It's that time of year again - wrapping paper, packaging and consumerism abound, setting off my unsustainable alarm bells.  To soothe them back to charming jingles, check this awesome list of everyday items repurposed for the holidays plus creative uses for holiday-themed goods.  My favorite is creating a table runner out of last year's holiday cards - gives you the opportunity to revive the memories while creating new ones.

New Uses for Christmas Items

Happy Holidays, everyone, and Best Wishes for the New Year!

Spring has sprung, you can feel it in the air!  It's time for Spring Cleaning again!  Of course we all want a cleaner house, but we don’t want to spend money, and we especially don’t want to use chemicals.  Here are 35 ways to address those dirty issues with natural materials and household items you already own.

You might have one of these little wonders in your refrigerator right now.  After you read this list from a New York Times article, I bet you'll be energized to try some of the ideas right away!  Home-related ideas at the top (we are focused on interiors here, after all).

Looking for a green way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean.  Not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?  Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror. It will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

Today is Blog Action Day 2009, and this year’s topic, selected by popular vote, is climate change. 

If you haven’t heard by now, there is a lot of scientific evidence that the earth’s atmosphere is changing due to man-made side effects of the consumption of fossil fuels.  Along with the atmospheric changes come weather and elemental changes such as melting glaciers and loss of habitat, rising oceans, droughts and loss of potable drinking water, tsunamis and hurricanes.  There is a tipping point, beyond which we cannot stop the mounting effects that will destroy much of the life on this planet.  It’s probably the single biggest challenge of our generation, and may be the defining act of humankind, how we respond to this self-created crisis.  So what can we, as designers, do to positively affect climate change?

Live, work and design sustainably.  Take a serious look at your workplace, your home, and your designs.  Do they incorporate sustainable principles?  Are you taking every possible measure to reduce your consumption, reuse what you have already and recycle anything else in a responsible manner?  Are you considering environmental and chemical factors when selecting products and finishes?  Do you provide a transparent service to your clients and educate them?  Are you educating yourself with the latest information on products, services and eco-design techniques?  (Furnicology.com can help you here!)

Creative citizen is a great website where a community of people together post and share ideas to conserve, reuse and recycle. It is a great tool to learn creative ideas from others. You just have to submit a “Creative Solution” and watch your “Greenage” grow or just look around and learn from what you see. It is definitely worth checking and becoming a member of “Creative Citizens”.

http://www.creativecitizen.com/