Using Reusables

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Colleen Vanderlinden, of In The Garden Online, Mouse & Trowel Awards and book (plus numerous articles) fame, has an interesting new article up at her About.com site - Colleen's Organic gardening Blog - "Reusing items For Seed Starting".

Whew! She's a busy girl.

She's included links in the article for some wonderful posts by some fellow bloggers, including me (yay!) who reuse ordinary items for seed starting.

The amount of waste that we humans generate is astonishing.
Any little bit we can do to reduce it deserves a kudos. I saw a picture of some large aluminum cans painted, planted and attached to a wall that was gorgeous and something I might try this year. You wouldn't think something like that would look too nice, but it looked much like carefully arranged attractive garden art.

We have to start somewhere, why not with starting seeds this spring?
If you get a second, check out the article and see if there's something listed that you might like to give a try.

What are you going to reuse for your garden/gardening this year?

Happy (reusable) Growing!
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What's Normal For Some...

...seems bizarre to others.

The Compact really has people talking. This group of people vowed to buy nothing new for a year. Well, except food, underwear, deodorant, etc. And they managed it.

I wonder if they even have a clue how many people out there already do it, just not by choice, but out of necessity.

I haven't bought one - not one - piece of new clothing in 6 years. I make it all, including underwear. Almost all the fabric I use is garage sale finds. (And when I stumble across some, it makes for a happy Tina, let me tell you!)

Are we that much of a consumer society that this is some new idea? I luuuurve the local 'As Good As It Never Was' shop! And I've given things through Freecycle, but have never gotten anything - yet.

I do buy some things new. I buy for my kids birthdays and Christmas. I buy socks (simply because it's such a PITA to make your own!). They may be just 'things', but think down the line a bit...a factory made those things...it employs people...they purchase supplies...which also employs people...they use electricity...which employs more people...they get deliveries...employing truck drivers...they use machines...made at a factory that employs even more people...on, and on, and on. Ok, it's not like they're little group is going to put people out of work or anything.

So, I'm kind of torn. Yeah, I think it's a good idea, but if I didn't have to do it to such an extreme - I wouldn't!

I'm really curious as to what everyone thinks. A lot of you trade seeds and plants instead of buying them, but what about that 'must have'? I can't imagine any serious gardener NOT buying something! It'd be a little hard to give up fertilizer. LOL, even if you buy manure from a farmer, wouldn't it still be considered new?