Green Thing Blog

(All images: Jo Corrall)

In Paris new shops called La Ressourcerie (which translates into resource stores) are starting to pop up all over the place. They function like a charity shop but one that takes all your odds and ends, no matter how obscure or broken they might be, and then either repair, upcycle, recycle or sell them. Things you might not normally donate to a charity shop are welcomed with open arms at a ressourcerie, including all those things that you have no idea how to recycle.

Step inside and you are likely to find all sorts of treasures, from lamps with plastic bottle shades to tennis ball photo frames and from mirrors framed by recycled tires to shelves of books and racks of clothing, the possibilities are endless.

The wonderful thing about these stores is that by upcycling items they offer employment, reasonably priced goods and cut down on rubbish being sent to landfill. A great All Consuming idea that is crying out to be replicated elsewhere!

For more on upcycled goodness weave some rugs, make some bowls and get crocheting.

(Spotted on Treehugger)

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When a tree dies and needs to be cut down, it can be all too easy to just throw it into the chipper (well, maybe not physically easy...) but before you get rid of it, take a look at some of these clever ideas to reuse that old tree.

The bee habitat
It can't have escaped your notice that bees have been having a hard time of it lately. Give them a helping hand by turning an old branch into a relaxing resting place for them. Using a length of wood around 20cm long, drill lots of holes into it. These should be between 2 and 10mm wide, no larger or the bee's wont like it. Or you can hollow out the middle and use bamboo to create a cozy bee-friendly hang out. Nail or tie it up and in no time at all your garden will have solitary bees buzzing in to take a rest between pollinating.

(Image: Wikimedia Commons) 

Paving slabs
Slice the trunk up into 3inch thick discs and lay them together to create a beautifully natural path for your garden. Wet wood can be slippery though so score and mark the tops and add sand or fine gravel for added grip in rainy weather.

(Image: Tony Wood. Science Photo Library) 

Plant pots
Choose a thick branch or the trunk, hollow it out (made even easier if the wood has rotted) and create a flat bottom to it. Add some soil and a favourite plant or two and you'll have a lovely looking pot that will both stand out and blend into your garden.

Trellises and fences
If you have a number of thin branches you can lash them together to make trellises for your plants to grow up or even a natural looking fence to surround your veggie patch.

(Image: Karen Blackerby) 

Make a chair
If the trunk isn't too rotten then you can sand it down, varnish it and make it into a gorgeous chair. You can either go for the simple stump, or if you have a few wood working skills up your sleeve then go for something altogether more fancy!

P.S. If a dead tree is in a safe place and wont suddenly fall and hurt someone or something then leave it where it is, it provides fantastic protection and food for all sorts of living things.

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(Image: playscrabbleonline)

April 13th is National Scrabble Day where Scrabble lovers all over the world celebrate the birthday of its creator, Alfred Mosher Butts.

Today is the perfect time to spend your evening Plugged Out, playing the word-centric game. A Scrabble soiree is a great excuse to get together with friends and family and do word battle. You might even impress yourself with putting down a word like 'zoism'. (yes that is a word).

If playing Scrabble isn't your cup of tea at all then we have plenty of other ways for you to celebrate the day without you having to get your dictionary out. All you'll need is a bit of imagination.

(Image: Bookishengland)

Use the board to make yourself a really useful and unique notebook.

(Image: Threadbanger)

Or you could make a simple, retro looking bulletin board with the tiles as your pins.

(Image: Etsy)

Make this great looking clock. The tile racks make the frame and you just cut the board to size. All you need then is a simple clock mechanism. This design is particularly cool because you can use the tiles to spell something out on the bottom rack. So long as it's no more than 7 letters, of course.

(Image: Thefrisky)

Use the tiles to spell out a sweet message to hang on your wall. This 'home sweet home' craft is so lovely but you can write anything you like.

(Image: Hellowemakestuff)

You can also turn the lettered tiles into personalised necklaces of your initials or even some personalised cufflinks.

(Image: Etsy)

Attach some magnets to the back and dress up your fridge with any message you like. It might be a sweet love note or a stern reminder to buy more milk.

(Image: Thisnext)

And after all that upcycling, you're bound to be tired so put your feet up, have a cup of tea and make sure you use your new scrabble coasters.

Whether you are the biggest Scrabble fan ever or you just can't stand playing the game, there is something for everyone on Scrabble day.

P.S. Board games just leave you a bit cold? Try these not so rubbish, rubbish games. And if you're not sure why you should Plug Out of your electronic computer games once in a while, maybe you should check out our video, Xcess Box.

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(Image: Formafantasma)

Fendi, the high-end powerhouse in fashion is making luxury furniture by upcycling food industry refuse.

Fendi have been reusing the leather scraps since 2009 by upcycling them into fashionable items. More recently, they have asked designers Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin from the Dutch design studio Formafantasma to take things up a notch.

Trimarchi and Farresin have been using the leather with discarded animal waste to make some unusual furniture. To date, some of their creations include a water bottle made from a cow's bladder, a stool covered in salmon skin with a large sponge for a cushion and kitchen knives made from cow bone.

The materials they used are all discarded from either Fendi products or the food industry and would otherwise be just thrown in the bin. The leathers come from salmon, pigs and trout and tanned with vegetable minerals. Tree bark and cork leather were also used, along with some unwanted animal bladders to give this, slightly weird, project a tick in the All Consuming box.

While Fendi might be making caveman chic, they're aren't the first to upcycle animal waste products. Check out this cup and these shoes, both made from fish waste.

(Spotted on PSFK)

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(Image: emin3b)

BevMo!, an office license chain in California and Arizona have decided to team up with ReCORK and the footwear manufacturer Sole, to help their customers walk on wine (and recycle wine corks while they're at it).

Worldwide there are 13 billion natural cork closures (the bit that's in the top of your wine bottle) sold in a year.

Like a lot of recyclable products, the majority end up in landfill. Natural cork is renewable, biodegradable and recyclable so it's perfect for this sort of All Consuming project.

(Image: IslandSurf)

Wine corks can be made into all sorts of things, like fishing rod handles, under playground equipment, building insulation and even as a soil amendment in compost but in this case, the wine corks will be made into flip flops. Pretty cool huh?

Of course, if you don't have access to one of these recycling bins there are plenty of upcycling projects you can do with your corks. Check out our pinterest board for some inspiration.

And if you don't have enough corks, well then it looks like it's time for a summery bottle of rose or two. Cheers!

P.S. Like flip flopping around? Then check out these newspaper flip flops.

(Spotted on Earth911)

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