Hawaii's Landfills

"The clock is ticking for Hawaii's municipal landfills as three out of the state's eight will reach their capacity within the next five years."

Solid waste divisions are desperately searching for new ways to deal with our trash. Suggestions include creating a new landfill or mass burning of trash. According to Hawaii Reporter, Hawaii generates 1.37 tons of solid waste per capita.

Waimanalo Gulch, Oahu's only municipal landfill, only has one year left. Currently the city plans on expanding the Waimanalo Gulch since alternatives and time are scarce. But, an environmental consulting firm called Earth Tech Inc. found that it will take around six and a half years to build a landfill that will last thirty years. Clearly this is not a sustainable path.

Economics: Materialistic Consumption

While taking "trash" and turning it into treasure is a great way to reduce waste, save money, and be more sustainable, it is not as fortunate for the economy.  The economy thrives when consumption is high--as a result, aggregate demand increases.  Aggregate demand (AD) is "the total demand for final goods and services in the economy at a given time and price level" (www.wikipedia.org).  A higher AD means more jobs because the demand for goods is higher, which means people are making more money that they can use to consume merchandise.  What we must do then, to have a thriving economy but also decrease the amount that we thrown out, is to be more wise with what we buy, and what we buy should be sustainable and fair trade.

Recently, companies across America have become more aware of sustainability and have attempted to "go green".  This green movement is a great start to a change in our lifestyles, and we can help, as consumers, by only purchasing goods that are fair trade, good for the earth, and are not excessive in waste.  The "invisible hand" is controlled by consumers--we decide what is in demand and what is not.  So lets put our dollars to good use by choosing what is better for our economy and world.

Also, in the economic crisis we are currently in, everyone is looking to save on cash.  Taking trash and turning it into something useful can help you save money and the earth.  We hope this blog helps you with that purpose.

DIY: Keep Things from Becoming Waste

Here are some websites with ideas for how you can use items which would otherwise be thrown away.

For a variety of plastic bag crafts click here.

For plastic bag weaving click here.

For plastic bag fusing process click here.

To buy a recycled rice bag tote click here.

To make a rice bag tote click here.

To make a magazine bag click here.

How to Make a Sugar Bag Pencil Case

I decided to make a pencil case out of an old sugar bag. All you really need is a scissors and a zipper. Most of the construction is done for you since the bag is already sewn into a shape perfect for pencil cases. To reduce further consumption, I used a zipper from an old pair of pants.

Start by cutting the sugar bag, with the remaining length the size you would like the pencil case.

Next cut down each corner of the bag.

Fold the corners down and secure them with tape or glue.

Attach your zipper by sewing it or gluing it. 

And now you have a pencil case.

How to Make Your Own Capri Sun Bag

As mentioned in the DIY Capri Sun post, billions of juice packets are thrown away into landfill. Of course that number can be reduced by not drinking juice packets, but another way is to make useful things out of the juice packets. Since Capri Sun bags are sturdy, waterproof, and sewable I decided to make a bag out of them. 

You will need:

25 Capri Sun bags for this particular model

Tape

Sewing Machine

Scissors

Start but cutting a slit in the bottom of each Capri Sun bag and rinsing out the inside with soap and water.

After letting the bags dry, flatten them out and tape two together.

Next sew the two bags together.

Make two rectangles of 2x3 capri sun packets and two rectangles of 1x2 capri sun packets.

Also make a 1x3 of about half the length of the capri sun bags for the bottom.

Fold up the sides and sew along the edges.

For the handles I folded capri sun bags in half and sewed three of them together. 

And now you have a Capri Sun bag.

How to Weave Your Own Purse

I got the idea for weaving a bag from the commonly made "magazine bags." However, in order to weave bags out of magazine pages, lamination or a lot of tape must be used. Since my purpose was to reduce waste I decided to stray away from magazine pages and instead use shopping bags which are already laminated and so are durable and waterproof without using excess materials. 

You will need:

-shopping bag

-paper cutter

-scissors

-sewing machine

-hot glue gun (not necessary, but helpful)

-old shower curtain (in the spirit of recycling, but any fabric that will work as a liner will do)

Take your shopping bag and cut out its handles, making sure not to damage them (they will be used later.)

Using a paper cutter, cut the bag into equally sized strips. 

Then weave these strips together, making a square or rectangle. You can choose whatever size suits you.

Next cut a piece of shower curtain or any type of fabric that corresponds to the shape of your weaving and sew it onto the weaving.

To make the edges nicer, fold over two sides of the weaving and sew them down.

Next take the middle of the weaving and fold it inwards. 

Bring the two sides up around the fold and either sew or hot glue gun those sides together. I tried to sew initially but the thickness of my particular shopping bag made it impossible for the needle to go through.

Then punch holes in the bag where you would like to place the handles. You can put two on each side, one on each end, use single handles or braid them for a thicker handle. 

And now you have a lovely purse which keeps shopping bags from becoming waste and you from buying another purse, which benefits both the environment and your wallet. 

How to Make Bags for Everyday Use

With some old dresses, towels, and an old laundry bag, you can make a large bag that can be used for dance, school, the beach, or just about anything:

What you need to make this:

1) An old towel or fabric from a dress, skirt, etc.

2) Any scrap fabrics

3) An old laundry mesh bag

4) Needle & thread

5) Scissors

How to make this:

Cut out two elongated half circles (to be the outside of the bag).  Sew the sides and bottom together.  The inside lining can be done the exact same way, with any type of fabric.  Sew the inside lining and outside lining together.  Make straps by braiding three strands of an old towel together.  Attach to the top of the bag and then sew shut the top.  The inside pockets can be made by cutting out rectangles and just stitching them onto the inside fabric.  The mesh bag can be attached the same way.