Say ‘no’ to plastic

Today I am starting a new series of blog posts comprised of two parts, first, a monthly post (Mondays) on an environmental issue followed by a post (Wednesdays) suggesting solutions we can incorporate in our lives. The two posts are tied together, the solutions being relevant to the issue previously presented. So, here we go!

What’s wrong with plastic?

1. it’s toxic to our bodies
2. it piles up and damages our environment

How is it toxic?

• toxic additives are added to brittle plastics to make them pliable enough to use for food packaging, children’s toys, teethers, shower curtains, drinking straws, tupper ware containers, soft drink bottles, etc.
• traces of the chemicals can leach out of the plastic when it comes into contact with food
• some compounds leaching from food containers have been found to interfere with hormone functions and are suspected human carcinogens
• monomers used in the manufacture of plastic may be toxic and small amounts may remain trapped in the product
• some polymers may decompose into toxic substances when heated
• PBA is used in making polycarbonates which then act as an estrogen-like hormone that may leach into food, these estrogen-like hormones disrupt the physiologic function of natural hormones in our body

a monomer is a small molecule that may become chemically bonded to other monomers to form a polymer
a polymer is a term that commonly refers to plastic but is a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties
a polycarbonate is a particular group of thermoplastic polymers used for molding plastic; their features include temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties

Environmental Issues

• plastics are durable and therefore degrade very slowly
• since the 1950s, one billion tons of plastic has been discarded and may persist for hundreds or even thousands of years
• burning plastic can release toxic fumes
• manufacturing of plastics often creates large quantities of chemical pollutants

Recycling Plastic

• recycling plastics has proven difficult
• it is difficult to automate the sorting process and therefore it is labour intensive
• resin identification codes are used to sort the plastic, common containers can be sorted from memory
• some products like cell phones use over a dozen different types and colors of plastics; in a case like this, the resources it would take to separate the plastics far exceed their value and the item is discarded
• on the positive side perhaps, developments are taking place in the field of Active Disassembly
• recycling certain types of plastics can be unprofitable, e.g polystyrene; un-recycled wastes are typically disposed of in landfills, incinerated or used to produce electricity at waste-to-energy plants

Which type of plastic does my product contain and what does it mean? Here’s a 2-page PDF with the codes from the American Chemistry Council.

Credit: Thank you to wikipedia for its extensive information on all things plastic. My starting point for this article was found by searching Plastic.

Check back Wednesday for some suggestions we can incorporate in our daily lives.

 

The Giveaway winner for the scooter cup

The Giveaway winner for the scooter cup cozy and fabric button has been announced. Congratulations to the winner. And thank you to all who entered and shared their feedback, I enjoyed reading and finding out about your favs! Winner announcement is over at curls and coffee http://ow.ly/13Uhu

 

this blog thing

Bicycle trip on Vancouver Island, stopped at RnR Diner - Vancouver Island, summer 2009

Ok, let’s be honest. Keeping up this blog thing isn’t easy. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to make a plan to shape the focus of the bog and the  writing frequency, it always goes down the toilet. And I always wonder who am I writing this for? Partly for me and partly to share and find like-minded people. I think at the end of each year, it would be neat to get a Blurb book printed of the blog.  I like the idea of flipping through a book to review what my progress, thoughts, & discoveries were — it’s practically a diary but public-like.

So, beginning of the year and all that… new plan, and this is what I just might try this year:

• one monthly post on environmental issues:
  I am finding my focus and it looks like it’s going to be about handmade + sustainability, it only makes sense that I keep up with the issues on this big topic
• one monthly post on suggestions for change:
  Perhaps I’ll be able to suggest one of my products as a step towards change, but I will most likely have to also look at what others offer that will make an impact in what you do everyday
• customer stories
  I’d like to know what my products mean to the people who buy them, I’d like to go deeper than the great Etsy Feedback. I am very much impressed by the Period Makeover series at the Lunapads blog and would like to develop something along those lines. Perhaps I’ll be able to develop a short questionnaire for past buyers and offer a gift certificate if I publish they story on my blog.
• continue with occasional post of inspiring art, artists, businesses
  
• continue with sharing my process (artistic and business-wise) & shop updates

I think my biggest challenge will be how to develop a customer story questionnaire. Any suggestions? I hope some of you lurkers will come forward and share some ideas or just any kind of feedback is always great!

Don’t forget, there’s still time to enter my giveaway at curls and coffee. The chances of winning are great as there aren’t hundreds of entries.

 

it’s giveaway time

Lovely Meg of curls and coffee is hosting a giveaway. Up for grabs is my black scooter eco cup cozy and fabric pin with a bicycle stamped image. Total value is $20. (Meg is from here — Vancouver!)

For info on how to participate, visit her blog: http://curlsandcoffee.blogspot.com/2010/01/giveaway.html

I look forward to reading about your favourites.

You’ll have until Thursday, February 4th to enter. Good Luck!

P.S. It’s open to all … Canadian, US, and International.

 

inspiration in eco-friendly

Today I’m inspired by Freitag, a company in Zurich that manufactures bags and accessories for men and women out of well-travelled truck tarpaulins, seat belts, and bicycle tires. Freitag has been around since 1993 and is headed by two graphic design brothers.

Freitag

I think Freitag wonderfully combines ethics and aesthetics.  It’s wonderful how they’re whole product line is based on materials recycling. These days my thoughts are turning more and more around the topic of sustainability. I feel I want to design with sustainability in mind. I’ve already started this with my cup cozies but hope to come up with a few more products for this year.

What is sustainable? Sustainable is re-usable and is simply and clearly defined on cosa verde’s site as:

• items that are built to last and are designed to reduce waste by replacing their disposable counterparts

Hence, my cup cozies replace cardboard cup cozies and the need to double cup.

 

new designs are coming along

I’m getting pretty excited about my fabric design for my new line of vintage images cup cozies. This is another tiny peek. The fabric sample is on the left side. I ordered a fat quarter with large swatches so I could see the images on different colours. I now need to make some adjustments. My first fabric sample was on quilting weight cotton. I then tried the cotton/linen canvas and it’s way nicer. Beautiful texture and weight. The colours are brighter and the printing is sharper.

I’m using Spoonflower for my fabric printing and they’re great!)

 

cosa verde

I’m excited to be showcasing my cup cozies on cosa verde. This a newish site (since early 2009) that aims to connect “independent and emerging artists with environmentally-conscious consumers.”

I love their categories which allow you to shop according to your green needs or philosophy. Choose from: organic, reusable, repurposed, recyclable, conflict free and cruelty free.

Right now I have a free account which allows me to showcase 3 items. I think I’ll want to show more cozies soon, so if you’re thinking of getting an account please mention me as a referral by quoting this url: http://cosaverde.com/referral/lbucci/

Take a peak at my little shop on cosa verde

 

cup cozies & fabric pins shop updates

I’m officially announcing that all my cup cozies priced at $12 are going up to $15 effective January 15. Purchase now to save $3.

I’ve also organized my fabric pinback buttons in sets of threes. Some are $13 and others are only $9. Check them out here.

 

i love what i do, so …

A lot of us crafts people are always figuring out how to make ends meet and not burn out. I think it’s important to be open with our customers so they know where we’re coming from and why we’ve made big changes. It’s hard to know who will be reading this blog post but just for the record, I love what I do and want to continue doing it, so next year I’m planning to be a better business person, and that means setting realistic prices that will allow me to make a profit. I also want to allow for growth next year. You may find it interesting to read this article on the New York Times website about how some Etsy sellers are working hard and struggling (found via moop). Personally, what I see is that a lot of crafts people don’t have any business know how and don’t know where to look for information or get help — going on this way only means burnout unless you’re making things as a hobby and have a totally different outlook on how much you should get for your items.

This means raising prices on some items:

• Cup cozies, currently priced at $12 will go up several dollars. So think of them as being on sale right now
• Fabric pin sets will likely stay at around $13 per set of 3
• Fabric pin sets currently priced at $9, may go up a bit

This will stay the same:

• Tea cozies with the current pippijoe fabric will remain at $55, limited edition; new tea cozies will be introduced in 2010 possibly at different prices
• Current Deep linen pouches will remain at $40 and available until sold out; a new modified style will be introduced at a different price

Discountinued items:

• Current linen wallets and flat pouches will be available until current stock runs out and will not be available past February
• I am planning to replace these styles with new ones and also introduce new fabric

The wallets and flat linen pouches have been selling well but proved to be difficult to get quality sewing when I looked at outsourcing. Straight lines and good top stitching are important to the look of these items. So I’ve decided to redesign them and I’m excited to update their style!

I’m also planning on a few new products and I’m pretty excited about that. It’s always fun to introduce new things. What I’m most excited about is my own new line of cup cozies. Here’s a shot of them in progress printed on paper. I’m playing around with vintage images, english and french language and language acquisition exercises, something I had experience with for a couple of years while I taught ESL a few years ago.

work in progress - from paper to fabric

The colours are off as these are printed on paper. The vintage images are interesting not only because they take us back to uncomplicated times but also because they offer an interesting glimpse into the views of days gone by.

 

changes, new & colour

A few changes around here. I am now only offering reproduceable (ie. not one of a kind) cup cozies at my Canadian e-commerce site: http://laurabucci.bigcartel. I am hoping this change will make it easier to manage two e-commerce sites.

My etsy site continues to have my whole product line. I have been adding fabric pin sets and still need to add more. And below are some new cup cozies using remnants from the tea cozy project. I really like these. I am working on my vintage image series for cup cozies and I’m trying to decide on colours. So far I’m thinking of light blue, mustard, and rust. I’ve gotten a sample printed already, so below is a sneak peak of my new series – the bicycle cozy.

buds patchwork cup cozy

nests patchwork cup cozy

waterhen patchwork cup cozy

copyright Laura Bucci

So in researching colour, I came across the Fiesta dinnerware collection by the Homer Laughlin China Co. Oh, what a wonderful colour palette. It has to be seen.