Being Green

As I visit various blog sites around
the world I find comments being
 made about recycling,

the environment and being green.

What can I do as a Card Maker

and a lover of Scrapbooking and

working with copious amounts

of paper with my craft work ?

When I was growing up

being green meant

this litte guy.

Do you remember him ?

So how can we reduce,
recycle and reuse ? 

Here are a few recycling ideas

 that I am incorporating into

my craft work.

Both of these layouts

below have recycled cards

added to the them which makes

them even more precious to me.

 This is a swing card that
enhances this sweet photo perfectly .

 The paper is from the
Duchess Collection from 
KAISERCRAFT
which I just love.

Tim Holtz distress paint
gives this layout a textured
woody look and bark style edging
and my recycled "Hello" card with
various languages for hello
around the edges.

Another way I try to utlise

the paper products that I

use is by incorporating
the packaging where I can.

This layout utilises Prima

packaging that was just way

too sweet to throw away.

I love these fancy felt butterflies
"cheap as chips" from my
local warehouse outlet.

A few weeks ago I received an email called

The Green Thing

In the line at the store,

the cashier told the older woman

that she should bring her own

grocery bag because plastic bags

weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him

and explained, "We didn't have

the green thing back in my day."

She was right, that generation

didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles,

soda bottles and other
bottles to the store.

The store sent them back to

the plant to be washed and sterilized

and refilled, so it could use the

same bottles over and over.

So they really were recycled.

 In her day, they walked up stairs,

because they didn't have an escalator

in every store and office building.

They walked to the grocery store

and didn't climb into a

300-horsepower machine every

time they had to go two blocks.

 Back then, they washed the

baby's diapers because they

didn't have the throw-away kind.

They dried clothes on a line,

not in an energy gobbling machine

burning up 220 volts - wind

and solar power really

did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes

from their brothers or sisters,

not always brand-new clothing.

 Back then, they had one TV,

or radio, in the house

not a TV in every room.

And the TV had a small

screen the size of a

handkerchief,

not a screen the size of

the state of Queensland.

In the kitchen, they blended

and stirred by hand because

they didn't have electric machines

to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile

item to send in the mail,

they used a wadded up

old newspaper to cushion it,

not in Styrofoam or

plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up

an engine and burn petrol

just to cut the lawn.

They used a push mower

that ran on human power.

They exercised by working so

they didn't need to go to a

health club  to run on treadmills

that operated on electricity.

 They drank from a fountain when

they were thirsty instead of using a

cup or a plastic bottle every time

they had a drink of water.

They refilled their writing pens

with ink instead of buying a new pen,

and they replaced the razor blades

in a razor instead of throwing away

the whole razor just because

the blade got dull.

 Back then, people took the streetcar

or a bus and kids rode their bikes

to school or walked instead of

turning their mums into

a 24-hour taxi service.

They had one electrical outlet

in a room, not an entire bank of

sockets to power a dozen appliances.

And they didn't need a

computerized gadget to receive

a signal beamed from satellites 2,000

miles out in space in order

find the nearest pizza shop.

It is sad because we are not as

green as we think we are.