Harvesting yarn

I recently attended the University of Maine's annual yard sale where the facilities people sell all the stuff leftover from students' rooms (kinda creepy, yes), things forgotten and many things intentionally left behind. There were many, many pieces of clothing that were clearly discarded Halloween costumes, and various teeny-tiny sized garments that I imagine the owner no longer being able to fit into after gaining the Freshmen Fifteen, so rather than packing up those size zeroes she conveniently leaves them behind. I searched for sweaters made with fairly good shape yarn for harvesting and came up with a few good ones and some hats and scarves as well. After I unravel and wash the yarn who knows in what form they will live their second life. I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, I'm no good with a camera, but I have since discovered that the manual for the camera is chock full of good information regarding how the camera actually works.

Results of doing my (little) part

After being more conscientious about our electricity usage at home I just wanted to post that last month we reduced our KWH (kilowatt-hour) per day by 1.5 KWH or about $0.27 per day. From one year ago we are down 4 KWH and about $.69 a day. While that may not sound like a lot it is in black and white on my bill and the difference is only more motivation to keep on keepin' on.

Doing my (little) part

It's sad but true; what really got me motivated to attempt a greener life is the price of gasoline. Maybe that's the American way, we pay attention once our wallets feel the pinch. I guess the reason for the decision to live greener is probably not what matters though, what matters is that I'm trying to do my part by taking (baby) steps to reduce my carbon footprint.

The Husband and I have started buying food locally as often as we can. We buy our meat (yes, we still will be consuming meat) at an amazing farmers market from a quirky farmer who tells great jokes and his elderly mother who has that dry Maine wit so common with that generation. I also bought a half share of a CSA which is part of the University of Maine's Sustainable Agriculture program. Starting in June I will go to the farm once a week to pick up organic vegetables, and I can't wait!

I started taking the bus. While it's not as green as walking or biking it's certainly better than driving alone in my car.

We replaced our light bulbs with CFLs- and we are probably the last people I know who haven't done this already.

I started taking Navy showers, cold but worth it, I think.

I read Colin Beavan's blog No Impact Man, definitely one of the most inspirational blogs I've read. It keeps me motivated and he is always providing his readers with ways to be green and be active about being green.

And as I love crafting, I also have been searching the Internet for ideas for green crafts. Crafters and DIYers are resourceful by nature and, I think, have always been pioneers of figuring out ways to reuse thing that might otherwise become trash. Here's a small collection of links about recycled materials for crafting:

Recycling yarn from old sweaters:
Neauveau.com
Recycled yarn

Recycling wool:
Sew Green Recycled Slippers
Two Green Chickens Recycling Wool Sweaters

Various materials:
A Little Hut
Sew Green