a little background & pic to greenthinkinggtb@gmail.com, or submit to our blog carnival!

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Remember when Green Thinking Blog went to Bonnaroo in June?

Well, the stats just came in on how much of an environmental impact attendees made through their recycling efforts & Bonnaroo made overall with their full-on committment. Clean Vibes was on the campus to do the dirty work & tally it up!  The results were so great that Bonnaroo even won an award: The A Greener Festival Award, which rates festivals eco-friendliness all over the world!

Check out what was diverted from the landfills at this year’s Bonnaroo (stats provided by Bonnaroo follow up email to GreenThinkingGTB@gmail.com :

101 tons of commingled recycling
23 tons of cardboard
21 tons of scrap metal
45 tons compostable material
5 tons of cooking oil

All together 60% of all waste by volume was diverted from landfills!

This is so impressive, I wonder how Bonnaroo & Clean Vibes will top it next year?!

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Taking a little break from the Carnival of Green Thinking this week – we will pick it up again next week, so feel free to submit your favorite blog articles by the end of next Friday to share with the world!

I love musicals, I love singing & dancing, I love happy things that could be true, but are a little too quirky to believe fully. 

That being said, I do enjoy watching the fun television show, Glee, and since it is a new-ish television phenemenon, you probably know someone else who enjoys it too.

Since growing in popularity, everyone wants to jump on the Glee bandwagon & they are promoting a lot right now in some cute little snip-its…Britney S. Pierce is my favorite.

Right now they are working with American Express to do a promotion with the Members Project and are giving us an opportunity to do good with the actual characters of Glee!  Check out the quiz here and see if you are Sue or a Shue!

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It is that time again, we are packing up the family and relocating. 

The place we are renting now has tons of character & served its purpose when we needed to downsize, but now we have Rigby (who is growing like crazy!) and we are back on our feet to upgrade a little.

Even though we are upgrading from one bedroom to two, we really don’t need a lot of things – and that is the point of this post.  Our current place has a total bohemian feel to it – intricate prints against eclectic furnishings, a whole mix match that actually coordinates; and I love it!  The new place has a different feel to it though, a more sophisticated, elegant vibe is what I get.  Like I said, we don’t need new things, those things just need a new look!  Maybe even a new purpose!

Follow along in the next coming weeks to see how we are taking some of our old things and giving them a new life, and in turn, feeling like we have some totally new gear without the cost!  I must say, I am very thankful to have 2 dedicate assistants in this process – for one, they will keep me grounded as I tend to get carried away, for second, nothing is more fun than having someone to keep you company while working on projects!

Project #1:  Tea Cart turned Entertainment Center turned Sleek Bar

As you can see, this tea cart has been turned into our entertainment center.  It has a super cool vintage feel to it, but that just won’t cut it in our new digs. 

The Plan: 1) Refinish it to a darker color wood or paint it with a textured color.  2) Change out the drawer pulls with some funky, but classy looking knobs  3) Add a funky wine rack to the inside shelf with some cool glassware. 4) Wheel around from kitchen to livingroom as needed for a unique buffet/bar!

Project #2:  Reuhpholster a Sentimental Seat

This chair has a sentimental feeling to it, it is the first piece of furniture my hunny gave me & he found it at a garage sale.  As you can see, it too has a super vintage feel to it, which I want to keep – just with darker wood & a funky printed fabric.

The Plan: 1) Restain the arms & legs to a dark wood (similar to that of the tea cart). 2) Create a slip cover to give a new look and feel to a super cool seat!  The fabric I am considering has some bright vibrant colors and intricate patterns to bring a lively pop to the solid colors of the room while keeping a vintage feel with a sophisticated look.

Another option would be to repurpose your old comforters or draperies to cover your old chairs!

Like I said, stay tuned to see how these projects actually turn out

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During my morning coffee I ran across this helpful little video on MSN.com.

Take a couple of minutes to learn some useful tips!

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Do you have something you want to swap?  Do you have something you need?

XX…….XX…….XX

Got to Swapmamas.com.  This is an online community dedicated to swapping goods.  How it works is:  You post what you have in one of the various channels, and you look for what you want.  You can only swap or gift on this site – no $$$ no paypals and all shipping coordination takes place offline.  Rules have it that the giver pays the shipping deal.  Easy-peasy, green & fun!

What I love about this is that it goes with the GTB philosophies of not buying new when you can get something used in perfect condition, plus, you create a sense of harmony by the people you meet through your transactions, and it make the old cliches true: What goes around comes around; One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

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I hadn’t ever thought of this before, but does the Earth want us to conserve? compost? recycle?  Have I been butting my nose where it isn’t wanted?

According to Robert Laughlin, and featured in an article in Newsweek, (Newsweek, 9.12.10 by George Will) the Earth just may not care if we meddle.  Laughlin shares the idea that the geological timeframe of the Earth will happen regardless of what we do in the meantime. He argues that ‘Climate change over geologic time is, Laughlin says, something the earth has done “on its own without asking anyone’s permission or explaining itself.” People can cause climate change, but major glacial episodes have occurred “at regular intervals of 100,000 years,” always “a slow, steady cooling followed by abrupt warming back to conditions similar to today’s.”’ 

I must say, I see his point – and since he is a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, he has some ground to stand on.  Even so, I still think it is in the interest of human nature that we embrace conservation and show a respect for where we live. 

What are your thoughts?  Leave us a comment, a tweet, or an email.

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Ever consider banking with the environment? That is right! There is a Recycle Bank.

You could get totally rich just by doing things you already do, such as  reducing, reusing and recycling.

Seriously, do you recycle at home, recycle or electronics, or belong to the eBAy Green Club?  If so, you can easily earn points to add to your Recycle Bank.  Then you get to turn those points in to get discounts at a thousand or so retailers!

Do you like shopping for ecofriendly products, do you like going out to eat, what about music on your iPod?  If you join Recycle Bank, these are just some of the things you could redeem with your points!

Already, users have helped save over 9 million trees and almost 630 million gallons of water!

Consider this, Recycle Bank could be a really easy program for you to take advantage of – but it could also be a great incentive to get that person you know who needs a little encouragement in the eco-friendly department to jump on board…I can just feel the points rolling in!

http://www.recyclebank.com/

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Today marks our fifth installment of the Carnival of Green Thinking.  I feel like it is a little birthday or something   Before we get down to business, I know you have been on the edge of your seat for the answer to yesterday’s GeoQuiz question - so here it is:

We asked:  True or False? 

The stability of the climate is related to the concentration of greenhouse gases.

The answer: TRUE!  The stability of our climate is related to the concentration of greenhouse gases.

Now, let’s get down to the good stuff. So many kids went back to school this last week, the theme of our posted blog articles is going to follow suit. Don’t forget, if you come across an eco-friendly blog post during the week – share it with us to share with the world!

HOW MUCH PAPER DO YOU USE IN SCHOOL?!

ClimateProgress.org reports on plenty of green options to choose from when going back to school – including starting your own paper recycling program…Paper will probably be one of the first items on most back-to-school shopping lists, and it’s usually one of the biggest sources of preventable waste in school supplies. Schools throw out an average of 38 tons of paper every year. That’s 8 million sheets per school—enough to save 646 trees if recycled…

 YOU’RE GONNA WEAR THAT ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?!

Low Impact Living has some great perspective on the back-to-school fashion trends this year for the eco-happy student…First, the most important category to many kids: clothes. Of course, the greenest thing to do is to wear last-year’s clothes. Exaggerated eye roll. Hand-me-downs? Irritated stare. Thrift stores? “Gah-ross!” (Hint: try calling it “vintage”–much cooler.) And so the challenge begins…

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF SCHOOL: LUNCH.

Nature Moms have the firsthand scoop on eco-friendly things for kids to get their learn-on, you gotta eat right & you gotta do it in style!…The Laptop Lunchbox- This is my all time favorite lunchbox. It is an American style bento box and I LOVE bentos. They also promotes waste free lunches because each compartment eliminates the need for plastic baggies. They also come with real flatware and a cloth napkin can be put inside it too. This lunchbox helps me pack healthy and environmentally friendly meals for my kids. You can see some of the lunches I made here and you can read a more detailed review here…

JUST FOR FUN!

As you know I love my little puppy Rigby so so so so much!  This week we are celebrating her getting her stitches out from her spay surgery last week – YAY!  So, just for fun, I thought I would share this great video that combines things I love: Puppies & Yoga.

Thanks to Care2 Green Living for sharing! 

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I am in the market for a new car.  Don’t worry, my existing car is going to a good cause -  my sister. 

I have a couple of options to consider for my car buying adventure:

1.  Buy something gently used - this option will  use one of the many excessive vehicles that are currently out there – recycling so to say…

2. Buy a hybrid.  While this option doesn’t take some of the excess inventory off the lots, going forward my gas emissions would be lessened while I am on the road.

You can see my dilemma, quite the catch-22.  What would you do? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

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