by guest contributor Jessica Gonacha

There are always more ways we can make our studios and work spaces a little more environmentally friendly. Looking around me, I thought I’d share a few of the little things I do that can make a big difference in the long run. Here are some ideas:

1. Use old, cut up t-shirts for rags, rather than using paper towels or buying new rags. You can either donate your own t-shirts that you don’t wear anymore to your art-making cause or go to your local Goodwill and pick up some cheap, used t-shirts. I also make sure I properly dispose of my used rags (check with your city to find out if there is a place to drop off hazardous waste. It is often associated with the city’s recycling facilities.)

2. Use coffee canisters as brush holders and other containers to hold odds and ends. If you’re feeling especially crafty, you can cover over the outsides with paper bits from your studio or from the recycling bin. Why not print on it with a potato stamp? Then cover it with an eco-friendly sealant like Safecoat Polyureseal, a low-VOC, low-odor, water-based clear gloss coating, for a lasting and attractive container!

3. Much of the furniture in my studio has come from garage sales, friends giving things away, things found in alleyways, flea markets…. this way, I’m not buying anything new, I’m saving money, and my furniture has some character to it!

4. Ask your grandparents! So many of the amazing things in my studio have come from my grandmother, who was also an artist and general maker of things– piles and piles of yarn, stacks of fabric, sheets of incredible watercolor paper….
Even if the products are not necessarily eco-friendly, it is most definitely an eco-friendly practice to REDUCE (the buying of new things), REUSE (use something that someone else doesn’t need anymore), and RECYCLE (someone’s old goods can become your new treasures.)

GREEN CHALLENGE:

Find a coffee canister or jar that you would like to decorate and use as a container to hold something. What about flowers? Paint brushes? A container to hold coins? The possibilities are endless. Post your photos of your creations to the Indie is the New Green flickr group!

About the contributor: Jessica Gonacha is an artist from Atlanta, Georgia who is endlessly creating. Her work includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, and paper goods and is vibrant, colorful, and charming. Her work can be found on her site, in her Etsy shop and in the Indie Fixx Shop. You can also read more about Jessica and her work on her blog.

by guest contributor Jessica Gonacha

The idea crossed my mind the other day that I would like to learn how to make stained glass jewelry. Now, being an eco-minded gal like I am, my next thought was, I wonder what kind of glass you can use to make this jewelry?

Which leads me to today’s post: a round-up of reclaimed and salvaged glass jewelry! I’ve chosen some of my favorites, and now I’m even more inspired to learn this more!

Below are the links to each artist. This is gorgeousness you can feel good about!

1. Bottled Up Designs

2. Rebecca Ward Jewelry

3. Bottled Up Designs

4. Rebecca Ward Jewelry

5. Sea Glass Designs

6. Smart Glass Jewelry

7. Amy Pfaffman Jewelry

8. Kathleen Plate at Uncommon Goods

9. Happy Owl Glassworks

10. SeaFindDesigns

GREEN CHALLENGE: make something out of a recycled glass bottle. A candlestick holder? A planter for a teeny plant? A necklace? What else can you think of? Post the fruits of your creative and eco-friendly endeavors in the Indie is the New Green flickr group!

by guest contributor Jessica Gonacha

This week’s interview is a real treat for me—Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary in Boulder, Colorado is one of the things I miss most about my hometown. Rebecca was kind enough to give us a glimpse into her thriving shop in downtown Boulder, a shop that encompasses both the indie and eco-friendly way of life and is brimming with love and goodness!

1. What fueled your decision to create eco-friendly products?

I wanted to bring botanical medicine to the people. Botanical medicine is really the people’s medicine and I want it to be accessible to everyone, so I decided to create a place where you could go to get everything you need in one shop.

2. What does ‘green’ mean to you, and how do you support green business practices in your shop?

We support local providers and farmers as much as possible in order to reduce the cost and environmental impact of shipping far distances. We also make most of our products right here in the shop, which also helps reduce gas consumption. We recycle all of our packing materials and often return things like packing peanuts to UPS for them to reuse.On a more macro level, our goal is to empower people to get connected with botanical medicine, which directly connects people with the earth and fosters eco-friendly attitudes.

We also encourage people to bring in their used bottles for us to refill rather than buying new bottles of our products. It cuts down on packaging, and we are moving more and more in this direction.

3. Do you have a favorite product that you’ve created?

My favorite product line that is unique to our shop is our infused coconut oils. Our best-selling product is definitely our precious face serum (note from Jess: it is truly fantastic stuff!), and the bulk herbs are the heart and soul of the shop.

4. Who or what are your eco heroes/inspirations?

Tammi Hartung, the author of 101 Herbs That Heal, is one of my biggest heroes. She is a plant warrior! She saw issues with plant populations and helps plants that are at risk She has truly touched my life. Another hero is Rosemary Gladstar. I gush every time I meet her! She is part of the founding of United Plant Savers and her texts are very accessible to the community.

5. Do you have a favorite eco tip for your readers?

Yes, to focus on what is ABUNDANT around you. To learn about dandelion is good for everybody— plants that are the most abundant are the ones that are the most likely to be helpful.

GREEN CHALLENGE: It’s the season for spring cleaning, when we declutter our houses and get rid of unwanted books, furniture, clothes and more. Make sure to take all your unwanted stuff to your local thrift shop, freecycle it, have a yard sale, sell it on half.com or whatever way you can creatively recycle it instead of allowing it all to end up in the landfill. Post any of your own used stuff finds on the Indie is the New Green flickr group!

Photo by Jessica Gonacha

Since you all seemed to love the cream recipe a few weeks back, I thought it would be fun to do another make-your-own body product this week.

I don’t know about you, but when I read the labels on skin care products, I get a little skeeved out. What is all that junk in there?

This recipe for facial astringent is lovely and will feed your skin pure goodness. Basically, you infuse vinegar with various herbs and flowers to make a good-for-your-skin astringent that balances the natural acid of your skin and gives you a lovely fresh glow!

Directions: Bring 3 cups vinegar to a boil (white or cider), and remove to a bottle. (I like dark bottles, like cobalt or amber, to protect it from sunlight).

Add to vinegar:
1/2 oz. rose petals
1/2 oz. comfrey leaves
1/2 oz. chamomile flowers
(all can be dried or fresh– but make sure they are organic and have not been sprayed with pesticides!)

Let the flowers and herbs sit and infuse in the bottle for 10 days– shake the bottle daily.

After 10 days, strain the vinegar through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer and put back in the bottle. Add an equal quantity of water or rose water to the bottle. Now it’s ready to use!

Spritz on your face after washing for a lovely, softening treat.

You can use pretty much any combination of herbs and flowers in your astringent. Some particularly good herbs to use are: lavender, calendula, rosemary, sage, and licorice. You can read more about the properties of different herbs at naturalherbsguide.com and herbaldiary.org. If your local health food store has a good supply of bulk herbs, you should be able to find everything you need, but you can also find a great selection online at mountainroseherbs.com and herbco.com.

Have fun!

GREEN CHALLENGE: Go on a bike-riding (or walking) flower-smelling mission! It’s the season for blooming flowers, so get out there and sniff ‘em! Share your pictures at the Indie is the New Green flickr group.

As I am constantly searching for new ways to reuse and recycle in both my life and my business, I know there are probably many of you in pursuit of the same thing. So, this week I have compiled a list of ideas for how to make your business a little greener through reusing and recycling. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, hopefully it will help spark the creative recycler in you.

1. Cereal boxes are one of my favorite things to reuse in my business. My fiancé, Ryan, is a big cereal eater, so we accumulate a lot of boxes in the recycling bin! I cut them up and use them in packaging Etsy orders. I also use the Silk soymilk 2-packs boxes. What cardboard do you have around your house that could be turned into packaging? You can also visit your local recycling center to search for usable cardboard to turn into packaging. Or, why not start a box in your neighborhood to collect cereal boxes and other stiff cardboard packaging? Ask your neighbors for help!

Photo from Bitter Mittens at flickr

2. There is a great idea (and tutorial) for recycling boxes and packaging on Lizette Greco’s flickr site.

3. When I lived in Boulder, CO there was an incredible place called Resource 2000 where you could get used building materials and other useful things. These types of places exist all over the country, and with a little Internet searching you can find one in your area. If you are lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay area, there is a place called Scrap, which stands for Scroungers’ Center for Reused Art Parts, and I have heard amazing things about it.

Photo from Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts

A similar place exists in Eugene, OR called Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts, as well as one in Durham, NC called The Scrap Exchange, as well as many others across the country. Scrap has a good list on their website, so find out what’s in your area.

4. Frame shops usually have an excess of mat board that they will likely to let you have for free if you go pick it up.

Photo from The Scrap Exchange at flickr

5. Many big-box home stores and other stores that sell paint often sell mis-tinted paint at very low prices, which means you are saving it from being thrown out. Some cities also have paint exchange programs where people can take leftover cans of paint for others to use. Chicago has one such program and so does Ashland, WI.

Hopefully these ideas will help get you in the mood to search out other ways for reusing and recycling in your business and personal life!

GREEN CHALLENGE: Gather up cereal boxes and use them to start packaging your orders! Post photos to the Indie is the New Green flickr group and share your creative reuse of materials.

About Jessica:
Jessica is an artist from Atlanta, Georgia who is endlessly creating. Her work includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, and paper goods and is vibrant, colorful, and charming. Her work can be found on her site, in her Etsy shop and in the Indie Fixx Shop. You can also read more about Jessica and her work on her blog.

This week we are going to take a peek into the practices behind Letcetera, a company which creates cards printed with soy inks on paper made of mineral powder that is 100% degradable in nature and needs absolutely no trees or water for its production. The envelopes they use are also made from 30% post-consumer waste recycled paper. I am totally inspired! Treeless paper? Incredible.

Here’s what Nerissa from Letcetera had to say:

1. What fueled your decision to create eco-friendly products?

As a graphic designer, I feel obligated to be more conscious and aware of my carbon footprint. Our industry has a direct effect on the environment with our use of paper and the energy needed to produce it, as well as the waste it creates when disposed of.

2. What does ‘green’ mean to you?

It means being more conscious of how my everyday actions affect the environment I live in and the earth as a whole.

3. How did you get started creating your product/line?

About four years ago, I was looking for cool, bold, graphic wrapping paper for my holiday gifts, I didn’t find anything I liked, so I decided to make my own. Designing my own paper allowed me to customize each design for the recipient and that’s when I thought of making graphic patterns out of the first letter of their names. I then made note cards with the patterns and had them printed on tree-free paper with soy inks.

4. How do you reuse materials in your business?

In our studio we try to conserve paper usage and keep printing to a minimum. We reuse scrap print-outs to print and sketch on. Also we are interested in developing our own products that address ‘green’ issues, like Letcetera and another product idea called Recast, which reuses materials from old technology (computers/wires, etc) to create new usable products in a different form.

5. How is your studio eco-conscious?

Whenever possible, for our print jobs, we try to spec papers that are 100% post consumer waste and/or are produced with renewable energy.

6. Who or what are your eco heroes/inspirations?

I’m inspired by the work of Samuel Mockbee, an architect who co-founded Rural Studio that teaches and builds sustainable housing from cast-off materials.

7. Do you have a favorite eco tip for your readers?

Try to conserve as much as you can, whether it’s keeping printing to a minimum or shutting down your computer at the end of day.

8. Where would you like to be with your business this time next year?

We would like to extend the line into more eco-friendly products, and explore other new production methods and technologies.

You can buy Letcetera’s gorgeous cards in their etsy shop. They are available in every letter and seven milestone birthday numbers.

Thank you Nerissa, for sharing with us!

GREEN CHALLENGE: This week, use a coffee canister as a pot for spring planting! (Hint: cans can be painted in countless ways to make them unique and pleasant to the eye! Ever thought of using chalkboard spray paint…?)

Here some great resources for organic seeds:

You Grow Girl
Seeds of Change
Your Local Farmers’ Market

About Jessica:
Jessica is an artist from Atlanta, Georgia who is endlessly creating. Her work includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, and paper goods and is vibrant, colorful, and charming. Her work can be found on her site, in her Etsy shop and in the Indie Fixx Shop. You can also read more about Jessica and her work on her blog.

I always get really excited when I’m about to run out of hand cream. I know that sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but it really truly is something I look forward to, because it means I get to make MORE. That’s right folks, I make my own eco-friendly hand-cream (more like body cream– I use it for everything!) and my skin will accept no other. It has become spoiled and snooty about what it likes to have soaking into it, and I love dreaming up new concoctions when the time comes.

Here is a very versatile recipe for a rich, emollient, decadent cream that will last you a good long while. And I promise you’ll be excited when yours runs out, too!

Ingredients:

6 oz. raw shea butter
1/2 oz. jojoba oil
1/2 oz. sweet almond oil
1/2 oz. grapeseed oil
1/2 oz. apricot kernel oil
1/2 oz. lanolin (melted)
1/2 oz. aloe vera gel
1/2 oz. glycerin
1/4 oz. Vitamin E oil
5-10 drops favorite essential oil (some of my favorites are geranium, rose, clove, clary sage, cinnamon, and lemongrass.)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a large bowl (I like glass or stainless steel). Mush together with your hands to get the lumps out of the shea butter. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer, but doing it by hand is the eco-friendlier way, because it saves energy!) Adjust accordingly– if you like a thicker cream, more lanolin and less oil will do the trick; a thinner cream can be made by adding more oil or aloe vera juice)

P.S. This recipe is very fudgeable—what I usually do (since I’m the type that doesn’t really measure things and just eyeball it!) is just toss everything in a big glass bowl and mush it up with my hands and if it needs adjusting I’ll add a little oil here, a little lanolin there…!

Have fun!

WHERE TO BUY:

*My personal favorite: Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary in Boulder, CO
*Goldthread Apothecary in Florence, MA
*Botanica Medica in the UK
*Florapathics
*Mountain Rose Herbs
*The Essential Oil Company

If you want more information about essential oils, herbs, oils, aromatherapy, etc, here are a couple of great resources:
*Herbaldiary.org
*Aroma Web
*The Herbal Body Book by Jeanne Rose

GREEN CHALLENGE: change 1 (or more!) light bulb in your house or studio to a compact fluorescent bulb!

About Jessica:
Jessica is an artist from Atlanta, Georgia who is endlessly creating. Her work includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, and paper goods and is vibrant, colorful, and charming. Her work can be found on her site, in her Etsy shop and in the Indie Fixx Shop. You can also read more about Jessica and her work on her blog.

Oh, how I love that the two parts of my life I’m most passionate about (living a creative, hand-made life and supporting others who do the same, and taking care of our earth) are married more and more every day, and that living an eco-friendly life has stylish and unique options. The range of products that are both good for the earth and good for small, independent businesses seem to increase by the minute and I say, Hurray!

I often bookmark sites and products that I would like to have in my life or as part of my home, and today I thought it would be fun to fantasize about ‘A DAY IN MY ECO-INDIE DREAM LIFE’ by pulling them all together to create a list of products for each part of my day. From waking up, showering and getting dressed to jotting down inspirations and going out at night, there’s something on my list for all of it!

I hope it inspires you to think about what your own eco-indie dream life looks like!

6:30 am: Wake up in an organic bed, under a Cove cream & cocoa organic duvet cover from Amenity. #1 & 2

6:45 am: Brush teeth with Recycline Toothbrush, made from Stonyfield Farm yogurt cups. #3

7 am: Eat breakfast and drink coffee—Gimme! Coffee Las Mingas Relationship Coffee, sustainable, fair-trade and delicious. Fiona’s Granola, made in my hometown of Boulder. Catch up on blog reading. #4 & 5

7:30 am: Shower using shampoo by Luscious Naturals. #6

7:45 am: Put on makeup by Mixology. #7

8:00 am: Get dressed. Top from Urban Renewal, undergarments from Louella Bloom, skirt by orangyporangy, cute sandals from Mohop. Now for the accessories—a cork ring by ottoman and a necklace from Atlanta-based Smart Glass Jewelry. #8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13

9:00 am: Time for errands! Grab the purse—it’s a hand bag from escama, a company that combines fair-trade practices with sustainable design, by working directly with two Brazilian crafting cooperatives, to create gorgeous pieces using recycled aluminum pulltabs. Can’t forget my wallet! It’s from bird vs. bird. #14 & 15

11 am: Work, work, work & create, create, create! Make sure my eco-friendly notebook from ecojot out of Ontario. #16

5 pm: Get some groceries for din-din with a tote bag from greenward, no paper or plastic for me! #17

8 pm: Going out! Change up the accessories a bit: a ring from julep115 and a necklace from 2ReVert. #18 & 19

11 pm: Back into my Amenity bed to dream, dream, dream!

GREEN CHALLENGE: find an old t-shirt that you don’t wear anymore and turn it into a grocery shopping bag. And use it this week!

Share your project on the Indie is the New Green Flickr Group. Since there was no winner for last week’s challenge, one person will be chosen this week to win a reusable coffee cup sleeve made by Textile Fetish and available for sale in the Indie Fixx Shop!

About Jessica:
Jessica is an artist from Atlanta, Georgia who is endlessly creating. Her work includes paintings, drawings, illustrations, and paper goods and is vibrant, colorful, and charming. Her work can be found on her site, in her Etsy shop and in the Indie Fixx Shop. You can also read more about Jessica and her work on her blog.

Howdy indie-lovers! Welcome to post #1 of the new Indie is the New Green column on the Indie Fixx Guest Blog! Let me introduce myself—my name is Jessica Gonacha and I am an artist in Atlanta, Georgia. I originally hail from Boulder, Colorado, which is where my eco-conscious roots were planted. I am an obsessive recycler and as a kid I carried a copy of the book 50 Things Kids Can Do To Save the Earth with me wherever I went. So yes, I am thrilled to be able to share my passion for the environment and all things eco-friendly with you.

This column is going to be a mix of information, including interviews with artists who are setting examples in the world of eco-friendly art and design, resources on how to find more environmentally-friendly materials and supplies, features on green products and the people who make them, and fun DIY projects that you can feel good about creating! There will also be a weekly GREEN CHALLENGE at the end of every post: your task will be to take on the challenge, photograph it and post your photo to the Indie is the New Green Flickr group. I will share some your submissions the following week on the blog! Sounds fun, huh? The challenge details can be found at the end of this post.

So this week, I am pleased to introduce you to an artist from my hometown (shout-out to Boulder!), creating her eco-friendly goods under the name of ReLove Projects. Anne Pendergrast was kind enough to answer some questions for us and give us a little peek into her studio! Here’s what Anne had to say:

1. What fueled your decision to create eco-friendly products?

I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, which is a VERY eco-friendly town. Growing up here it was just normal and part of the everyday to recycle, reuse, and be environmentally conscious. That was my foundation. The other part of it was following my passions and creativity. I’ve always had a passion for environmentalism and it just happened naturally that my creativity collided with it.

2. What does ‘green’ mean to you?

‘Green’ to me means doing everything possible to make less of a negative environmental impact.

3. How did you get started creating your product/line?

I love going to thrift stores, finding something unique, and altering it to make it even more unique. I made myself a little purse from a funky 60’s mumu, and got so many compliments that I started making them for other people too. The cards just sort of developed over time. I had a lot of smaller scraps left over from making the bags. I couldn’t throw them away and they kept piling up! I had to find a creative use for them before they took over my studio. I started off by sewing little hearts onto paper, and it grew from there. Now, I have even smaller scraps left over from the cards….

4. How do you reuse materials in your business?

Everything I make is 98% reused (the thread, glue, and some closures are not). My cards are made from paperboard packaging, recycled fabric, and paper grocery bags. All the bags and clothes are made from recycled fabric, and my business cards are made from paperboard and recycled paper. I create my patterns by reusing folders, I take notes on the back of envelopes. I make it a little game to reuse and recycle as much as possible!

5. How is your studio eco-conscious?

Every piece of furniture in my studio was bought at a thrift store or given to me, the light bulbs are energy efficient, and nearly everything that is discarded in my studio is recycled or reused for some other purpose.

6. Can you share your eco heroes/inspirations and your art/design inspirations?

eco heroes/inspirations
Elephant Journal is a regular inspiration for environmental, political, and spiritual issues. Doing yoga, teaching art to children (at Clementine Studios), and finding recycle symbols in unexpected places help keep me consciously active.

art/design inspirations
Fashion magazines, blogs, Etsy, people watching, dreams, thrift stores, necessity, desire…

7. Do you have a favorite eco tip for your readers?

If everybody just made a conscious decision to do everything they could to be more eco-friendly, it would make a HUGE impact. Doing something once a day, like changing light bulbs to the more energy efficient or starting a paper recycling box at your office. Every little thing we do makes a positive change, and the more little changes we ALL makes a bigger impact.

8. Do you have a favorite go-to eco blog or website?

I just heard about Green As a Thistle. It’s pretty great! Beyond that, the WWW is such a huge world with so many resources. I like to type key words like “environmental ideas” into a search engine and follow interesting links.

9. What are some creative ways that you source materials for your work?

In Boulder, I celebrate a thing called “Hippie Christmas” which is basically dumpster diving, but without all the nasty garbage. Boulder is a college town and every spring when classes end, students put everything they don’t want out on the curb. There’s a little bit of everything to be found—clothes, kitchen appliances, sports gear, furniture. Me and my friends make it an event and exchange “gifts” if we find something someone else can use.

10. Where would you like to be with your business this time next year?

By next year, I’d like ReLove Projects less of something I do in my spare time and more of a part-time or full-time endeavor. Right now, I only sell my work on my Etsy site, so I’d like to venture beyond that into stores, craft fairs, and other venues.

12. Anything else you would like us to know about you and your work?

I take custom orders and can take a special piece of clothing and turn into something great!

GREEN CHALLENGE #1: go on a walk and pick up 5 pieces of litter, draw what you picked up (and recycle it afterwards if possible!), then post your photos to the Indie is the New Green Flickr group. I’ll pick some of your drawings to share and post them next week! One person will be chosen to win a reusable coffee cup sleeve made by Textile Fetish and available for sale in the Indie Fixx Shop!