aka in which I demonstrate that I AM actually an environmental scientist

Sometimes I feel guilty that so much of this blog is about things you can buy.  Generally I do feel that we are far too consumerist as a society.  This self-perpetuating cycle of work hard buy stuff so you can work harder to maintain your stuff depletes our resources: both environmental and emotional.  I think that’s part of the reason I love Etsy so much.  The crafters and artists on there are small businesses making small batches of goods to support themselves.  Nothing (okay, most things, but that’s another rant) you buy on Etsy is supporting sweat shop labor or helping fund corrupt governments.  So today I present you with items that not only are made by Etsy artisans, but are also made with recycled (or upcycled, as the kids are calling it) materials.

Recycledtime makes clocks out of found objects.  I love this clock made out of an old speaker. It’s got a cool mod look and doesn’t appear like you just pulled something out of the trash to put on your wall.

cakehouse offers these downright adorable hand printed napkins made from secondhand pillowcases (and was actually the inspiration for today’s post)

I love the shop uglykitty…I always have.  The kitty is question is just so…cute ugly?  She also makes these nifty address files using recycled paper.  And I have to say, I love the idea of having an old school address file, what with cellphones taking over the world…

birdversusbird offers these affordable wallets made from recycled banners (which is awesome, plastic takes thousands of years to degrade)

I love board games and Clue is one of my faves.  So while I’m a little sad to see a dead Clue game at 2cheekymonkeys, I think this makes a great, eco friendly notebook.


Bringing a lunch every day is an economical option, but it can create a lot of waste.  Think of it – several ziplock bags into the trash every single day.  So this lunch kit from glueandglitter is not only upcycled (the cloth bits are made of recycled pillowcases) but it will help cut down on waste generation.  Plus it comes with 5 cloth napkins so you can just toss ‘em all in the wash at the end of the week (genius, pure genius…)