we all reuse

1940s homeware is back in fashion. And it'll last forever..

" old things are built to last; unlike modern pieces they were designed to be repaired, not just tossed in the bin, so they are much better from a recycling point of view."

Full story at http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/austerity-interiors-to-serve-us-all-our-days-984040.html

Recycling clothes is in the blood of Jo Wood, founder of Jo Wood Organic. In this Guardian article she explains why now is the time to make a big change

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/22/jowood

Interesting to note from this article that not only is the vintage market very sophisticated and well established but that in addition remade goods sell for a premium.

In the UK this is not always the case, I wonder why?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/18/style/FVINTAGE.php

The old saying “first impressions count” has never been truer in our image driven society. Our senses are under constant attack, from adverts, the media, and the sheer amount of cultural noise around us.

In order for us to take notice, this cacophony will have to be drowned out by something literally out of the ordinary.

Glamour, that hard to define quality that makes you stop in your tracks to take a second look, or decide to really ring back the morning after, will always do the trick.

“We are consuming the resources of our planet at such a rate that we are, in effect, living off credit and living on borrowed time”

HRH Prince Charles

The famously fickle fashion industry wastes resources like there's no tomorrow, a point that is not lost on fashion designer Rebecca Earley, who has embraced the green movement by creating clothes that are less wasteful. She told Lucy Middleton that it's high time other designers developed a more responsible attitude to the world's resources

What's wrong with "normal" clothing?

03 October 2007 NewScientist.com or on newstands

The environment is changing the whole time - look around or you might miss it.

Inspiring stencil art seen on a wooden hoarding in Camberwell, august 2007. Author unknown.

La Grande Braderie is a revival of a tradition dating back to medieval times.

The citizens of Lille set up shop on the street and flog their unwanted possessions in a jumble sale of epic proportions!

It's a huge car boot fair meets carnival, and it runs through the Saturday night.

I've been a few times, I'm not sure if I'm going this year, but is anyone else interested in coming along or planning to go?

a great review in english - http://walisabeth.blogspot.com/2005/09/la-braderie-de-lille.html

infos en francais - http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braderie_de_Lille

W e A ll R euse. Let's have a WAR on waste.

Incineration and landfill are as problematic as each other and becoming more expensive year on year.

Prices for raw materials, and for scrap are going up too, but the technologies to sort process and redistribute them are becoming cheaper and easier to use.

Surely it makes more sense to reuse and redistribute than to burn or bury?

In response to this article at treehugger

Has Recycling Jumped the Shark?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 8.07

Where we live, the City government is thinking about charging to take away our garbage. We already recycle like mad, and put out far less garbage per person than most other cities, but as Robert Ouellette points out at ::ReadingToronto, changing how we pay for it isn't the issue.

"All garbage is bad garbage. There is no effective way to rid the environment of our trash. The only real answer is to not make it in the first place."