DIY Diva

A (Wedding) Favor for the Planet

One easy, fun way to cut costs and the environmental impact of your big day is to put together your own wedding favors using eco-friendly materials and reusable items. Not only will your guests appreciate your thoughtfulness, but so will the earth.

Bundle goodies in reused, recycled or resourced packages, which can range from simple to elegant based on your budget, the size of your wedding, your time, your preference and your…well, predilection for crafts. Here are some eco-friendly ideas--mostly edible and plantable--for even the least-craft-inclined.

1. Ask your local farmer's market (see localharvest.org) what's in season in your region in the summer. There's a good chance it will include colorful, sweet and summery strawberries, other forest fruits and cherries. Deliver them in small bamboo baskets that guests will reuse after they've enjoyed the contents.

2. Set up a table of fairly traded and organic treats for your guests to collect on their way out. Purchase eco-friendly chocolate and hot chocolate (see the Green Guide's Buying Guide for sources), tea, coffee and nuts. Set it up like a candy station and let them grab buffet-style. These favors won't leave a big impact on the planet, but will leave a good taste in your guests' mouths.

3. Seeds make a great gift for guests and the earth. Stop by your local gardening store and pick up flower seeds, tree seeds, or even birdseed in bulk. Stuff them in an organic cotton pouch, which you could monogram yourself using soy ink and a stamp.

4. Take it a step further and give them something that's already been planted. Get them started on their own garden with a small herb like basil or lavender, which they can replant as they like once they're home. The packaging? Go shabby-chic. Round up used tin cans (the more colorful and unusual the better) and jelly jars and throw in some soil and the plant. If you want to remove the label (why? It's part of the charm!), use a cotton ball and some vegetable oil. It will make a creative table decoration and a nice temporary home for the seedling.

5. Have delicious organic hors d'oeuvres at the reception? Share the recipes with your guests. Use eco-friendly ink and post-consumer paper to print directions to one of the party's treats on the back of the place cards to save paper. Punch a hole in the top, and tie a reusable ribbon from an eco-friendly, summery material like linen or organic cotton in a bow. Or, roll it up like a scroll and tie with a piece of natural twine, with the guests' name written on the outside so it can double as a place card.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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5 Ways to Reuse Newspaper

5 Ways to Reuse Newspaper
In my daily life, I try my best to recycle (cans, bottles, cardboard, everything) and reduce (I'm weaning myself off shopping bags, which is harder than it seems unless I carry a cloth bag with me on the train every day). Lately I've been challenging myself to heed that other R: reuse. Whether an item is destined for the trash can or the recycling bin, I've been trying to use things one more time before they get tossed for good.
Newspaper has been an easy place to start. Not only is it ubiquitous--I, for one, have piles of it in the foyer, most of which never gets read--it can also be repurposed in a multitude of ways. (Disclaimer: Like a good green consumer, I read my news online. But a neighbor of mine is a reporter, and she gets a paper delivered every day.) Here are five ways to give your daily news a second life:

• Clean your windows. Don't ask why, but crumpled newspaper makes mirrors and glass shine. Just spray the surface with your favorite glass cleaner and use them as you would regular paper towels. One caveat: Since newspaper isn't terribly absorbent, it's best to use less cleaning spray. You won't need much, anyway.
• Substitute shredded or crumpled paper for Styrofoam. Instead of using non-recyclable, petroleum-based Styrofoam peanuts to pack items for shipping, run sheets of newspaper through a paper shredder to create stuffing material, or just crumple them into loose balls for extra padding.
• Store fragile dishware. When putting away fine china, place folded squares of newspaper between plates and bowls to protect them. Wrap the whole stack in another sheet before placing them in fabric cases or boxes.
• Start a barbecue. Charcoal chimneys (like this one) are inexpensive and make lighting the grill a breeze. But instead of soaking the briquettes in chemical lighter fluid, as many do, try lighting them using newspaper instead. Just crumple a few sheets and stuff them in the bottom section of the chimney, then fill the top portion with charcoal. Light the paper and the briquettes will light themselves.
• Make "tablecloths." Sloppy meals (in my house, boiled lobster makes a legendary mess) and kids' art projects call for casual table coverings. Just spread out a few sheets of the Sunday comics, set your fixings on top, and feel free to leave your manners behind.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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Goodbye, Gummy Stuff

With a growing list of reasons not to use plastic food containers, one of my favorite ways to store prepared food and leftovers is in glass spaghetti-sauce jars. Doing so not only keeps said jars out of the trash, it lets me avoid inadvertently putting any chemicals into my eats.

What drives me batty, however, is the labels' usual death-grip on the glass. Soaking and scrubbing only work marginally well, and usually a residue still remains. But there's an easy way to remove them without any noxious-smelling, petroleum-based solvent with a cheesy name like Gunk-B-Gone. (Clearly I'm not a big fan of infomercial cleansers.) My weapon? Vegetable oil. In addition to removing jar labels with ease, it also works to get rid of price tags and sticker residue.

The process is simple: After tearing off as much of the label as possible, just soak a cotton ball or pad in olive or other vegetable oil and gently rub it over the jar's sticky surface. With the remainder of the label and adhesive dislodged, just wash the jar in soapy water to get rid of the oil. (If you're just removing the price tag from a new vase or another, non-washable item, just wipe it clean using a least-toxic surface cleaner; personally, I like Ecover, Seventh Generation, and Method.)

Et voilà--a clean, clear, chemical-free container you can use again and again. Take that, Tupperware.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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