Recycling Nirvana?

We often have heated debates at MIAMI Towers about how far we should take our efforts at sustainable living, as some of us only merit a "Could try harder" on our school report. On the other hand there's Anne, who is a black-belt Ninja recycler, so we decided to get her take on 'Recycling Nirvana' so the rest of us will be clear about where we are falling short!:-

Maybe it’s just me, but when you have a jolly good clear out – dispose of those old toys the kids don’t need any more, tear a hole in the garage clutter, find out what lurks at the back of the spare bedroom wordrobe... don’t you feel an enormous sense of release?

I find it feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Cleaning may be therapy but a good clear out is Viagra for the soul.

But, do we deserve to feel that good?

Well the answer is ‘yes’, as long as we don’t approach our recycling willy-nilly:
• We’ve taken the clothes and bric a brac to the charity shop (but kept back several items to be made over and given a new lease of life).
• We've de-nailed some of the best wood from the old garden shed and taken it down to the wood recycling centre (assuming we can't find another use for it at home).
• Our cardboard is flattened and our glass bottles colour-sorted and rinsed (in dirty dishwater).
• We look at everything we might recycle and ask the question – ‘Yes, but is there something better I can do with this?’

Take the picture at the top of the page which shows a fence made from old skis. I find that truly inspiring!

We'll all get a lot better at reducing our recycling if we try to do the following:
• Where we can, we buy loose (not pre-packaged) fruit and veg and use old paper bags we take to the supermarket ourselves, putting them of course into our own carrier bags and not the store's plastic ones.
• The garage still has one or two boxes full of ‘stuff’ but we know what’s there (it’s labelled) and we’ve kept it because we believe we will eventually find a really worthwhile use for it.
• And our recycling bins are ever so tidy. And there’s a lot less recycling in them.

Top tip: Get together with other families in your street and start buying in bulk and then decanting things like flour and oil into your own re-useable containers).

We’ve started a new recycling section in our Make it and Mend it store:

The aim is to group together things that help you get better at recycling, such as containers. Plus some inspiration – including a picture of that ski fence, because I couldn’t resist it.

And we’ve included a great book - Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin.


>> Visit the new recycling centre in our store

Recycling tip of the week
Spend a little longer on the recycling process. Don’t sort it in a half hour frenzy. Take a little time to consider what you should hold on to and make sure you follow your recycling collectors advice on sortingand cleaning.
Related Links
>> When giving to charity is not really giving
>> A new lexicon for recycling
>> 229,389 tonnes of recycling ends up in landfill
>> Taking inspiration from the 3rd World
>> Our website tips on sorting your recycling

When giving to charity is not really giving

I know we at Make it and Mend it have a bit of a tendency to rant about television presenters - but this time our rant is in support of one - Mary Portas. Mary, the retail wizard behind Harvey Nics and the scourge and salvation of small clothing retailers, has turned her attention to charity shops in her latest programme, 'Mary Queen of Charity Shops'.

All you vintage fashion lovers don't have to be sold on the merits of charity shops and many of us get a bit of a warm glow when we take a bagful of goodies round to our local store after a therapeutic declutter session.

However the first of Mary's programmes, broadcast this week, was a revelation. Behind the scenes in a typical store, the army of (usually elderly) helpers has to sort through indescribably horrendous crap to find anything worth selling. People drop off black bin bags with stuff that you would want on the end of a ten foot barge pole in order to confine to a bonfire. Used sanitary towels, nappies, dirty knickers, dead mice, filthy old damaged trainers, smelly socks are all in a day's work for the beleagured charity volunteer to sift through. The percentage of goods able to be put on display in a store (let alone actually sell) is miniscule - under 10% in some areas and the stores have to pay for rubbish to be cleared away. So, in many instances, people's gifts to charity actually end up costing the charity money.

If this behaviour is the norm, then "Charity" is a misnomer. Instead of making a donation, giving a gift, making an offering, all of which imply some sort of good intention or sacrifice, many people are usng charity shops as an alternative to putting out the rubbish. Clearly they are not seriously considering whether the items offered up are saleable - if they believe that the people who buy from charity shops have such low standards it is a very sad indictment of the human race.

My suspicion is that most people don't actually stop to think. Their assumption is that instead of consigning an item to the rubbish, it is worth sending it via the charity shop just in case someone might want it. They don't stop to think of the poor dears who have to empty the binbags (sometimes with rubber gloves and long 'grabbers') but bask in a general feeling of satisfaction, based on their decluttering efforts and an unfounded assumption that someone in the local area will be glad of the filthy detritus they have cast off. As Mary pointed out, the fact that the charities post plastic bags like binbags through the doors, conveys an impression that the items to be put inside are akin to rubbish.

If instead, (as Ms Portas unsuccessfully tried to convince the Orpington locals in episode one) people were to see making a donation to a charity shop as akin to donating money - giving something of instrinsic value that imples some sacrifice, things would be very different.

So all you well-intentioned people, please stop to think before you fill that bag up and dump it on your doorstep or the in the doorway of your local thrift store, and ask yourself if seriously you would expect another human being to see value in the contents. Go back to your wardrobe, have another root around and choose one or two things that you think there is a possibility you might still want to wear yourself (an outfit that looks good, was quite expensive but is just too tight now?) and instead of letting it languish (it will never fit you again and you know that really, don't you!) give it up and let someone else enjoy it. That is charitable giving

Oh and please make sure anything you give is CLEAN!!!!!

Recycling Roundup

Inspiration for recycling, reusing - or upcycling as it's now becoming known. We've pulled together a quick guide to help you find recycling inspiration, whatever your interests.

Ideas and tips - ways to make new things out of old from beds to plastic bags:

Old beds into bowers - how to turn unwanted beds into fantastic garden furniture
Top 10 Ideas for Inspired Recycling at Home
How to make fused plastic out of old carrier bags
New life for old sofas
Re-using tin foil to clean your silver

Recycled Fashion - from vintage fashion to revamping your wardrobe you'll find loads of inspiration here:

Refashion, defashion, upfashion, downfashion - there's no limits!
10 Ways to update your wardrobe without spending a fortune
Bags from old tyres and Debenhams' suit made from plastic bottles
Checking out the Vintage Fashion Fair
Shoes made from London Underground seats
Charity fashion show of restyled clothes
Recycled dress for breast cancer
How to knit with recycled plastic carrier bags
Charity shop clothes on the Oscar's red carpet
Hairy legwarmers made from an old jacket

Creative inspiration - how artists and sculptors have used materials that might otherwise have been thrown away to create some fascinating new pieces:

Tim Gentry’s “Pleasure Spheres” and Paul Matosic’s “Landfill
Photography - seeing beauty in industrial waste
MEND - an exhibition in New York using recycled materials
Sculpture from living trees
Art from toilet rolls
Art from the floor-sweepings of China's factories
Sculpture from old shopping trolleys
The Knitted Brain
A Buddhist temple from old beer bottles

Advice on Recycling

Top Tips from Which? magazine to ensure your recycling actually gets recycled
Third World Wisdom - what we can learn from others
Start a fixers' collective - a Brooklyn scheme sets a great example
Five top tips for sorting your recycling
Go to work on an egg - why eggs are highly useful materials for inspired recycling
All about upcycling
A new lexicon for recycling

Recycling News
How London Transport is "oiling the wheels" with recycled cooking oil

Fashion! Refashion! Defashion! Upfashion! Downfashion!

‘Refashion’ is a buzzword right now. Dictionaries tend to define it as making over an item or garment, but in the world of Make it and Menders it means so much more. So here’s our definition of refashioning, a few ideas on how to get started, plus some new terms that we came up with in the pub.

refashion - make something not fashionable, fashionable, provoke the envy of your friends and never again walk into a party to find someone else is wearing the same High Street bargain as you.

Take a look at what’s ‘hot’ in the fashion industry right now and pick out the signature elements. Think about what will work for you rather than what works for a 6ft super model strutting her stuff on the catwalk.

Sometimes refashioning can be as simple as taking a skirt up an inch or two. >> See our step by step guide to using iron on tape to do this Sometimes you’ll need to lengthen a hem using additional fabric. You can sometimes drop in fabric in at the waist, rather than round the hem.

Fashion signatures at the moment include the Grecian goddess look. Although it officially came in last year, it proved a hit with celebrities and is still around. This involves swathing fabric round your body so it hugs the bust and hips. An old flowing gypsy skirt or sarong might be suitable for refashioning this way.

One option is to wear something figure hugging and then swath the fabric over the top, holding it in place with safety pins. (It’s best not to dance on tables if you take this approach. Pins can let you down.)

Strong colours are also marching down the catwalk so re-acquaint yourself with Dylon dyes. >> Check out the fashion section on their website

Hilary Bruffell, our resident uber-seamstress, is passionate about refashioning: “I have a photo of me and my sisters in little dresses made from our father's old shirts and in sweater dresses knitted from old jumpers of my fathers. In my parent's very glamorous engagement photo my mother is wearing a coat that she refashioned from her mother's old coat.” See Hilary’s article on the subject. >>
In the meantime, there are some great ideas in our Clothes tips section

defashion - get rid of 'aging' fashion elements eg shoulder pads (okay we’re going back a decade or two), frills, lacy bits... The secret here is to create something that’s plainer than the original. Defashion projects often come unstuck when you try to replace last year’s fashion elements with this year’s. Keep it simple. Make it classic.

One of the simplest last-year-into-this-year defashion tricks is taking the bottom layer off a dirndl skirt (so last year). Dirndl jackets were also fashionable but they’re harder to defashion unless you have good seamstress skills. With a jacket you’ll need to remove the gathered layer, recut the removed fabric so it lies flat and sew it back into place.

upfashion - make something even more stylish using your imagination and creativity. The world (or, at least, the button box) is your oyster.
One of the simplest upfashion tips is replacing plain buttons with more ornate ones. When scouring the charity shops for clothes, check out the buttons, not just the style of the item. You may want to purchase something just for the great buttons and then use the fabric in other ways.
Sequinned appliqué patches can be added to pockets. Try crimping in waistlines on boxy jackets by adding a fab belt. (As well as buttons, it’s amazing how many beautiful belts you find in second hand and charity shops.)

downfashion - make something that’s too dressy or formal useful for everyday. For example turning a bridesmaid's dress into a Saturday night frock or turning a plunging ‘nightclub’ neckline into something you can wear around Tesco.

There are 2 key areas that need to be addressed with most defashion projects – necklines and bling. Outfits bought for weddings are a good example. They work great on the day but are a bit too up themselves for everyday wear. By the time the next wedding comes along they’re out of fashion (see defashion above).

Can an outfit be ‘separated’? A jacket may work without the skirt and vice versa. Can the bodice part be removed from a dress, leaving you with a skirt than can be dressed down – or up? (Anne has a great purple netting underskirt, originally part of an over the top dress, that she now wears with leggings and a denim jacket.)

Necklines can sometimes be made more modest with a few careful stitches or the insertion of a cloth or lace panel. Non-sewers can also try wearing a high neckline top underneath something more revealing.

Remove and hold on to the back pockets from old denim jeans and sew them on to too-smart skirts and jackets for a more down-market-but-so-fashionable look.
Oh, and remove overly-fancy buttons and replace them with plainer ones. The fancy ones are great for upfashioning. But you knew that already.

Make it and mend it at the Oscars

We are deighted to see that BBC Breakfast has joined the Make it and Mend it revolution.

Presenter Susannah Reid hit the red carpet at the Oscars, wearing a designer dress by Christopher Kane, which cost £50 from Oxfam. The dress was restyled with some rhinestones by the designer himself and accessorised with a pair of £9 earrings also from Oxfam.

So get out on the high street and start rummaging: there are some vintage gems out there and with some restyling and customisation you can make them even better.