June 13, 2010

Get Ready For Summer with a Beach Tote Giveaway!

Meet Tangerine the cat, a fanciful feline for those of you who are devoted to or enslaved by a cat who is red, orange, ginger, marmalade or a bit rusty!

In celebration of my newest design AND the imminent return of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, Tangerine invites you to take part in our June Giveaway by reviewing the 3 Rs.

Some may still cling to the notion that the 3 Rs refer to Reading, 'Riting. and 'Rithmetic, but apparently they haven't heard the news: SCHOOL IS OUT!

We're talking about the OTHER 3 Rs: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle, in that order. In other words, Reduce your waste first (ie, avoid over-packaged products, compost food waste, etc ); Re-use an item instead of opting for disposable anything (ie use lidded glass containers to store leftovers instead of plastic throw-away containers); and Recycle (ie, when something does wear out, recycle every part of it that's possible).

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY, please leave YOUR favorite way to
Reduce, Re-use, or Recycle in the comments section at the end of this post. The best tips will be shared in future posts. Giveaway ends on the summer solstice, Monday, June 21 at 8 p.m. PST. At that time, one name will be drawn at random and the winner will receive his/her choice of ONE of the Susan Faye Beach Bags pictured below ($22.99 value), now available in my Cafepress Shop online.



These cotton beach totes are a good way to practice the 3 Rs. By re-using them for toting and shopping, you reduce the petroleum products needed to make plastic bags and reduce the amount of plastic bag bits ending up in our soil and our oceans. You can use them to carry your bottles to the recycle center!

One entry per household please. Make sure that I have a way to contact you in case you are the lucky winner, such as a link to your blog or e-mail address included in the comment.










Also, if you encounter trouble with the Comments feature, please send your entry to my e-mail --you'll find a link under my Profile.


Thanks for participating!

14 comments:

Greatma said...

Hello,

Would love to win the tote!!! I use recyclable bags for the grocery store, buy used items to reuse, and I recycle all my paper, plastic containers, etc every week. I have been doing this for years, I think before it became a thing to do!!!!! Antique Rose

Nutamu said...

Maybe I'm just cheap lol but when something breaks I don't rush to throw it out and get new. I'm always fixing things if it is at all possible to fix them rather than throw em out and get new. I have this large cat statue that got knocked over and broke. I refused to throw it out and instead spent time putting it back together and recreating the face with plaster (the point that hit the ground and thus broke into very small pieces). It looks better than ever now.

Also I reuse a lot of stuff in creative projects. Broken bits of jewelry can be reused in a new piece, even eggshells can be used to add a fractured glass texture in paintings (oil or acrylic).

Before I toss something out I think ok can I find any more use for this? And if I can't well if it is recyclable then in the special bin it goes.

Lovely totes!

8GR8LOLCATS said...

As you can imagine- the 8GR8CATS go through a GR8 deal of catfood cans! We rinse them out and bring them to the Buffalo Zoo with us. They are used to make all kinds of crafts with the children who attend the various camp and craft programs at the zoo! We love the marmalade tote!

loralai said...

I buy almost all my clothing from the Thrift Stores. Even got the hubby to realize what a great way it is to reduce, reuse and recycle. I've always done that, but now its actually COOL !

snippetgirl said...

This crazy cat lady is all about reusing, recycling and repurposing. I have decorated my house with lots of refurbished furniture and accents from Goodwill, the Habitat ReStore and flea markets. I use recycled boxes and packing materials from Subway and my neighbors for shipping my artwork to customers. I sent out an email to all of my neighbors and they drop off boxes and peanuts on my porch. I have a huge plastic bin in my pantry to make it easy to collect plastic items, cardboard, cans, etc. for recycling.

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

I, too use plastic bags from the grocery store to recycle. More specifically I use them for cat and dog waste. I also use plastic bags from newspapers and even that bread is packaged in for the same use.

I use coffee cans to dispose of grease from cooking and for extra sauce that I don't want going down the drain.


I use empty paper towel/toilet paper rolls to store extra ribbon.

I use empty plastic butter containers to make "Kongs" for my cat. I cut holes at the top (carefully so they are not jagged) and I put cat treats in. Clear, plastic containers are great for this too because it drives the cat crazy seeing the treats and he has to try and get them out!

I use old T-shirts as rags, same with sheets.....

"Ends" of veggies that are cut fresh are put in bags and stored in the freezer to use to make broth!

I am REALLY a "Crazy Cat Lady" and would love that bag!!! :)

Dawn Herron said...

I use reusable bags for the store I use the plastic ones if I get them for the trash cans and recycle them at places like walmart or where ever where you can recycle them. I reuse a lot of containers for my crochet/knitting items like pins and stitch markers. I use old socks and shirts for dusting I recycle my husbands pants into shorts or purses. Plastic bags also get used for the kitty boxes and crochet items. My husband likes to reuse coffee grounds for the potting soil in our house plants.
Dawn
eddym1@cox.net

Alison said...

My trunk is filled with varying sizes and types of reusbale bags. The sturdy grocery kinds, the pretty fabric kind that I use when shopping for non-grocery including CLOTHES (I stuff in handbag until I'm done shopping and I get to counter...where I ask sales clerk to use MY bag instead of their plastic ones.I could write a piece on the varying reactions - including the teenage girl that asked me why I was doing it? "For you and the future! I explained and then gave her a brief lecture on plastic!!!geeze), I sort the recyclables like mad here (glass, paper, numbered plastics - wish they would expand the numbers accepted!), bring my own water bottle places, use a resuable sandwhich wrap n go instead of plastic, have a bento box lunch case, mugs at work, tear off fronts of greeting cards (all occasions now accepted) to send in to St. Jude's Ranch for Children's card program (they make new cards out of old fronts)and lots of donations of clothes and "stuff" to GoodWill (not landfills). Trying to do my small part for Mother Earth.

Kay said...

I've reduced through going from store bags to fabric ones and by shopping at my local farm market, where things are not encased in plastic. Reuse is a way of life with me - I use plastic coffee can lids as paint pallets, make quick breads in (washed) tin cans, store juice and leftovers in (washed) glass jars and use all manner of reusable stuff for craft projects. (BTW, if you do ebay or etsy and need to ship fragile things, egg cartons can be fit over delicate spots for shipping, adding some additional padding and taped in place with painter's tape). As to recycle, my favorite is making tote bags from great old sweaters and stuffed animals from the sleeves (AKA Animals Up My Sleeve). I also trim off buttons, ribbon, beads and lace from sweaters and blouses to use as trims on items. I save all kinds of containers - soda bottles make great vases and yogurt cups are good for shea butter molds. Finally (well not, but finally for this post) I've made it a fun challenge to use up my leftovers, turning them into something different and delicious instead of pitching them. We threw out so much food, and with the hunger in the world, I just can't do it anymore. Plus, it saves on the grocery bill!

Kay said...

Oh! Just one more thing. I find my local pizza parlor (run by two nice young men who are still getting their business up and running) are delighted to have what extra grocery and paper bags I acquire - it saves them from having to purchase them. In return, I get extra pepperoni and mushrooms. :0)

anne said...

GOsh there are so many great ideas, and most of mine are used up. But the simplest one for me is to cut up paper that has the back clean still, into small note-sized pages that I store right next to my phoen and computer for taking notes on. My friend Helen glues the top edge to make note pads from bakcs of old papers. It is fun and colorful to see the variety of paper yo ucan re-use this way! And I LOVE this tote bag, Mz.Susan!

Sarah said...

I make as many of my craft projects from thrift store finds as possible...I unravel sweaters for their yarn; I make quilts out of unloved work shirts!

--sarah

Tracy said...

I keep all food scraps and take my papers and shred for my composter. Any thing that I no longer use, I post either on freecycle, or donate to goodwill. I love the tote, and so do my five cats!

susanbellnc said...

I am recycling cat hair and dryer lint. I know a lady who spins her own yarn (she raises llamas and sheep), and she has agreed to spin some yarn out of my cats' hair for me so I can knit a scarf with it. I brush my kitties and save the hair in plastic bags. We're also throwing in dryer lint to help hold it all together as the cat hair itself probably wouldn't work well on its own. She's used dryer lint before, and has a friend who used dog hair, which is where I got this ultimate recycling idea. :)