Commerce Wins - What We've Made With Recyclables

Thanks to all of you for your commitment to the Think! Energy campaign and its message, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I got the official notice yesterday from the National Energy Foundation that Commerce has won the Pledge Contest, with over 60% of our Department employees pledging to be energy efficient!!!

What We've Made With Recyclables
So far this month, we have several creative use ideas and actual products made from recycled materials. Here they are, keep them coming!!

1. Thanks Carolyn for you cork trivets:



Also, this article discusses the World Cup, soccer players wearing jerseys made almost entirely from plastic bottles: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/business/energy-environment/12sustain.html?ref=recycling_of_waste_materials


2. These are all awesome, Lee!!
**Ribbon Photo Corners - Giving a decorative touch to photo albums using ribbons from gifts received - http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/ribbon-photo-corners
**using a toilet paper roll to hold an extension cord


**using a paper towel roll on a wire hanger to keep your pants from getting a crease when you hang them in half



**making gift bags from scraps of material, or old shirts, jeans, etc. (easy sewing, or glue for those who do not sew)





**making Christmas ornaments from Christmas cards - below



**making book marks from Christmas Cards and from corners of envelopes




**shredding scrap paper and old gift wrapping paper for use as filler in gift bags





3. Skirts made out of old dresses, cut-offs from old pair of pants, pillow cases from an old sheet (Karen you are wiz with your sewing machine!)

Future Campaign Ideas - Thanks Shauna
(a) Have staff complete a water audit of their water use to become aware one month, report usage before. The water audit or water check can be done through the "slow the flow" website. The following month set a goal to reduce use by a percentage and report after usage.

(b) Education on water resistance planting and xerioscaping, with the challenge to have staff plant at least one or more plants and submit a picture.

(c) Become clutter free in our homes and offices, recycling the abundance, redundance and just plain extra. i.e., count the number of clutter items they freed themselves of (taking a bag and walking around the home with a challenge to remove 25 items not being used and taking up valuable space)

Century Gothic font uses 30% less ink than Arial? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125639616 (Thanks Jeff)

Make and Take Brown Bag and Contest in July
With many of us taking summer vacations, we are going to extend the current campaign into July. Towards the end of July, we will hold a Brown Bag when we can use the upcycling ideas I am receiving from you, we can make and take some of the more simple items, and we can also vote on our favorite upcycled items entered into the contest.

So, keep bringing in your entries (remember that each upcycled item is a separate entry into our drawing)!!

Now, if you are an early bird reader of this blog entry, send me an email for a little bonus.

June Campaign Details

For the June Think! Energy Campaign, I would like to see:

(1) yours or your family/friends' attempts at upcycling, making something usable with recycled materials; and

(2) your ideas for future monthly campaigns.

UPCYCLED ITEMS: You can bring these items to me, I will take pictures and post them on our blog for others to see. I will also hold these items until the end of the month and we will probably have a brown bag lunch or other gathering later this month so that everyone has a chance to see them. Perhaps we will hold a contest to see which upcycled items are found to be the most useful, the most creative, the most likely to sell in a market, etc.

So begin making your upcycling entries. Here are a couple of web sites courtesy of Carolyn from DOPL, that might help you get started - patterns for making grocery and produce bags.

http://wisdomofthemoon.blogspot.com/2008/01/cheap-easy-fabric-produce-bags.html

http://tipnut.com/35-reusable-grocery-bags-totes-free-patterns/

I have skimmed these sites, and they are really great! I also posted other sites on this blog previously with additional links to craft ideas.

By the way, you can have more than one entry for the upcycling contest!

YOUR CAMPAIGN IDEAS: I have been doing this for a year now, and I'm not sure I have any more ideas to throw at you. I am hoping you are still remembering and practicing the habits we tried to learn through the first year: switching power strips off at night, turning off lights in unused rooms, unplugging appliances not in use, eliminating personal appliances; using alternate modes of transportation, limiting driving trips, and not idling automobiles; recycling cans, plastics, cardboard, batteries, etc. and upcycling items where possible. In order to continue the Think! Energy campaign and keep it alive in this Department, I need your help. Please send me your ideas for topics or activities, ways that will help us keep the momentum going and continue to have monthly drawings.

JUNE DRAWING. Your future campaign ideas and upcycled items will earn entries to the June prize drawings! And now, if you are an early bird and send me a quick email and let me know you've read this blog entry, you could be eligible for a little bonus.

Thank you!
Your E-Team Captain,
Masuda