October 2007 | On Our Radar
How to Recycle Everything
In an effort to be the most eco-conscious kid on your block, you’ve no doubt found yourself standing with some kit or caboodle in your hand, staring at it vacantly, wondering whether it is reuseable, recyclable, take-backable, compostable, or, sadly, bound for that bin grimly labeled garbage. To demystify the process, if only a little, we took to the web and compiled this shortlist of some of the more interesting ideas we discovered for dealing with your post-consumer waste.
Sex Toy Recycling: All The Buzz
Oh, yes, you can. Major companies in the U.S., like Sony, are now creating “take-back” programs so that consumers can send their old, obsolete electronics back to the manufacturer — with the goal of taking in as many products as they send out. Well, because remote control helicopters and Wiis aren’t the only electronics people play with in their free time, LoveHoney, a UK based purveyor of adult toys, has started the “world’s first sex toy recycling scheme” for their line of Rabbit vibrators. Their offer is simple: send your old one back, get half off on a brand new one. Perhaps the sexiest part of all is that for every vibrator returned, LoveHoney makes a donation to a green charity (lovehoney.co.uk/rabbit-amnesty).
When In Doubt, Drop Trough
In our Jetson-esque future, perhaps it will be possible to toss all of our kaput products into a magical machine (made from recycled sex toys and the like, of course) and have them pop back out, good as new. Until then, we’ll have to settle for the likes these two websites from across the pond. Recyclethis.co.uk and Compostthis.co.uk are helpful hubs for recycling/reusing and composting questions and solutions. Just type in your latest post-consumer conundrum, press send, and watch the practical, creative and often downright ingenious ideas roll in. Recent suggestions have included using old yoga mats (which are made from unrecyclable polyvinyl chorlide, or PVC) for working under your car, or, if you’re already carfree, using them to kneel on in the garden; using old USB memory sticks as plant labels; and rinsing out old potato chip bags to reuse as media storage. As for compostables, there’s plenty you probably haven’t thought of, including human hair and pee — yes, pee — as they’re both great sources of nitrogen. So next time you’re in the garden, feel free.
— Eric Larson
World Music
When in Rome, it’s often said, do as the Romans do. But in the case of Roman orchestra Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, this age-old adage does not apply. That’s because the group is comprised entirely of immigrants to Italy: twenty-some musicians, from 11 different countries and four continents, playing 15 unrelated instruments and speaking eight languages between them.
The documentary film The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio follows the group from its beginnings, as Romans Agostino Ferrente and Mario Tronco assemble the orchestra from occupants of “The Esquilino” district, an ancient neighborhood where over 60 ethnicities have created a mini-Babel within Rome. Tunisians, Italians, Brazileños, Cubans, Hungarians, Ecuadorians, Senegalese and more come together to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Each plays a different instrument, known and loved from their native country. Some are highly educated and well-to-do, others poor and struggling to get by. Some have escaped oppressive regimes; others are fleeing the past and working to start anew. But together, they prove that art, faith and love can surpass all nationalities, ethnicities and ideologies.
Now, if the rest of the world could do as these Romans do, we could all create beautiful music together.
Join Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio for a “cineconcert” (screening plus live performance by the orchestra) in Santa Cruz, 10/ 7, 6:30 p.m, at the Rio Theatre for Performing Arts, 831.423.8209 (riotheatre.com), or San Francisco, 10/9, 7:30 p.m. at the Clay Theatre, 415.267.4893 (landmarktheatres.com).
— Lucinda Michele Knapp
Fashion’s True Colors
Skeptics need only visit San Francisco’s new Eco Citizen boutique to witness: Green is irrefutably the new black.
Just a short walk off Polk Street on Vallejo, this hotspot is a destination for shoppers with a conscience and a penchant for high-end design. “Green doesn’t have to be crunchy or look like a potato sack,” insists owner Joslin Van Arsdale. Everything she carries, from soft cotton tees and chunky knits to ankle boots and jewelry is sweatshop-free and fair trade. And most items are made with organically grown or recycled materials. Brands include Stewart+Brown, Eden, Anna Cohen, and Ceil, as well as local designers Del Forte Denim, Turk and Taylor, and Kelly B.
Van Arsdale, who has a degree in textiles from Goldsmiths University in London, worked in fashion as a stylist in New York for Banana Republic and Hermes in the late 1990s but became disenchanted with the industry by the early 2000s. “I started asking myself, ‘What’s the point? Who am I helping?’” she says. While volunteering at Santa Fe’s International Folk Art Market she befriended a Brazilian lace-maker who employs indigenous women from Brazil at fair trade wages. This relationship helped inspire Van Arsdale’s idea to open her own eco-based shop.
Favoring classic styles over flash-in-the-pan trends, she wants to “sell fashion that people can wear now and keep wearing 10 years from now.” Now that’s earth friendly.
Stop by her opening party on October 19 and slip into something more sustainable.
Eco Citizen, 1488 Vallejo Street, San Francisco, 415.614.0100 (ecocitizenonline.com).
— Amelia Glynn
Don’t Just Get Mad… Get Active
Many of us haven’t touched a paintbrush since 3rd grade art class, but after a long week spent working for the man, a little creative outlet is good for the soul and could even be used to help others. Get in touch with your creative side with these artsy volunteer opportunities.
Spread the Dharma and World Peace at Berkeley’s Tibetan Nyingma Institute by volunteering for The Prayer Wheel Project. Deepen your spiritual practice while learning how to create beautiful “wheels” of ancient text. nyingmainstitute.com
Become a Discovery Arts Volunteer and bring music, art, dance and drama to children receiving treatment for cancer, blood disorders and other life threatening illnesses. discoveryarts.homestead.com
ArtSF needs all kinds of volunteers to help keep art alive in the city. Help preserve this space for artists to flourish and unite by assisting with events, graphic design, grant writing and more. artsf.org
Interested in building and restoring historic wooden boats on the Sausalito waterfront? The Spaulding Wooden Boat Center could use your skills restoring boats and educating Bay Area residents on the craft, history and culture of this lost tradition. spauldingcenter.org
![[Send]](http://commongroundmag.com/sendlink/send.gif){kind=small}
Recommend this page to a friend
Top Ten pages recommended to friends:
