Fancy a craft project for the weekend? Over at our sister-site Crafty Crafty, I've spotted an very simple bag pattern that would make a good alternative to plastic. With the move away from plastic bags, reusable cloth and string bags are becoming more and more popular, and while there are many approaches you can take for making these bags, a great method is to first knit or crochet a square or circular base, and then pick up stitches and knit in the round with a repetitive "yarn over, knit two together" pattern. According to Judy Gibson's directions this stitch combination is called Turkish Stitch.
Recently my partner and I have been thinking (well actually dreaming) or moving to the countryside and when we do it would be nice if we could grow our own fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately we are both very lazy when it comes to lawn sprucing and complete garden novices, so to help us out I am planning to purchase Let’s Grow Veg magazine.
This new publication comes with everything you need to create your own vegetable plot, including: information about how to plant and harvest your own produce in easy steps, advice from leading experts such as Alan Titchmarsh and celebrity recipes.
Why in the world is there a hole in a bagel? Perhaps we'll never know. But for us smoked salmon and cream cheese addicts, an old CD spindle is a great recycling tip, as it just holds that bagel so perfectly centred; I think it would work for doughnuts too. But did you know that there are many more clever culinary uses for a CD spindle? Some use the lids for a spare bowl when their housemate hasn’t done the dishes. My favourite is to saw off the spindle in the middle and you’ve got a perfect cake box.
[Via ecogeek]
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If you're sick of flushing all those valuable nutrients down the loo and want to reclaim them as your own, then you could spend a lot of money on a composting toilet by one of the increasing specialist companies, or you could follow the likes of Dick Strawbridge and make your own.
Low Luckens Organic Resource Centre are hosting a six day residential course, starting on 28th May. It will provide you with the history of composting your waste, plus some 'hands on' experience of building your own composting toilet. The course (including accommodation) is totally free and all you have to pay for is your organic food, which will cost £50.
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Beekeeping has a reputation as a rural pastime, something you can only do if you have fields and woodland to play with. In fact, according to North London Beekeepers, urban bees can make more honey than their rural counterparts, thanks to the large variety of plants available in towns and cities - a London beekeeper can expect to collect an average honey crop of 70 plus lbs of honey, compared with about 30 lbs per hive in the country.
While the professionals do stress that you shouldn’t just rush into beekeeping it is an increasingly popular pastime, and there is plenty of help out there for those of you who are tempted by the thought of making your own honey.
As the nights get longer and hotter I'm reluctant to eat indoors - I want to be out as much as possible. My favourite way of preparing food in summer evenings is the barbecue - it lasts as long as you want and flame-blackened food is one of the tastes of summer.
That's fine when I'm at home, but what about when I fancy an evening on the beach or in the park? I have to admit that last year I picked up a few disposable barbecues, which can't be good for the environment in terms of their production or the fact that we threw them away at the end of the night. However, this post over at hen and hammock has full instructions for making your own portable barbecue from a biscuit tin and chicken wire. It can be reused all summer, leaving you with more money to spend on food for the barbie and beer to go with it (just remember to recycle the cans)!
Related post: Logmaker, Logmaker, get me a match
My attempts at DIY tend to end with mangled fingers and wonky shelves, but that doesn't stop me trying. If you're a bit more efficient, the green building store could be an invaluable resource for any weekend projects.
The website does exactly what the name suggests, listing suppliers and products for all aspects of building, indoors and out. There's also an information and advice section - and if it all gets too complicated, a list of professional environmentally-friendly architects, builders and craftspeople you can call in to do it for you.
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I try to live sustainably. I shop locally, don't drive, go for environmentally-friendly and fairtrade choices when I can - just like most of the people reading this probably do.
But I know that I don't actually have any living skills. If there was a natural (or man-made) disaster, I'd be lucky if I could cobble myself together a basic shelter, let alone sort out a radio or any food and fuel. Without companies or more knowledgeable people to make things for me, I'd be completely stuck.
That's one of the reasons I was interested to hear about the low-impact living initiative. The group aim to help people lower the impact of their everyday lives, and run regular courses, as well as selling books and manufacturing products via their website.
I've often dreamed of escaping city life for an idyllic, peaceful existence in the country, but the practical elements of self-sufficient living tend to get in the way of actually doing it...so I was very happy to find out about Self-Sufficientish, a guide to being more self-sufficient for those who are starting from scratch.
If you've got a garage, there's a good chance you've got a bunch of oil cans kicking around in it that you really should have taken in for recycling but somehow haven't. Or, you can use the Oil Can Parts Bin How-To to turn those cans into useful little catch-alls (though please do recycle the tops and bottoms anyhow and also dispose of any leftover oil properly - oh darlings, as if you'd do otherwise). [GT]
More do it yourself
Why buy recycled glass when you've got glass to recycle right at home? Oh yes, there's the pesky problem of turning it into a form that is more useful to you than the typical nippled missile shape. Solution: the Bottle Cutter from the Green Directory's shop. It cuts the glass off safely so you can turn around and make drinking vessels, ashtrays or vases. £31.50 and you get 35 bonus points. [GT]
More Recycling, Do It Yourself
Why throw out an old vacuum cleaner when you can cut its head off and mount it on your wall? The 1979 Kirby Hunting Trophy also provides a cool little secret compartment that you'd probably actually find handy, and if you insist on it having some useful quality it also lights up. But mainly it's an entertaining comment on how in the future we'll be eating a lot of robots. [GT]
A little pricey for what they do compared with most of our DIY projects, but gorgeous, and inexpensive compared to what you'd pay to have someone else custom make them, let us present Apartment Therapy's "How to Make your own Rice Paper Roller Shades". Rice paper provides a vibrant mute on sunlight and only gets more dazzling as it bleaches with age - and this set lasted ten years before the paper needed to be replaced (whereupon it could be composted, natch). $85 USD per shade. [GT]
Apartment Therapy's "How to Make your own Rice Paper Roller Shades" [via Ecofriend]
More Design & furniture
The plans for the LED Bike Light System can be used just to make a headlight, or for the full headlight-taillight system giving a bright white light on the front and modest (but prominent) red on the back. The rear light even blinks! It's not quite as bright as a 15w Nite Rider headlight but it is brighter than the 10w, and gives you the satisfaction of knowing how the technology goes together. The author of the plan also reports he used it in a 45 minute pouring rain and it passed with flying colours. [GT]
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To heck with elaborate high-tech exfoliants: one of the best pieces of tech to revitalize your skin all over (nearly) is the old-school luffa sponge - and stores often price them accordingly, even though they're extremely inexpensive to cultivate. However, Groovy Green has posted a great tutorial on how to grow your own luffa en masse, in your garden. It requires "a long season of frost-free weather", which is more common than it should be, but waste not, want not. Start growing them this spring and allow them to mature until the first frost kills the vine, and you'll have more luffa sponges than you can possibly use (thus taking care of your minor Christmas presents next year at practically no cost to you). If this sounds like fun but you don't have a garden, check out the Earth box, which gives you a complete growing area in a very condensed space. (That eliminates the cost savings, of course, but gives you the soothing ability to putter in a garden without the hassle of a full-size one.) [GT]
How to make (and grow) a luffa!
Related stories: EarthBox: a complete garden in a pot | Iota garden decor | Composting if you don't have a garden
From: Green graffiti - It's all in the mossage