Clothing Swaps

Green Tip for today:
Recycling goes beyond cans. Take recycling to a-whole-nother level, be creative. Host a clothing swap for your friends (and yourself)!

Tonight I attended an amazing event. I went to my first clothing swap! It is as simple as its name... basically you bring items you don't wear anymore and then you trade them for new stuff! The quote one person's trash is another person's treasure couldn't apply more here. In fact it could even be extended to sharing your treasure you can't use anymore with somebody you also adore. My friend Kate hosted the clothing swap at her place. There were great snacks and drink and there were 6 people total to attend the event. At first we were nervous on the low attendance, but it turned out for the better. Everybody brought clothes they loved but could not wear anymore...too short, too long, too tight, etc. All clothes, accessories, etc. were laid out and hung up on hangers. Mirrors were put up around the room, and we all went shopping!! We tried on the clothes, modeled them for each another and then gathered our newfound loves into piles. It was like Christmas. Once everyone was satisfied with their piles, we each had to go through each item we choose and we had to show it to the entire room of shoppers. If anybody had any objections they were able to do so then, and the two parties would have to model the item to see which person deserved it more. Luckily with the number of girls and the kinds of girls there (different body types and styles) we were all able to find items that we all really loved and nobody was tug-o-war-ing with one another. There was plenty to go around and the rest of the items leftover are being donated.

I had an absolute blast, because not only was it completely free and wonderful to get "new" things for the fall season, but it was also good for the environment because there was no buying/consuming of new things, just the sharing of resources. I had so much fun I am already going through my closets and searching for items to donate to the next clothing swap.

Here are some pictures of the great grabs I got most of which came straight from the hostess's closet.







Also, I can't not mention the fact that today I helped with my family garage sale and also had the chance to check out our neighbor's sale and scored a bundt/angel food cake carrier as well as a pie/smaller cake carrier, along with a set of 6 wine glasses for a total of $5. Garage sales are another great way to conserve and share what is already out there!



Now I think it's time to bake!

Green thought for the day. Step One: Realization

Good morning!

I never imagined I would have a blog. But you know what? I do. In fact I have two blogs now. This particular blog has been born because I realized my other blog has a tendency to turn a bit towards political, environmental and social issues, and I tend to go into "rants." With that said, I thought I would organize myself a bit here and dedicate a page to my green efforts. I want to make it a point to share my thoughts in a more constructive way. Rants are necessary to revolution, but there is a point where you must move from the anger and mobilize yourself and be positive. Nobody wants to hear another angry person and that's just the truth. So after attending another class that reminded me of how our world is hurting, I felt a need to more actively participate in resuscitating our lovely planet. This blog is my dedication and attempt to share what I learn and do in my daily life to keep a healthy conscience and an awareness of my connectedness to everything on Mother Earth.

The only constant in the universe is change, and I hope every day that human beings can make the changes necessary to save our planet. The whole "going green" campaign is nothing new, but I am all about resharing and relearning information, especially because it is very important.

Today's green thought lies in a quote that was introduced to me last night in my Ecology and Health course.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)

"The chess board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance."

Every species has played this game of survival. We play this game everyday, and every move we make in the wrong direction will not be overlooked. However it can be corrected. The part about this quote that is not stated clearly but that is so important is that the goal of this chess game (the game of life), is not about winning. We, humankind are not here on Earth to BEAT the rules of nature, but to make the game last as long as we can.

So the first step in making this game last to its full potential is the recognition that we are not here to dominate the world or nature, we are here to coexist. Only once we the people are willing to acknowledge our role in the world, and admit that we are not here to "beat" each other, our children, our land, our animals, we can make leaps and bounds for our civilization, individually, locally, nationally, and globally.