lightening up

The summer is really starting to heat up, and whenever the hot weather comes, my knee-jerk reaction is to get rid of some stuff. Less clutter and more space in my rooms somehow makes me feel cooler.

I've been wanting to get rid of a few pieces of second-hand furniture for a couple of weeks, but it took me that long to really commit to no longer having them in my life. My name is Michelle Lynne Goodfellow, and I have a chair fetish. Also: I covet worn things.

But tomorrow is garbage day, so out to the curb I took everything this afternoon. Luckily I live in a neighbourhood where curb surfing is not only tolerated, but expected.

Above and below are two chairs I found while curb surfing myself last year. I really like them, but one is kind of loosey-goosey, and I haven't been able to fix it with my Lee Valley Chair Doctor set, so it's kind of dubious seating. I have plenty of working chairs in my apartment that I like better.

I think the guys (my cats Tear and Guy) are going to miss them, though. Here's Tear taking one last sniff.


I'm also getting rid of a lectern I found at a church rummage sale several years ago. It has seen me through endless hours of singing practice, and when not in use as a music stand it made a great place to display coffee table books. But I don't really have room for it anymore, so it's going too. (For pics, see my junk style blog, here.)

Having trouble getting rid of some of something? Ask yourself these questions:

Do I really like it? (In the case of my chairs: Yes.)
Do I actually use it? (Yes.)
Do I have too many things just like it? (Yes.)
Is it broken? (Yes.)
Will I feel better without it in my space? (WAY yes.)

If you still can't bear to actually part with it, put it in storage for six months to a year. At the end of that time ask yourself: Do I miss it? If the answer is no... get rid of it!

how to buy really green

How do you know if what you're buying is really green or not? My favorite eco-friendly consumer advocate, Debra Lynn Dadd, has written a new book that answers exactly that question. Really Green covers easy green principles that anyone can learn, to help each of us understand the kinds of things that really DO help health and the environment.

It contains all the information you need to be able to tell the difference between products with real environmental and health benefits and those with misleading green hype. In this book, you will learn:

* What "green" really means
* The true foundation for defining green products
* The life cycle of green products
* The eighteen basic principles that define what's green
* The five basic types of green products
* All about green packaging
* Various shades of green products
* The cost of green goods
* How to spot misleading "greenwashing"
* How to change your buying habits to be green

Click on this link to find out more and buy the book today!

the story of stuff

I gave a talk last night on the subject of green organizing to the North GTA chapter of Professional Organizers in Canada. Today's post was going to be an overview of the points I covered in my talk, but then another organizing colleague of mine sent me a link that takes precedence - and actually explains - even better than I could - some of the ideas I was trying to share last night.

Check out the twenty-minute animated video on this website called The Story of Stuff. It's entertaining and extremely informative. I'll add my own two cents in a day or two...

eco-friendly organizing

I found this online article while doing a Google search of Toronto organizers. Two of my friends and colleagues are mentioned in the story.

Once in a while, even socially conscious granola types can have problems managing clutter. We may be avid recyclers and conscious shoppers with personal spaces that most times at least are warm and welcoming. But sometimes a major life change – whether a pudgy, squealing infant, new home-based business, a death in the family, or illness – can mess things up...

Read the rest of the article here. Included are a number of links to recycling resources.

eco-friendly shower curtains

Conventional store-bought shower curtains are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a petrochemical product that is toxic in its manufacture and use (it outgases a suspected carcinogen and hormone disrupter). It is being phased out of toys and household products in Europe, and hopefully North America will soon follow suit. Because it is relatively inexpensive to make, it's found in a huge variety of items. Read more about the dangers of PVC here.

Alternatives to vinyl shower curtains are available commercially in the form of fabric curtains. Most are also made from petrochemicals, however. Hemp and organic cotton shower curtains are available, but expensive.

I decided to make my own eco-friendly shower curtain out of a large piece of gauzy 100% cotton from my fabric stash. All I had to do was hem it to the appropriate length and add twelve grommets to the top. Because it's so lightweight, it dries quickly and doesn't attract mold. It's easy to wash, and can be dried by re-hanging it while still wet. It looks great in my bathroom, adding to the natural spa effect of white tiles and stainless steel fixtures combined with natural materials such as wood and wicker.

plastic shopping bags

I decided to sort and dispose of all those plastic shopping bags I mentioned in my previous post. It was an eye-opening task; I consider myself pretty eco-conscious, but I couldn't reconcile my green efforts with the number of bags I found in my closet.

I started sorting them by size: grocery-bag-sized (and larger), or smaller bags (the kind you get at the video store or the drugstore - which is where I got mine).

About half-way through the sorting I realized I have WAY more bags than I imagined. I counted them: 121 large bags, and 42 small ones. It's only taken me seven-and-a-half months to acquire them - and I'm pretty frugal. I don't shop much. Plus I make good use of cloth bags and plastic bins whenever I shop for groceries. (Or so I thought - turns out most of the large bags are, indeed, grocery bags.)

I can't believe I have so many. Me - the eco-warrior!

I plan not to accept any more. I have plenty of cloth bags I can use when I shop. But what am I supposed to do with the ones I've already got?

There are the obvious uses:

• re-use them in stores
• use them as garbage bags
• give them to a friend with a dog or a cat (for scooping poop)
• donate them to a thrift store or a church rummage sale (which is where I think mine are going)

I figured there must be more creative uses for them, so I did an online search. About.com has a "frugal-living" guide, and one article discusses plastic shopping bags. Reader's Digest has its own list, as does Real Simple. Or you can try your own internet search, using the keywords "uses for plastic shopping bags."

Some of my favorite ideas:

• use them to wrap brushes or rollers if you have to stop in the middle of a painting job - they will keep the paint from drying out for up to two days
• use them as packing material instead of Styrofoam peanuts
• use them to hold wet things (like compact umbrellas in your purse, or towels from your gym workout)
• use them to hold dirty laundry when you're on a trip

Some grocery stores also accept the plastic bags for recycling - so if they're full of holes and not good for anything else, don't throw them in the garbage!

copyright 2007, Michelle Lynne Goodfellow